Extending your Arm

You see it all of the time – an excited picture-taker is pointing her camera at herself with an extended arm. She’s taking her own photo.

She could have used a QuikPod. I first saw a demo of the QuikPod at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January and recently ordered one through Amazon.

The people at QuikPod designed a neat device that helps these photographers take better self-portraits. The QuikPod is small and is packaged in a lightweight net carrying case that fits in a coat pocket or purse.

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Make yourself a simple “strap tripod”

Owing to various photo assignments, I seem to spend a considerable of time in the field. But I’ll have to admit that I’m not a big fan of lugging around a tripod. My “excuse” is that with all of the shuttling back and forth, a tripod is not the easiest item to carry-on when traveling by airplane.

There are many times however, that I could use the rock-steady support of a tripod. For these occasions, I make do with a substitute accessory that easily stores in my pocket or backpack.

As you’ll see, this accessory is not very sophisticated, but it does an adequate job of squeezing two or three additional stops of exposure from my camera when the light is fading.

These are the few simple materials that I used for this project: 6 feet of web strapping – available from Hobby Lobby, Michaels or other fabric store one plastic strap adjuster – also available from fabric store one 1/4″ x 20 threaded bolt – from hardware store (three are shown in this photo) one grommet – from hardware store; If you don’t have a grommet kit, this will be your biggest expense. Since I already have a grommet kit, I save about $10. Another benefit of using this strap tripod is that it’s dirt cheap to make – about $3.

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