Tricks For How To Properly Work With A Monopod

This is a pointer you definitely won't find elsewhere!

that using a tripod can cut out camera instability and give us cleaner, sharper pictures. That's a universal law!
Yet dragging around an unwieldy tripod can frequently be a major challenge, not forgetting that a lot of the time we are in a position where it is impossible to use one. There simply is not sufficient space.

That's why, the majority of photogs (at least those that are choosy enough to want great pictures) end up getting themselves a monopod.

In case you didn't know - a monopod has the same sort of head and so forth as a tripod, but has the benefit of only using one leg.

This feature can be both good and not so good...

Having only one leg makes it lighter and easier to tote around - a monopod could even be employed as a walking stick if you are trekking out in the great oudoors.

Yet, after one or two uses, most of us discover that using our monopod isn't any more stable than shooting handheld. What's more since it has only a single leg, it moves around so much that it is actually LESS STABLE than shooting handheld. Therefore we toss it in a spare closet and refuse to ever use it again.

Big mistake! Your monopod is entirely as stable as a tripod, it's only that so few of us have learned how to properly work with it.

Most of us use it as a stick with a camera on the top - instead, we need to be working with it like a tripod!

This is how to work with the monopod...

First... To get a stable platform we require three legs. Like a tripod. The monopod itself is ONE leg, then we use our own two legs, spread apart at a bit more than shoulder width work as the additional two legs of the tripod.

Second... Place the monopod in front of you in such a way that when you tilt it back and bring the camera's viewfinder to your eye, the monopod creates a 45 degree angle to the front. You'll have to increase the monopod's leg by quite a lot to get the 45 degree lean and yet have it wind up at eye level.

There's is the tripod, your two legs spread to the side and the monopods' leg extended to the front…

Third... Your camera needs to be affixed to a swivel head. Tilt the camera forward so that when you tilt the monopod back at a 45 degree angle to your eye, the lens is level even though the monopod is leaning at 45 degrees backwards.

Fourth... Then when you are shooting, be sure to get into a stable stance and press the camera's viewfinder tightly against your face. You now have a - virtual - tripod that's at least as secure as most - real - tripods. With the additional bonus of being easy to carry around!

Keep an eye out for future TRIPOD ideas that will make your photo sessions better.