BIG Tripods!

One day while looking at the orchard ladder in my backyard, I realized it just needed a tripod head. Some scrap, a hole drilled for a 3/8" stud and there it was, the tallest tripod in town.... ;-)

 

 

 

Now to try it out, 10.5mm on D200 and a wireless remote release. The ladder is made by Hasegawa and is very stable. I got the platform version and it would work for elevated handheld shooting. If someone needed an elevated view over crowds or for a unique view point this might work. The company has a site with all the dimensions and info..... www.hasegawaladders.com

 

A selfie of sorts,... that's me peaking over the corn. Am up to 30 raised beds, most on drip irrigation, 6 grape vines, and 8 fruit trees.

It's amazing what intensive agricultue like this can produce, excess produce doesn't go to waste, it gets shared.

 

This reminds me of a group shot I did many years ago in a power plant. My 4x5 Toyo, lenses, film, Polaroid back and large Manfrotto tripod went about 30 feet up in a man lifter along with one somewhat uncomfortable photographer. I fired my 8 strobes with a Vivitar 285 from camera position and optical slaves. Your ladder looks interesting--how portable is it?

The ladder is rather bulky so would need a pickup truck or roof rack to transport. Weight is very reasonable as it’s all aluminum, I’m in my late seventies and only weight about 135 pounds and have no problem moving it around the yard. The wide footprint and adjustable third leg makes it easy to use on uneven surfaces.

I have a 9' tripod, a Gitzo "Giant" model, which is resting quietly in my attics. Somehow a 12 lb tripod with a 4 lb head and 3 lb case is not a constant companion on the road. Instead I have a small drone with a 20 MP camera which I use, in effect, as a flying tripod, which can easily peek [sic] over 7' corn stocks, 40' trees and 200' cliffs. For more modest heights, indoors, I use heavy-duty lighting stands, up to 27' tall (typically 12' or so) and robotic cameras for video.

Archaeologists have used stepladders and even 'straight' ladders (with ropes) for shots of excavations since the 19th c.

Here is an image of plow scars at bottom of plow zone taken from a 6 foot ladder.

Biggest 'tripod' I ever got to use was when shooting a brochure for a forklift truck company. I wanted a high viewpoint of the assembled staff. "No problem" said the manager, and 1 minute later a forklift with cherry-picker attachment drove up behind me. I was quickly and smoothly elevated to the desired height and got several great shots of their smiling (almost smirking) staff. If only all jobs were like that!