off-tripod technique

In the course of doing what I enjoy doing, I often find myself in a spot where a tripod is either inconvenient or impossible. For instance, this photograph was taken while being stuck on a ledge where I was literally hanging on by the heels of my boots:

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Imagine my surprise when the picture was sharp enough for me to blow up to a 16x20. (You can't tell from the fuzzy scan, so you'll have to trust me on this) On reflection, I think it was because of the following:

<LI> I could use a fairly large aperture and still get good depth of field because I was at 24mm on my zoom.

<LI> The fact that I was in a precarious situation forced me to lean back heavily on the rock surface, thus inadvertantly bracing my shoulders.

<LI> I was exhausted and breathing heavily, so consciously forced myself to hold my breath as I squeezed the shutter release.

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Upon my return, I read through a few other books and picked up some other techniques:

<LI> If you can, build a "tripod" out of pebbles and rocks to hold your camera and lens, then fire by using the timer release.

<LI> Sitting down with your back against a wall can also serve as a brace. (Galen Rowell reports being able to get 24mm shots at 1/15 that are pin sharp using this technique)

<LI> Bracing your elbows against your knees (like shooting a rifle) also helps.

<LI> Cupping your hand under the lens and then bringing in your arms against your body will also help.

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Are there any techniques that I might have missed? What do you guys do when you're stuck in a spot without a tripod? And how about photography from moving vehicles? (bicycles, horseback, boats, cars?) I'm finding that some of my favorite images (mine as well as others') were made without a tripod. I still lug one around whenever I can, but I no longer feel like I can't take pictures without it.

This may be slightly off-topic, but the IS-lenses from Canon is great when a tripod is out of the question.

This guy has got it worked out, OK. Bracing yourself, especially if you can find something solid to push against is great.

 

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And holding your breath is a positive. Of course, the bigger you are, the better.

Moose Peterson wrote a pretty good article on handholding techniques. You can download that article from his website:

 

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http://www.moose395.net/index.html

I've sat my camera on my camera bag, and used it as sort of a bean bag. It worked OK for wide angles but not so well with my 75-150 zoom.

 

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I've also used a 3-legged EMS portable stool that we were carrying along on vacation to make 8 second time exposures with the camera on the bag and the bag on the stool. This worked very well, but is hard to set up.

 

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I think the question of whether or not to use a tripod is often one of finding the right compromise, what Rowell calls the "limiting factor technique." It also depends a lot on your shooting style. I know for certain kinds of pictures (macro) you absolutely need to use one, but a lot of the time I find its easier to handhold and experiment with different looks if you can get away with it. Most of my photography has been related to travel... and I just can't carry a tripod while on trips. I got nice pictures anyway. Like most things in photography, there are no rules, only guidelines.