One of the first things I was taught when I started to learn photography was that if my focal length was shorter than my shutter speed I needed to rest the camera on something, or adjust my settings to achieve a higher shutter speed.  Let me give an example, if my focal length is 75mm my shutter speed should not be below 1/80th of a second to achieve acceptable sharpness.  Ideally my shutter speed should be at least twice my focal length if I am hand holding the camera.  Now this was based on using a 35mm film camera, so using most new DSLRs I have to figure in the crop factor which increases the effective focal length. So a 50mm lens on a camera with a crop factor of 1.5 (a popular crop factor) gives me an effective focal length of 75mm.  Hopefully I haven’t lost you yet, and there are ways around that rule such as using your flash to freeze motion.  But anyway, if you are going to be using a slow shutter speed you should be using a tripod.

What are some other reasons we might want to use a tripod?

• We could be working in an wet/sandy/fill in the blank environment
• We are photographing still life/tabletop stock photos
• We need consistency

Wet/Sandy Environment

When you are working in less than ideal environments you have to take extra precautions to keep your camera and other gear clean and dry.  If you can keep your camera up on a tripod it will help protect it, without you holding it in your hands the entire time.  Also you can walk up to your subject to make any changes without loosing that perfect camera angle that you spent so long picking.

Still Life/ Tabletop Stock Photos

When you are taking a lot of tabletop photos it is much easier to have the camera set on a tripod than finding the same angle after each small adjustment of your subject.  Also if you plan on shooting tabletop items all the time you may want to consider a set up like I described in the Taking a Self Portrait post.  Trust me, your back will thank you at the end of the day.

We need consistency

One thing that I have learned while doing Marine Corps Ball Pictures is that consistency is the key to editing.  The more consistent you are, the quicker the editing will go.  This holds true in stock photography as well.  Instead of cropping each individual image, you can crop one then sync others to the same crop saving you a lot of time.

If you are ready to buy a tripod now, use this link to head over to Adorama where they have some good deals on tripods, as well as used tripods.