The capture of this low-light bit of aurora over the landscape necessitated the use of a tripod, Mount Rainier National Park / Rebecca Latson
Everything I’ve read about photography, plus advice learned from past photo tours, all stress the importance of using a tripod with your SLR camera for really sharp landscape shots, as well as providing stability for heavy super-telephoto lenses when capturing wildlife portraits. A tripod does add stabilization to prevent camera shake blur. I always tote my tripod everywhere with me during my photo excursions. Since I own more than one, there’s a tripod in my vehicle at all times for those just-in-case moments.
Howver, after years of camerawork and tens of thousands of images, in my opinion, you don’t always need a tripod.
I never felt comfortable attaching the tripod to my camera pack for hikes. I tried fastening it to one side of the pack, then to the very back of the pack, then to the bottom of the pack. All those setups felt too heavy and too unwieldy for me (I stress the “me” part here, since it seems to work just fine for others). The alternative was to utilize my tripod as a hiking stick, thus preventing stumbles along the trail when not in use as a camera platform. That worked for me well enough.
During my hike on the Fremont Lookout Trail at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state earlier this month, my tripod, once again, served double duty as hiking staff. However, for that entire 5.6-mile-roundtrip (9-km) hike, I only used the tripod twice with my camera: once for capturing blue hour and sunrise shots, and once when I used my wireless remote to capture a selfie of me at the Fremont Lookout. That was it. For the remainder of the day, the tripod was my hiking stick. I would have called that a waste except I was glad to use it for those low-light and selfie shots. I never would have achieved even a halfway decent image just handholding the camera (IMO), and I definitely could not have captured the selfie I wanted without the tripod. Still, I took that tripod with me and only used it a couple of times out of the entire day's hike.
A tripod was used to capture this pre-sunrise, blue hour view of "The Mountain" and the mist in the valley at Mount Rainier National Park / Rebecca Latson
If you’ve ever hiked the Fremont Lookout Trail, you’ll know there’s a lot of large and small scree (unconsolidated rock on the mountainside) composing the trail on that last one-third of the hike to the lookout. I swear I closely watched my step and still I stumbled on some of that loose rock to fall against a larger pile of rocks on one side of the trail (which thankfully was not the side with the steep drop off). While waiting for the pain to subside from my owwies, I wondered if an actual hiking pole would not have served me better (although, again, I was happy to have the tripod for those earlier aforementioned shots).
Hiking poles are good at taking strain off the joints, especially when going up or down a steep slope, and are better (because their ends are pointier) at maintaining balance over different types of terrain – like loose scree on trails. They don’t slip around as much, even in water and on wet rocks, because they grab at the ground, while a tripod’s thicker, heavier three legs – even when closed together - can slip around searching for purchase. Plus, hiking poles are easier to grasp.
Returning to my vehicle, I sat for a moment and recounted the times I took my tripod along for hikes and ultimately never used it, preferring instead to handhold the camera. I realized I handheld my camera more often than not when capturing images along the trail. Maybe handholding the camera for photos was not anathema, all previous advice to the contrary. Street photographers don’t use tripods, right? And sometimes, tripods are not allowed (like during specific cave tours). Now that I think about it, I’ve returned home with plenty of great tripod-less shots.
So, when should you handhold your camera versus using a tripod? Well, that’s a matter of personal preference, not to mention camera size. It’s easier to handhold a smartphone or point-and-shoot for a sharp photo than it is a 4x5 large format field camera. However, if you own an SLR, I can give you an idea or two regarding when to use a tripod and how to proceed when choosing not to lug around a tripod. There’s a technique to this.
While visiting a unit of the National Park System, do you intend to capture some lodge interior, starry sky, blue hour, sunrise, or sunset shots? Do you want to achieve that “silky water effect” with waterfalls and other water movement? Use your tripod. That’s practically a requirement – especially for the night sky and silky water compositions.
A low-light interior shot at the balcony overlooking the Old Faithful Inn dining room needed a tripod to prevent camera blur, Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
A circular polarizer, slow shutter speed, and tripod helped capture this "silky water" image of Hot Cascades along the Firehole Lake Drive in Yellowstone National Park / Rebecca Latson
You see, those image types above need slow shutter speeds and larger lens aperture openings to allow enough light in for a well-exposed shot in low-light scenarios. Those same two settings, paired with either a neutral density or circular polarizing filter to prevent overexposure, also allow water movement to sort of flow into itself, producing that silky/satiny look. Try any of this simply handholding your camera and it’s a recipe for a throwaway shot.
On the other hand, if conditions are light enough and bright enough for you to set a higher shutter speed of at least 1/40th of a second, and maybe an aperture of f/8 or more, then you can achieve a nice clear image using the “burst method.”
Burst method? Photographers used to call it the “spray and pray” method because the technique involves holding your finger down on the shutter button for a bunch of successive clicks, hoping at least one of those clicks will produce a clear, sharp shot (for me, it does). Photographers use the burst method for wildlife in motion, whether the camera is on a tripod or handheld; if the shutter speed is fast enough, that burst method will freeze several successive frames of movement to capture a clear shot of that wildlife. But you can also use it for landscape photos. I did during my Fremont Lookout hike.
Out of the four images captured while handholding the camera and using the burst method, this image looked the clearest and sharpest, Mount Rainier National Park / Rebecca Latson
The burst method takes up memory card space, since you’re capturing maybe four shots (if not more) of the same thing at a time. So, if you plan to apply this technique to your photography, bring along plenty of spare memory cards.
FYI, you can use the burst method within a low-light setting, like a lodge or lighted cave interior. But there’s a technique to that too: bump up your ISO to maybe 640 or higher. Your shot will be noisier (grainier) because of this, but you can still get a decently-exposed, clear image and apply noise-reducing software to remove most, if not all, of that grain.
By the time you read this, I’ll be in Yellowstone National Park. I’ve already decided I won’t always be using the tripod. It’s going with me in my vehicle, of course, but during my hikes, I intend to use my hiking poles for maneuvering along those trails, meaning I’ll handhold the camera. I’ve got plenty of memory cards and plenty of spare batteries. As long as I apply my own advice and utilize the burst method, I have no reason to think I won’t get some nice shots without the tripod.
I’ll also be capturing low-light interior shots of my cabins and the lodges, nighttime shots of my lighted-up tent at the campground, and steaming/erupting geysers along Upper Geyser Basin beneath night skies. For those images, I’ll use my tripod.
A tripod and wireless remote were handy for capturing this selfie at the Fremont Fire Lookout, Mount Rainier National Park / Rebecca Latson
