Four Tripod Ideas for When You Don’t Have a Tripod

Posted on | August 3, 2011 | 11 Comments

Tripods are a vital investment for landscape photographers that you shouldn’t go cheap on. Tripods are also a pain in the ass to carry around everywhere and even use in many instances. I personally hate hassling with tripods but recognize its importance to my craft so I accept that and deal with it. But what do you do when it’s not possible to bring one along or just don’t have one when a photo calls for it? You improvise. Here are four tripod ideas that I have used when I didn’t have a tripod available:

1. Trash can – my least favorite tripod idea and probably the least sanitary but I adhere to the shoot first, ask questions later philosophy. It might help to get a Hepatitus vaccine afterward as well…

2. Guard rail – solid support for the camera but usually not flat so you still have to make sure your camera is balanced. Don’t forget to wear that camera strap either otherwise the camera might go for a swim.

3. Beer cans – For when bars are dark and you don’t want to use the flash. They can help outdoors as well but in order to get one outdoors this would probably fall under the same category as #1.

4. My knee – Say what?!? I sat down with my knees pointed up and braced the camera on my knee. It works.

The main point is that you should improvise if you find yourself needing a tripod when one isn’t available.

I’m curious to know what have you done for camera-support when you didn’t have a tripod available?

Category: Technique
Tags: photography concepts

Comments

11 Responses to “Four Tripod Ideas for When You Don’t Have a Tripod”

Mark Williamson
August 3rd, 2011 @ 12:12 pm

Car hoods, rocks, tree branches (use the thick ones near the trunk of the tree), signs, curb, backpack. You can use anything that you can get to hold the camera while it’s pointed at the subject.
Richard Wong
August 3rd, 2011 @ 12:15 pm

That’s great Mark. I have used the boulder method and backpack as well though it depends on what is in there. Thanks for the tips.
Derrick
August 3rd, 2011 @ 9:13 pm

Adapt, overcome, improvise! LOL, sorry, couldn’t resist.

I use a long range rifle trick if I’m shooting in lower light or where I might want a slightly longer exposure. Take a deep breath, lock in elbows against my body, exhale and when the breath is just about gone, hold it and squeeze the trigger; taking the shot during the body’s respiratory pause.

It’s easier if you haven’t been drinking a ton of caffeine.
Richard Wong
August 4th, 2011 @ 12:00 am

That’s a great technique, Derrick. I’ve read about that one in several magazines so it must be an effective one. I think it’s probably used a lot in street photography situations as well.
scott
August 18th, 2011 @ 9:01 am

I’ve used my wife’s head. She’s almost a foot shorter than I am.
Richard Wong
August 18th, 2011 @ 11:20 am

Lol. That definitely is the best idea I’ve heard!
Stephen
August 20th, 2011 @ 2:09 pm

If I have my cable release with me I can prop my camera up on just about anything (like my backpack) and get pretty sharp long exposures.

I also leave my l-bracket on my camera all the time. The sides are flat so it’s very easy to hold the camera flat against a wall.
Richard Wong
August 20th, 2011 @ 9:26 pm

Good insights, Stephen. That’s an interesting use of the L-bracket. Maybe I should try it with my ballhead.
Marcel Sacksen
August 22nd, 2011 @ 9:22 am

I stumbled upon an idea on some other forums (no links at hand) that basicaly consists of a ring with a bit of threaded bar attached to your tripod mount, you attach a 3 to 4 foot length of string to the ring (or a doglead) put your foot on the end of the string and pul it tought, giving you some sort of flexible monopod. Its said to work pretty well.
Marcel Sacksen
August 22nd, 2011 @ 10:15 am

SO here’s the link, this is quite a crude DIY jobbie, but there are several state of the art versions of the same idea available if you have some extra $$$ to burn…

http://www.instructables.com/id/String-Tripod/
Richard Wong
August 22nd, 2011 @ 2:17 pm

That is a great idea, Marcel. Using tension to balance the camera is pretty clever, and easy to transport.