How do you use your tripod?

Perhaps not such a silly question - one of the queries that came up at the Richmond meet - and as can be seen in Phil Hs group shot a few days ago; Do you use the tripod at head height standing, or closer to the ground and prone/kneeling

To start the ball rolling, I am mainly in the "muddy knees" camp of rarely using my tripod fully extended except when I have to clear an obstruction in front of me for the following reasons;

1 - it is stiffer without full leg extension and therefore a more stable platform for "big glass" use
2 - being low to the ground frequently gives a better angle for the shot in mind - below subject eye level and shooting up, rather than above the subject and shooting down
3 - it gives me a lower more compact profile facing to the subject - less disturbing for the subject

so how do you use your tripod and why?

When I do use the tripod I try to get as low an angle as possible, mainly to diffuse the bg and to get to eye level with what I'm shooting.
Same goes for the monopod when I'm shooting sports, it gives better backgrounds and isolates the subject. If I'm doing landscapes with the 5x4 I'll use the tripod at eye height or above to get as much foreground and background in as possible.

I think tripods are made adjustable to suit the many differing styles of shooting

J

1) At minimum height for small and/or ground level subjects.

2) With the lowest leg partially extended when working in water.

3) Often with two of the three sections extended for an eye level shooting position for deer, if a lower height is required it's quicker to lessen the angle of one of the legs rather than altering the height of all three.

4) As tall as possible when trying to minimize converging verticals, buildings, trees,etc.

5) As low as possible when trying to exagerate converging verticals, buildings, trees,etc.

Since I'm always trying to get eye-level with my subject that usually involves being low down which has the additional advantage of making me less conspicuous.



Paul

EDIT: I think Tim's got the best idea

Ohh Tim - you crack me up

It appears i'm the same as you Mike!!

I also dought if my old tripod would support my 400mm when fully {or partially} extended.

Alan

i mainly use my tripod for hide work, so it looks like i'm in the muddy knees category (though sometimes i remember a chair),

for most other photography i handhold as my longest is only a 300mm F4

My Benbo (an old Kennett engineering one, forged from anvils and scaffold poles) has been used in more ways than I can list, at various heights, spanning an assortment of ditches and holes in the ground, and most effectively for belting some burk who wanted to nick my gear!

I use mine to hide behind when taking pictures, good weightloss incentive!!

For me it depends entirely on what I'm trying to achieve. For sea birds in flight I have been setting the camera at eye level to aid panning however I can see that this is not giving me the best results. Lowering the point of view will give me a better angle but will make it much more difficult to swing the camera round.

I never use a centre column

The legs on the new Manfrotto 055 will go absolutely flat but you do need a right angle finder or the ability to stand on your head

For me it all depends on what I am shooting, what tripod I am using etc, quite often I will be a ground level, I used to use my Benbo but really find that it wobbles too much no matter how I have it set up, I find myself using an inverted column more and more these days....

For the most part I am in the dirty knee brigade, although for long shoots I use a small tripod stool and extend the legs just enough to get a comfy shooting position.

and LOL at Tim definately the best way to use them...

Phil

I work out exactly where I want the camera to be (depends on shot), and then I set up the tripod around that position. The image is the most important thing. If that means having one of the legs in a river, then so be it. I am happy to sacrifice stability for the sake of composition. Then again, its always advisable to get as close to the ground as possible when appropriate.

Hi All,

95% of the time, I'm shooting from my Land Rover, either from the drivers seat or the back. So either mid height or low. I don't usually use dome hides etc, as my height restricts me with head room a great deal. I am just setting up a hide in my shed with a feeding station so I will be shooting from a chair/stool.

Regards

Rob

As with everything in photography: it depends on what I would like to achieve. Sometimes I exchange it for bean bag to get very close to flowers and interesting stones for wide-angle photo with lots of foreground and sometimes I'll extend it as long as it'll go to clear clutter in composition or to avoid converging verticals as Justin pointed out (on the other hand that is not really a problem with 5x4 ).

But that aside, Tim had the best use for his tripod !

Cheers,
Marko

Hello all,

One way that I use mine is with two legs extended when shooting bugs etc in the field. That way I can move it back and forth slightly to achieve focus on the spot I want using manual focussing. This seems to work quite well and saves waving your hand around right in front of the bug! .

Ian