(N.B.: This entry relates to an earlier post I made, on 6 February, entitled 'The Tripod Terr'ists'. Check on the list, lower right, to read it.)
So ... there I am this afternoon ... overlooking the major highway between Geneva and Lausanne, with a tripod and not one, but two cameras with telephoto lenses. And this security guy drives past slowly, all dark glasses, crew cut and German Shepherd snarling in the back.
I give him a wan smile and carry on with what I'm doing. Jess comes and sits close to me, tail between legs.
The security guy drives a little way down the road, turns around and drives past me again.
I try to pretend I haven't noticed. Jess insinuates herself between my ankles.
The security guy takes a side road, turns his wagon round and comes back a third time. Now he stops beside me. His German Shepherd is going crazy in the back.
I wonder if my French is good enough to explain what I'm doing.
He leans out of the window. "Is that a Border Collie?" he asks, pointing at Jess.
"Er ... yes. Border Collie, Appenzell crossbreed, actually."
"What a beautiful dog. How old is she?"
"Eleven months."
And we talk dogs for the next 5 minutes. Then he wishes me a "bon weekend" waves and drives off, his German Shepherd still barking at Jess.
Phew!. But ... two cameras and a tripod? What was I doing?
Nothing particularly exciting, or arty. Taking a photograph for a book I have coming out in September, an image illustrating how to use a tripod on a steep slope ...
... have one leg of the tripod pointing directly down the slope for maximum stability.
The camera on the tripod is just for 'show' but has a telephoto lens on it because that's when you may often use a tripod.
But I'd also put a telephoto lens on the camera with which I was photographing. I did this to compress the perspective and bring in the background hillside (it was actually a road embankment) without other extraneous junk. Believe it or not, there were electricity pylons, telegraph wires and a whole busy highway just beyond that camera.
Oh ... and try to use a tripod whenever you can, even if you're not photographing with a telephoto lens. It's is the best accessory you can get.
In fact some professionals say that the first thing you should do when you buy a camera is weld it to a tripod.
So ... there I am this afternoon ... overlooking the major highway between Geneva and Lausanne, with a tripod and not one, but two cameras with telephoto lenses. And this security guy drives past slowly, all dark glasses, crew cut and German Shepherd snarling in the back.
I give him a wan smile and carry on with what I'm doing. Jess comes and sits close to me, tail between legs.
The security guy drives a little way down the road, turns around and drives past me again.
I try to pretend I haven't noticed. Jess insinuates herself between my ankles.
The security guy takes a side road, turns his wagon round and comes back a third time. Now he stops beside me. His German Shepherd is going crazy in the back.
I wonder if my French is good enough to explain what I'm doing.
He leans out of the window. "Is that a Border Collie?" he asks, pointing at Jess.
"Er ... yes. Border Collie, Appenzell crossbreed, actually."
"What a beautiful dog. How old is she?"
"Eleven months."
And we talk dogs for the next 5 minutes. Then he wishes me a "bon weekend" waves and drives off, his German Shepherd still barking at Jess.
Phew!. But ... two cameras and a tripod? What was I doing?
Nothing particularly exciting, or arty. Taking a photograph for a book I have coming out in September, an image illustrating how to use a tripod on a steep slope ...
... have one leg of the tripod pointing directly down the slope for maximum stability.
The camera on the tripod is just for 'show' but has a telephoto lens on it because that's when you may often use a tripod.
But I'd also put a telephoto lens on the camera with which I was photographing. I did this to compress the perspective and bring in the background hillside (it was actually a road embankment) without other extraneous junk. Believe it or not, there were electricity pylons, telegraph wires and a whole busy highway just beyond that camera.
Oh ... and try to use a tripod whenever you can, even if you're not photographing with a telephoto lens. It's is the best accessory you can get.
In fact some professionals say that the first thing you should do when you buy a camera is weld it to a tripod.
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