I was just in Rome, and took a few good shots of the Coliseum. More interesting than the coliseum were the many (illegal) tripod salesman nearby. They set up camp at night, waiting for tourists to come by and realize that their pictures of the coliseum are horribly blurry. The solution to their woes, of course, is to buy a tripod. For two euros, I managed to snap the picture of a tripod salesman at right. Soon after, the head tripod salesman became concerned that I might be a policeman, so I quickly left.

As you know, camera shake is the enemy of good photos. While the shutter is open, any movement of the camera will cause blurring, and all of those precious megapixels you paid for will never get the chance to do their job. The longer the shutter is open (as in poorly lit conditions), the bigger the problem becomes. And the problem becomes particularly bad with long focal length lenses. Using a faster shutter speed and higher ISO helps, but this can only go so far. Since humans are relatively terrible at holding a camera steady, we invented the TRIPOD! Check out the difference between these two pictures to see what a huge difference it can make.

The best way and most cost effective way to take better whots is to use a tripod. Period. Do NOT spend hundreds if not thousands for a new camera without first getting a tripod.

A tripod had three legs as well as a HEAD. The head is what enables you to aim the camera where you want.

There are two basic types of heads:

The most popular and useful is the BALL head. It is essentially a metal ball in a socket that can be tightened when you achieve the correct orientation. You loosen the head, point the camera in any plane, and then retighten. That's it. For portrait orientation, the socket has a slot in it that allows the camera to be tilted to that orientation.

The second type (pan-tilt style) isolates vertical and horizontal movement. The advantage to this type of head is that it isolates vertical from horizontal movement, so you can, for example, pan sideways without affecting vertical orientation. This is generally more important for video cameras than for picture cameras. Interestingly, a number of the better ball heads offer vertical movement isolation with a seperate pan adjstment.

Tripods are made of a variety of materials, including wood, aluminum, and carbon fiber. The cheapest tend to be aluminum ones. Wood is the choice for professionals who don't care about weight and like its vibration dampening properties. Carbon fiber is super lightweigt and dampens vibrations well, but it is very expensive. Also, like wood, it has low thermal conductivity, so it feels better on the hands in cold weather than aluminum. Be sure to get a tripod that is high enough so you can comfortably use it when standing. Hunching over to look through the viewfinder gets old really fast.

Personally, I use a carbon fiber tripod with a lightweight magnesium ball head. I really like to travel and hike, so light weight is very important to me. The thought of carrying a 15 pound tripod is nauseating. For $150.00, you can have an excellent, lightweight tripod and head, and your pictures and wallet will thank you for it.

Professional photographers use tripods made by wither Gitzo or Manfoitto. I have used both of these brands, and they are wonderful. They are easy to use and dampen vibrations well. However, for the average user, spending over $500.00 for a tripod is outrageous. If you have money to burn, by all means buy one of these, but otherwise, spend your money on a better camera body or lens. The Gitzo Mountaineer tripod is my favorite, but it costs about $750.00.