Three Photography Techniques That Require a Tripod
Although they’re not required to take an excellent photo, they allow room for exponential photography improvement. Here are three types of photography techniques that using a camera tripod makes easier.
Long exposures
Everybody has seen those jaw-droppingly beautiful photos of the night sky dotted with a trail of stars or the waterfall that looks as glossy and smooth as glass. These photos are almost only ever a success when a tripod is used because they are created through long exposures. If you’re unaware, a long exposure is when you slow down the shutter speed from anywhere between three seconds to, for examples sake, 30 minutes. These photos allow for the moving objects in the photo to blur and the static objects to remain sharp. This can create stunning effect, but only if you have a tripod. For a long exposure to work properly the camera must remain completely still, otherwise the entire image will end up blurry. Even for shorter long exposures, any slight movement of the camera will cause a blur, so a tripod is almost always necessary to get that perfect shot. Sometimes, it’s even necessary to use a remote shutter release so that the movement of pressing the shutter button doesn’t cause any unwanted blur.
High Dynamic Range photography
HDR photography has been around for ages. It involves combining a number of images of the same subject, with varying exposures, into one to give the image a more realistic and dynamic effect. In order to create a perfect HDR photo, a tripod is essential. The reason for this is because HDR images are generally created using the bracketing function, also known as AEB, in most cameras. This function allows for the camera to take three different photos with only one shutter click, each with a different exposure. So why do you need a tripod? Because the camera still takes time to cycle through and take each image in sequence. Without even thinking about shutter speeds, you would have to handhold the camera for upwards of at least a second while it takes all three photos. Any movement will create a shift in the images that are shot, which will result in a less than perfect HDR composition.
Panoramas
Panoramas, which are large images that are created by stitching a series of photos together, are no small feat. However, with a tripod, making a beautiful panorama shot becomes much easier. To shoot a panorama, you must move your camera from one side of your subject to the other, leaving some overlap in between. The photos, which can be as many as 15 to 20, are then stitched together to give the viewer an elongated perspective. If you use a tripod, it will keep each shot steady and smooth, making the stitching process much easier. Furthermore, there are a variety of add-ons and types of tripods that include a rotatable panoramic heads. These allow the photographer to easily and smoothly move their camera across the scene and capture it flawlessly.
