... you might also like to check out the panorama and lifestyle pages using the menu button, above...
tripod 'frame of mind'
A camera lets a stream of light from a small part of the world fall on a sensitive recording surface in a controlled way. One 'control' is how and where the camera is positioned
and held when the shutter is open.
Any camera movement with an open shutter will result in a blurred image. Modern automatic cameras, in low light or at night, force long exposure times to maximise the light
received. Sadly, many photographers do not see this has happened by looking at a small display at the time of shooting.
As a photographer, shift your mindset from always holding the camera to thinking about new ways to hold it when the shutter is opened, out of your hands.
innovative 'tripods'
The gorillapod is a 3 legged ball-and-socket jointed 'hand' which can grip in the same way a hand does.
The quikpod holds the camera much further than arm's length for well composed sets of faces, or reaching above the crowd.the camera. The cam-pod is a beanbag for cameras.The FigRig is a unique pro solution to holding a video camera, and suggests a DIY possibility. All these gadgets
are stretching the meaning of the word 'tripod', but lets stick with it as a concept.
If you are a bit practical, there's a do-it-yourself (DIY) gorillapod video available at metacafe
video.
creative thinking
Its night-time. You're in the city. The office, car, street and sign lights paint a surreal picture. You set you camera on your tripod (FOZI of course!.. you have it with you!). Set the
exposure for 5 seconds and 'paint' a picture. If it doesn't work, change the position and change the exposure time. Try again until you've got it.
You're at the beach. Its dusk. The light is very low. Take out your FOZI and create a surreal image (2 seconds exposure) of the waves 'smothering' the rocks like ghostly mist.
tips & suggestions
Cameratown have posted an amazing list of FREE SOFTWARE you can use to create and manipulate images.
For night-time shots, always force the shutter time to 1/100 second, and force the flash to fire! Cameras with a
"shutter priority" setting will allow this. Find out if this is possible on your camera now, or make sure its there when you buy your next one.
Always hold the camera against a nearby rigid surface, such as a wall, column or table inside. Outside, use a post, car, rock, building wall
or even a parking meter.
When you enter a new place, form the habit of looking for "natural tripods" already there.
Explore your camera's technical options. Maybe you can set the exposure time (shutter) to anything you want, but you never realised this was possible until now.
Maybe you can set the aperature to anything you want - large "f stop" number (smaller aperture) for sharper images, smaller "f stop" numbers (larger aperture) for a narrow focus range.
If your camera has a panorama setting, experiment with it. This forces the camera to hold the aperture and shutter fixed for multiple shots. When you come to
stitch them together, you won't have to 'match' the sky colour and backgrounds. All Canon cameras have a wonderful free "stitch" program included on the
package CD. If you don't have a Canon, find a friend with one and install it on your computer. You can use it with your own sets of "panorama" images, by selecting them within the
program.
Explore Wayne Cosshall's Digital ImagerMaker site. Wayne has chosen to find and present some "deep and meaningful" content about
images across a broad range of subjects for both amateur and pro image artists.
Flickr has a long exposure specialist group sharing their creativity.
