Three Legged Friends
Tripods!!! So much choice for the photographer, it's hard to know where to begin, which type should you go for? Do you really need one? Read on to discover more...
Not so very long ago we could have any colour tripod we wanted, as long as it was black, or grey. Meh!
Tripods have come a long way since I first began to dabble in photography, they always used to be heavy and cumbersome things, steady as a rock, I'll grant you that, but heavy as a short fat man!
My first professional tripod, some Manfrotto jobbie, weighed so much, I grudged going out with it, but it was unshakeable, utterly so, so it did its job perfectly, so why complain?
Well, it ain't much fun lugging a heavy tripod, plus camera gear around, and we can often leave it lying around and forget about it until we get to the car or worse, go home and then remembering your tripod.
I did that a few times, but I still have the tripod.
Nowadays my go to tripod is a much lighter Hamma model, a compact one with a good working height!
For portrait photography, a rock solid tripod is not entirely necessary, as in theory you won't be taking very long exposures anyway, at the same time, you don't want some fragile thing that could topple over should you accidentally bump into it, or someone elses bumping into it.
But, do you really need a tripod at all? You could always stand the camera on household objects, say a shelf or a chest of drawers, but really, this is not a good way to work, you will be bent over and stooping so much to get into the frame, and frankly the poses will not work so well.
At least with a tripod you can set the camera to any working height you want. in the landscape format and portrait format too.
Lightweight is the way to go then, easy to carry around, saves space, and need not cost a fortune. However, do not fall into the trap of thinking that lightweight should equate to cheapness, it doesn't, some of the lightest tripods are also the most expensive, equally, some of the cheapest tripods are also the lightest. The difference between the two will be build quality and materials used.
Carbon fibre tripods are very light, also very expensive, and cheap plasticy tripods are, well, cheap and plasticy, But there are worthy middle ground tripods out there, which are lightweight, fairly cheap, and will not fall apart.
Tripod Heads, go for ball socket heads, one with a quick release plate, ball joint heads are ideal for quick adjustments and are a joy to use.
And you don't have to stick with black/grey tripods anymore, the MeFoto range is brightly coloured and makes a refreshing change from the usual monochromatic tripods curently on the market today.
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