The Human Monopod
In the post on shooting in available darkness, I referred to a technique I use to turn myself into a monopod. There was a question in the comments that made me think I wasn’t entirely clear so I thought a whole post on techniques for shooting with a slow shutter speed would be a good thing. I’m sorry for the quality of the model. It is, unfortunately, me. My daughter Nikki helped me out taking the pictures.
There are many ways to shoot ultra-slow even with long lenses. I shot a fire last year that killed two firefighters using a 300mm at about 1/8 sec using nothing but a sturdy bush to support the lens. There was just no way I was going to intrude on that scene with flash. You will find yourself in many situations where these techniques will be invaluable. I don’t remember anyone actually teaching me these, they are just things I have arrived at over the years. I have always hated using a tripod so I have been forced to improvise.
The first photo shows the technique I referred to in the earlier post. I am laying the lens in the crook of my arm and using my left hand to form a brace on my right arm. All in all it is an effective, stable and totally free human pod. Unfortunately I can’t patent this and sell it. With a short lens I can hold this at 1/2 second. Longer lenses I can go to 1/4 or 1/8 second but you have to watch out for motion blur from your subjects moving. This is definitely a high risk shooting method. You may shoot dozens of frames to get a couple but the advantage of shooting available light makes it worth the risk.
The next shot shows me stabilizing against a tree. A pole, the side of a building or pretty much anything that won’t move will work equally well. Be careful that you don’t scuff your gear doing this. Concrete makes a mess out of the finish on your lenses or camera bodies. This technique works very well for extremely slow shutter speeds. I once used my car’s window frame to shoot a time exposure of something like four seconds to get a lightning shot. It worked quite well and I got a super nice shot. You just have to make sure you turn off your engine or your car’s vibrations will ruin your frame. As a matter of a fact, make sure that what you lean against doesn’t have any vibrations that are obvious to you or you will have defeated yourself.
The next shot shows how to use your camera bag as a tripod. I have actually shot fireworks this way. I did mention that I don’t like carrying around the sticks didn’t I. In fact, I have used a tripod only once to shoot fireworks since I became a pro about 17 years ago. Most people won’t be quite as crazy as me but there it is. There are several other ways to stabilize your camera. You can set it on the ground and use your shoe to give the proper lift to your lens. You can set the camera on your knees while you are seated. You can even carry a small bean bag and use it to set your camera on for longer exposures. Oh yeah, you could even go buy a tripod! Finally, Nikki made a really nice frame of me and that is really tough to do! I thought I would include it here because it really is one of the better photos that I have ever had made, and this by a 14 year old.
Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
Thanks for the humanopod tip. I’m going to try it out tomorrow morning (thought I don’t think I’ll get to 1/2 or 1/8 hand-holding!)
Robert
November 18, 2007 at 12:07 am
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve been reading (and lurking) quite a lot lately, and I’ve loved all of the information that I’ve learned. I’m just an amateur (and a neighbor, apparently, since we’re just on the other side of the Limestone/Madison county line!), but I’ve learned some terrific tips from you! Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise!
(Oh, and that’s a great shot from your daughter!)
Sinead
November 18, 2007 at 2:16 am
Ah yes, “the pose”. Guaranteed to make you look strange no matter what the occasion…
bunnyinjapan
November 18, 2007 at 6:00 am
Terrific! I have always advocated using a tripod to preclude camera shake-I found your method great! I got it down to 1/4 sec.Regards, Ken
Kenneth William Caleno
November 19, 2007 at 1:15 am
[...] darkness. It was just after dusk and my exposure was 1/6th sec, f4, ISO 1000. I was using my human monopod technique and decided to strap on my cat burglar mask and steal a little light. Stealing light means I was [...]
Stealing Light « A Little News
December 3, 2007 at 2:51 am
Gary,
I came across your page via Matt Kloskowski…. Gret work your producing, and a tremendous contribution to the photographic community, thank you for all of your efforts! Please keep up the good work… Ill be sure to read all I can.
I have a tip related to this topic of stabilizing a camera. It was taught to me by a womderful professor of mine while attending S.V.A. ….way back! Her name is Beverly Nadelman, she was once the assistant to John Sexton, and W. Eugene Smith.
It goes like this… placing a camera strap ( connected of course To the camera in usual fashion)…..around your neck…. you take your right arm and bring it up through the opening between the left and right parts of the strap…. and you wrap your right arm over the right strap and then up again….. the idea is to shorten your strap so that when you do this with the camera held to your eye…. that the strap is then pulled tightly…. this drastically helps to stabilize the camera! Try it… I think you may find yourself using it, its wuick and effective!
Then there is also the chain monopod method…. a chain fastened to the tripod threads on the bottom of your camera… simply with a wingnut, is then dropped down and stepped on with your foot… pulling tension and again…. lower shutter speeds!
Hope this helps! Think of me when you use any of these and laugh!
Again great work… glad to have come across it!
Best wishes,
Jason Joseph
http://www.JasonJosephStudio.com
Jason Joseph N.Y.C.
February 8, 2008 at 6:37 am
Correction….. I found you through David Hobby over at Strobist.com Sorry… so many blogs … so little sleep!
Jason Joseph N.Y.C.
February 8, 2008 at 6:43 am
[...] As the daylight disappeared altogether, I tried some hand held shots in the dusk light. I used the human monopod technique to steady myself. My shutter speeds were something like 1/4 second and I was shooting at [...]
The Delta Queen And Natural Light « A Little News
July 5, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Thank you!
That was a very helpful article, especially because of the pictures.
Johan
October 6, 2009 at 5:26 am