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Thread: How do you set up your tripod?

  1. #11
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Since I don't use any kind of tripod head or center column for LF use, I do it the same way early surveyors did for decades, who were expected to be totally precise, but it's also become so instinctive and easy for me that it's hard to describe. It's the kind of thing a video would work better at communicating, but I don't have one. I scout for my position and typically mark it with a trekking pole or by memorizing a particular rock or leaf or whatever. Then just adjust the legs so that my eye position will be right where I want it. The camera platform has to align to the same plane as I want my camera tilted or not, which is not necessarily level. Legs can be quickly extended or retracted, and their length adjusted to achieve exactly what I want, even on precarious boulder settings.
    It just becomes second nature and quick after awhile, and sure as heck is more stable than any kind of tripod head.

  2. #12
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Typical set up on a level surface: I predict the camera height I want visually, then extend the tripod legs accordingly, roughly allowing for a little loss spreading the legs. Before spreading, I set one leg to the desired height and tighten, then stand the tripod up and loosen the other legs so they fall to match and tighten, then spread the legs and attach the camera.

    Sometimes the camera is already attached, which makes it clumsier, but usually not as clumsy as detaching and re-attaching the camera would be.
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  3. #13

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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Quote Originally Posted by C. D. Keth View Post
    Sharpie or white-out, depending on which will stand out on the tubes of your tripod. Just mark every two inches. You can ballpark a height with one leg and then set the other two to the same number of marks showing to be pretty level. It's very quick.
    Apropos markings, my Novoflex comes with markings integrated into the carbon fibre legs, making it really quick to match height across all 3 (or 4) legs.

  4. #14

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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Not to derail the thread, but out of curiosity, how many of you end up shooting most of your material at eye level? I.e. at whatever height you usually walk around and view the world from?

    One of the things I always liked when shooting MF was the subtly different POV it gave when using a WLF. When I started with LF just recently, I almost always ended up setting up the camera at eye level, i.e. standing height. I crafted a makeshift 4x5 viewing frame out of heavy cardboard, attached a string with knots and marks for 75, 90, 135, 150, 210 and 300mm to use when figuring out what I want in the final shot, and only recently did it occur to me that I can get down low, try different angles, etc.

    I guess all those years with MF didn't really generalize to my current approach to LF. It's like learning all over again from scratch. Might just be me...

  5. #15

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    Jun 2010
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    I am mostly a Rolleiflex 6x6 shooter and for street photography where my subjects are always people the waist level perspective is perfect.

    For LF usually buildings as the subject I find i more often need to shoot from a higher vantage point and will set my camera short of a step ladder. I pre-visualize sometimes with help from the focal length app on my phone, set up the tripod, level it and then mount the camera with the lens and cable already attached. I usually do need to move the camera around for the best angle.

  6. #16
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    I don't think about it any more...the tripod goes up. Sometimes it is a bit of a battle, though, finding solid ground in the redwoods -- the duff is suddenly 16 inches deep, what looks solid is not. Edward Weston has a hell of a time with it on his visit to the redwoods on his California adventures.

    Took awhile to get use to t he 11x14 -- I am not use to being able to set up a camera too high.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  7. #17
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    Oct 2006
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Not sure why we are talking about this . . . .but OK.

    My 4x5 outfit is somewhat light weight: Wista-made Zone VI on a little Velbon CF tripod. The Camera is about at the upper limit for the legs.
    • I unstrapped the legs from my bag.
    • Extend the legs all the way (its a short tripod)
    • Adjust the legs to get a rough eye-ball level.
    • Mount the Camera.
    • Re-level the camera via the ball head.

    That is my routine. Hope this helps.
    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

  8. #18
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Quote Originally Posted by 6x6TLL View Post
    Not to derail the thread, but out of curiosity, how many of you end up shooting most of your material at eye level? I.e. at whatever height you usually walk around and view the world from?
    .
    I have developed a suite of age-related aches and pains that discourage me from bending and squatting. I tend to shoot from as close to a standing position as possible. There have been times when a lower perspective is called for and I look for a way to sit down while getting the shot. This means looking for a log or rock . . .sometimes I have a stool along.

    This doesn't change my "routine" for setting up the tripod.
    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

  9. #19

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    Mar 2005
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    Drew...more and more on a seemingly daily basis...I can so relate to this! Then again, I do have a wheelchair-bound friend who is also a street photographer (he shoots with a Leica Monochrom) - and his perspective is perfect!

  10. #20
    Between here and there
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    Sep 1999
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    Re: How do you set up your tripod?

    I think some of my challenges carry over from using 35 mm and medium formats, where I easily can "walk the tripod" somewhere else. I also think the premeditation part is still a bit lacking, since I often set up, look at the groundglass and see that I need to move the whole contraption. Like Vaughn, I sometimes get into situations where the camera is too high up (the head builds height), since I find myself often working at eye level. Compared to pinhole and medium format TLRs where I get much lower vantage points - the tools makes me see different aspects of the same subject.

    I am not too keen on going the route of having the legs less extended and raising the column, but I guess that could work in a pinch. Quite a few good tips and tricks in your answers - keep'em coming.
    "Be still and allow the mud to settle."

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