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Originally Posted by cardsharkk04
This is your biggest problem I think. You know full well the advantages of shooting on a tripod vs shooting handheld, so stop being lazy and bust out the damn tripod!!
Yeah there is definitely some laziness aspect. But also there's also a certain rhythm to hand-held that seems to help inspire me creatively. Maybe my calling is more of a travel photographer.
When I try to set up the shot through a tripod, the composition turns from an artistic expression where I just kind of feel it in the moment as I take the shot--into a mechanical exercise where I'm nudging the camera back and forth and starting to doubt my original vision. Also my tripod is about a foot lower than my head, which makes it a little uncomfortable and changes the scene obviously from what I had envisioned while standing there.
It might be one of those things like pool where if you learn to play in a bar, you're always going to play better on a few beers (unless you retrain yourself). I definitely need to retrain myself to get more comfortable with a tripod. Our tour guide said he hates using his as well and only uses it when he needs to, which made me feel a little better.
I'm definitely going to get a non-back-packing tripod that comes up to eye-level and is easy to set up. That should help me a lot.
I have a similar issue with wide angle - where I can't just scan around and see the shot I want. I have to imagine it in my head. This was my first trip with a wide angle and I definitely had some challenges composing good shots--especially with fields of flowers, which you'd think would be easy but I found really challenging to get a good composition. We were at Three Jacks in the middle of a multi-acre field of crazy purple wild flowers and other colors. It's by far the most amazing wildflower display I've ever seen and I really struggled to find any great shots.