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<\/p>\nI was talking with a friend the other day in Joshua Tree about the differences between shooting landscape photography from a tripod versus hand-held. \u00a0He had been faithfully photographing from a tripod but did some shooting hand-held, apparently for the first time, and was excited with the sense of freedom he experienced. \u00a0We had a brief conversation on the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. \u00a0I’d like to share the conversation with you.<\/p>\n
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The primary reason for shooting from a tripod is to get the sharpest possible image. \u00a0In fact, some have compared the tripod to the original image stabilization technology, long before it was being incorporated into lenses and camera bodies. \u00a0When shooting on a tripod, if you need a 10 second exposure because you\u2019re shooting in low light it doesn\u2019t matter. \u00a0Your camera will be stable during the entire exposure. \u00a0You\u2019re free to use a smaller aperture to get the depth of field you need or take advantage of your lens’ sharpness \u2018sweet spot\u2019, usually 2 or 3 stops above wide-open.<\/p>\n
When shooting hand-held, you are never guaranteed that there won\u2019t be any camera movement during the exposure but you can minimize the risk by taking the following steps. \u00a0First, follow the \u2018reciprocal focal length\u2019 rule; that is, make sure your shutter speed is 1 dividend by the focal length or faster. \u00a0So if your focal length is 100 mm, then be sure your shutter speed is 1\/100 sec. or faster. \u00a0Secondly, stabilize your body by resting your left elbow against your chest. \u00a0You are essentially turning your body into a tripod. \u00a0Thirdly, use image stabilization in your lens or camera body if it\u2019s available. \u00a0Often, image stabilization will give you a two stop advantage. \u00a0In other words, say you\u2019re shooting with a 400 mm lens. \u00a0Without image stabilization you will need a shutter speed of 1\/400 sec. or faster. \u00a0With a 1 stop image stabilization advantage you can shoot with a 1\/200 sec. shutter speed and with a 2 stop advantage you can shot at 1\/100 sec.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no question that shooting hand-held is far more spontaneous than shooting from a tripod. \u00a0There are situations where the spontaneity of hand-held is a great advantage. \u00a0When I take a group to Devil\u2019s Garden in Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante I recommend they shoot hand-held because there\u2019s so much to photograph there, so many weird formations clamoring for attention.<\/p>\n
But there are other situations that benefit from a more deliberate approach, situations that require thought and just slowing down enough to get a sense of place and connecting with the scene before you. \u00a0And in these situations, a tripod facilitates this far better than shooting hand-held. \u00a0With a tripod you have to slow down.<\/p>\n
Of course, this discussion is in the context of landscape and seascape photography. \u00a0If you were doing street or travel photography, for instance, shooting hand-held is the only way to go.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the matter of composition. \u00a0I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m very meticulous about my compositions. \u00a0I obsess over border patrol, deciding what\u2019s in the frame and what\u2019s not. \u00a0Is it OK to include part of that bush, none of it or all of it. If part of it, how much?<\/p>\n
One of the things with composition when hand-held, when you\u2019re looking at the left edge of the frame to get it just right, there\u2019s a good chance that the camera will move when you shift your eye to the right edge. \u00a0And what you carefully aligned on the left is now off. \u00a0The same goes for top and bottom edges. \u00a0It\u2019s easy to inadvertently end up with amputated elements on the edges. \u00a0And it\u2019s because it\u2019s hard not to shift the camera by the tiniest amount when your eye moves from one edge of the frame to the other,<\/p>\n
On a tripod, this is not a problem. The camera won\u2019t move and you can more easily set up a very tricky and precise composition. \u00a0You can also use live view when on a tripod to check and even create your compositions when on a tripod. \u00a0However, once I have the composition I like in live view, I still double-check it in the viewfinder, just to make sure.<\/p>\n
You can compensate for the composition problem when shooting hand-held by zooming out a littler to make sure you\u2019re not amputating any edge elements unintentionally. \u00a0Then, in the digital darkroom, you can crop the image to the size you had envisioned,<\/p>\n
My personal preference is to shoot most of my landscape and seascape shots from a tripod. For me, slowing down is an important part of the process of capturing what I\u2019m feeling. \u00a0Even on a tripod, it\u2019s possible to get a blurry image from camera shake. \u00a0When I\u2019m shooting with my 100-400 lens, I have to be careful of such things as the vibration caused by mirror flap or, worse yet, by wind. \u00a0So I either shoot from live view (now that I have a camera that will focus in live view) or with mirror lockup. \u00a0I also use a 2 second delay for my normal lenses and a 10 second delay for the 100-400. \u00a0And, if there\u2019s any kind of breeze I\u2019ll wait for a lull and then get the shot, being sure to hold the camera strap so it doesn\u2019t blow in the wind.<\/p>\n
But for those circumstances where spontaneity is important, I too enjoy the freedom of shooting hand-held.<\/p>\n