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Thread: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

  1. #21

    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    At Yellowstone falls I hand held an 8x10 shot with a 600C Fuji and it was more about the congestion on the viewing platform than a tripod. Out of the side of the dark cloth when I got the focus set I could see one of the side set knobs lining up with a specific point in the scene and closed down the shutter, set the shutter speed at 1/30th and f16 I believe lining up with that spot I pulled the slide and held the camera in both hands and used my chin to stabilize things and took the shot. Turned out great much to my surprise. T Max 400 and a long subject surely helped. When you ask for permission to photograph ie. use a tripod, hand then a business card from your day job. Sometimes you just need to get creative.

  2. #22

    Join Date
    May 2015
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    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    Since I have been using vintage gear to shoot with now, people think less "pro" and more amateur than when using scary, black, $$$, money making endeavor than you wood camera thing...

    Life's easier if they assume you are not a pro... ;-)

    Steve K

  3. #23

    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula
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    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Salomon View Post
    Not only old people need a walker!
    True, but it’s a brilliant idea.

  4. #24

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    Jan 2006
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    Tucson AZ
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    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    I modified a hiking stick by drilling a hole down from the top and packing it with a bit of JB Weld, then shoving a piece of 3/8 - 16 threaded brass rod into the hole. Works about as well as any other monopod, but it's a lot lighter. Unfortunately my back is acting up these days so I actually need it to get around much, not just as a camera support.

  5. #25

    Join Date
    May 2014
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    Cote d'Azur France
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    109

    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Andrada View Post
    I modified a hiking stick by drilling a hole down from the top and packing it with a bit of JB Weld, then shoving a piece of 3/8 - 16 threaded brass rod into the hole. Works about as well as any other monopod, but it's a lot lighter. Unfortunately my back is acting up these days so I actually need it to get around much, not just as a camera support.

  6. #26

    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Cote d'Azur France
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    109

    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    I live in the South of France and we have tripod police too, they tend to be gate keepers on abbies, churchs and public buildings etc. After being told I was unable to use my tripod as it was “clearly a professional endevour” I was advised to write to the department whose responsibility it is to caretake these places. I assured them I was not professional and I received an open dated letter granting me permission to use my tripod at will at this particular location. Once armed with this letter the tripod police were charming... Not sure if this is possible in the US but worth some research.
    Peter

  7. #27

    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Del City, OK
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    227

    Re: NO TRIPODS for photography - but painters easels OK?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Sounds a bit risky, Jim. In some of those small Boss Hogg towns, the highway patrolman or sheriff and the judge are in the same family. All it takes is having out of state license plates to get stopped. I never mention anything remotely legal, but might try to gently divert the conversation by asking if he owns any horses or how the fly fishing is around there, something human and not official. But some places have a distinct reason for being hostile, with the law itself running the drug distribution scene or acting as the enforcers in some local cult. Seen it all. In those kinds of places, having a camera at all can get you trouble. There is no positive light. Tell em you're just passing through, quickly. When in doubt in redneck country, I use medium format and a telephoto quickly, instead of a slow view camera. Otherwise, someone might aim back with something more lethal. I grew up within the vicinity of such circumstances, so know the routine. No picture is worth getting shot for, or getting run over for.
    Yeah, that might have worked. I didn’t approach it from a “you better do right because I know powerful people attitude”, but rather an “it’s okay, I know some people you know” attitude. It made no sense to pretend I knew a farmer. He knew I was from the city by looking at my driver’s license. But there are no colleges or universities near by, so that seemed like a likely place to meet someone from around there. Plus, I didn’t have a lot of time to think or plan out my scheme. Anyway, I won’t be back there.

    I had a professor once who told us a story about a time he took a class to the top of the Chrysler Building and took a bunch of photographs from the observatory. It wasn’t open to the public at that time, and they had to pass through a conference room with a conference in progress. He said he told the security at the front and the people in the conference that he was the guide for the 10:30 tour. No one stopped them. After spending some time out there, someone got suspicious and called security. When they left, they were met by the security at the elevator who escorted them out of the building. By acting like he was supposed to be there, everyone let him pass through, and even by the time they caught wise, they couldn’t be certain, due to his confidence, that he wasn’t right and there was a mix up somewhere. The moral, he told us, was to always act like you know what you’re doing, and people will generally leave you alone. It’s probably the most important thing I learned in my 12 years of college. Well that, and it’s a lot easier to do the things you love well than the things that are more practical. I’m a much better artist than I would have been an engineer, actuary, or mathematician. And I’m much happier too. Because when you hate your job, you hate your life, and soon, you’ll hate yourself.

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