Introduction What is photography? The history of photography What this site will do for you Light: The most important element Why light is important to a photograph The many types of light Controlling light in your pictures The camera The basic function Types of cameras Choosing the right camera Putting the image together: the Lens How the lens bends light: a tutorial A brief introduction to apertures The variety of lenses Choosing a lens Exposure: a film tutorial How film records an image Understanding film speed Print vs. Slide film Film recommendations Taking Pictures Depth-of-field Apertures and shutter speeds Composition and experimentation: the basics Metering: when you can't guess The many types of picture-taking Photography with a point-and-shoot Accessories Tripods: for when you can't stay still Lens filters Post-processing: after development Scanning photos The digital darkroom Photo and equipment storage
Why even bother using a tripod?
After reading about shutter speeds, you may be wondering why you would need something to support your camera, since the shutter moves at such fast speeds. You may think that it is not even practical to use a large, bulky tripod, because your hands are perfectly fine. Well, while your hands are a practical support structure for candids, if you don’t have a tripod handy in many situations, you will lose a precious moment in time. Here are a couple of cases when a tripod will be needed:
-When you are working in dark places, such as in the night, or in a low-lit room.
-When you are doing landscape work
-When you want to run the self-timer, so you can be in the picture, as in a group photo.
-When you want to achieve some sort of special effect with a long exposure (i.e. Taking a picture of a city at night, with moving cars blurred in a line).
Basically, it all adds up to this: Tripods prevent you pictures from being blurred.
Choosing a tripod for landscape work
Most likely landscape photos are the most vital pictures in which you will need a tripod. Have you ever seen the great work of Ansel Adams and other landscape photographers? After seeing them, you may be wanting to take landscape photographs just as sharp as theirs. How did their pictures get to be razor sharp? Because they used tripods. And not a small, flimsy ones. Most professional scenery photographers use large, heavy tripods, sometimes weighing as much as 15-20 pounds, and they can cost over $300. Because landscape photographs tend to be long exposures, you will need a good, heavy tripod so wind will not shake your camera during exposure time.
Choosing a tripod
When choosing a tripod for your camera, consider getting a big, heavy one and a small, light one. The best tripod makers include Bogen/Manfrotto, Gitzo, Slik, Velbon, Vivitar, and more. Don’t be scared by the price of some of the big tripods. There are a couple of excellent tripods that cost under $100. Small, light tripods typically cost less than $40.
"Wait a minute, why recommend a small, light tripod!?", you may be asking. Its pretty logical that you should have a small, light tripod handy, just in case you will be hiking through some huge jungle. This is one of those situations where you do not want to be lugging around a 20lb. tripod!
OK, you know all you want to know about tripods, so lets continue on with learning about filters.