David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Fake a Tripod

A tripod isn't the only steady structure on earth. If you're clever, you can find all kinds of ways to make your camera perfectly steady even without a tripod. Consider:

• A monopod. A monopod is basically a tripod with one foot instead of three. The advantage, of course, is that it's infinitely more compact than a tripod, cheaper, and much faster to set up. And you can use one in museums, gardens—wherever you're not allowed to set up a tripod.

  A monopod (below, left) doesn't steady the camera in all three dimensions. Still, it's a lot better than holding the camera by hand.

• An inanimate object. You can't believe how often there's a wall, a parked car, a bureau, or some other big, stationary object that you can use as a "table" for your camera (below, right).

  Tip

  Don't limit yourself to big, stationary, horizontal objects, either. A pillar, a door frame, or a tree makes a spectacular steadying surface for the side of your camera. Just press it tight from the other side.

  

• A table lamp. The threads at the top of just about any lamp—the place where the lampshade screws on—are precisely the same diameter as a tripod mount! In a pinch, you can whip off the lampshade, screw on the camera, and presto: You've got a rock-steady indoor tripod (see Use the self-timer when sharpness counts.). People might think you're a nutcase, but never mind. It works.

• A pocket tripod. Camera catalogs ...