You Really Do Need a Good Tripod

I rant and rave about the pitfalls of gear lust in our industry and how this expensive little vice can ruin a photographer’s creative spirit. Folks that hear me speak or attend my workshops get the same worn out lecture over and over (just ask Glenn).

However, to be a successful landscape photographer you really do have to invest in a sturdy but light-weight carbon-fiber tripod and a good quality ball head & clamp. This is the one area where you just can’t “go cheap” and get by on something less. And folks, this is going to set you back over $750. (Sorry Lesley, I just had to write this!)

I strongly urge you to buy a Gitzo carbon-fiber tripod and a Really Right Stuff ball head & clamp. Or if you’re feeling very generous, look at one of RRS’s brand new carbon-fiber tripods made in the USA. Either Gitzo or RRS gear will last a lifetime (or longer) and your back will thank you on every hike you make to capture those great landscape shots.

Getting a shot as sharp as the image below takes a rock-steady tripod. Hiking the miles it takes to find this type of location takes a strong back and a lot of stamina. Try lugging around a ten pound tripod and see how many of these shots you miss from sheer exhaustion. Do yourself and your craft a favor. Get yourself a carbon-fiber tripod!

By way of a disclaimer for the FTC, I have a very good relationship with both Gitzo and Really Right Stuff. I pay them for their fine products and they happily accept my money just as they do for thousands of other photographers.

Dusk on the Pedernales – Johnson City, Texas
Copyright 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens tripod-mounted. The exposure was taken at 20mm, f/16 for 0.8 seconds at ISO 200 using a Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer filter. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Filed under: Photography Tagged: Canon, Canon 5D Mark II, Gitzo Tripods, Landscape Photography, Photography, Really Right Stuff, Texas Hill Country, Texas Landscapes