The Different Pros And Cons Of Using A Tripod In Photography

“Why should I use a tripod in my photo shoot? It’s something that model photographers use in glamour photography. But I am shooting a landscape. Why should I?”

This is a common question of many beginner photographers who don’t exactly have a huge idea of the subject matter.

No matter whether it’s glamour photography or wildlife photography, you need to know one thing at the very least that tripods are part and parcel of any type of photography equipment (be it one made for wildlife, or low light or glamour or anything else).

The niche doesn’t really matter, the equipment does.

Anyway, in this article, we will take a peek at a few of the commonest pros and cons of using a tripod for a photo shoot. Let’s begin without further ado.

The Pros

• Reduced camera shake

This one’s the most obvious benefit of the lot.

A tripod, as depicted by the image above has three legs (no prizes for guessing!) that are in direct contact with the ground. The photographer places the camera on top of it and then clicks on the shutter and takes the shot (another obvious point).

But then, how does it prevent all those undesirable camera shakes? The answer’s simple physics. It’s all there in the centre of gravity. It lowers the centre of gravity significantly and thus, increases stability at the same time.

So if you want to reduce your camera shake in the best possible manner, a tripod should be your way to go.

• If you’ve got a trigger happy finger problem, a tripod can be your solution

Many beginner photographers have this annoying problem. As soon as they can get their hands on a camera, they start shooting pointless scenes in general.

Right, now why do they do that? Maybe too much excitement, but that should not be our main topic of discussion especially when this article is concerned.

The point is using a tripod may bring those trigger happy fingers down to a controllable limit. Now that’s a benefit indeed; I honestly feel it is.

• A tripod is useful for long exposure

A tripod is good for stability, which in turn can benefit long exposure shots in general. Here’s ane example for you:

A long exposure shot requires a good deal of camera stability. The slightest shake here and there can ruin the entire image. So it’s almost a no-brainer to say that a tripod benefits long exposure shots more than anything else in general.

• Tripods and telephoto lenses are made for one another

Telephoto lenses are honestly too difficult to be kept steady.

They have a focal length that magnifies any vibration that’s caused by the camera shutter, the wind, the mirror or by the photographer. There are probably only two ways through which you might be able to increase the stability of telephoto lenses in the best possible manner.

Either you put the camera down and then find out a way to take the photograph from that position itself or use a tripod for the shoot. Make your choice.

P.S. You are a superman if you go for the former option; the tripod-less one.

The Cons

• Inexpensive tripods can be a total waste of money

Go for a tripod only if can afford a good one.

The Inexpensive ones may wobble a lot on their legs and may actually worsen the quality of the image form a general sense of view. So decide wisely.

• Tripods can definitely slow you down

You will face this problem a lot in your photo shoots especially if you are a beginner of the subject.

A tripod takes quite a bit of time to be set up in a particular location. If you take too long to set up a tripod in its designated area, you may actually miss a good shot. So where do you think your priorities lie?

• Tripods are clumsy

Let’s not kid ourselves.

Tripods are definitely a little awkward to carry around, and people might just get into the way a whole lot time if you start using tripods on a busy street for any photo shoot purposes (Ahem! Do you honestly use a tripod on a busy street? If you do, DON’T).

So that’s pretty much it then. Hope you found the article handy for your purpose. With that, we’ll sign off finally for the day. Bye!

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