Best Supporting Roles for Nature Photography: Tripods and Filters

With the typical mirrorless camera or the last generation of DSLR’s having 30-50 megapixels, as well as a flood of quality long telephoto lenses available, the need for good support has become just as important as ever. While high MP cameras have exceptional image quality, those cameras are very unforgiving when it comes to sharpness, an unsharp image is much more apparent at such high resolution. Long telephoto(500mm +) lenses have an angle of view of 5 degrees or less, making hand holding for any length of time difficult at best. Of course various forms of stability/vibration control helps, as well as being able to use higher ISO and shutter speeds, nothing beats rock-solid support!

For landscapes, often we want to shoot at low ISO and smaller aperture (f16), or even using a longer exposure for a desired effect, or perhaps bracketing multiple shots for HDR editing. Or maybe it’s getting a level surface for a series of shots for a panoramic. In all these cases, again there is no replacement for rock-solid support.
Even in a world of fabulous post-processing tools, there are a few effects that can’t be added in, such as silky water blur from a 30 second exposure or glare reduction from the proper uses of a polarizing filter.

Spend 4 hours with nature photographer Sean Quintilian, learning from over 35 years of experience, what qualities are needed for a workable tripod for all types of photography and the essential filters for nature photography. Sean will have 5 different tripod heads and 3 sets of legs available for a hands on experience to help you decide on what fits your needs best. Equipment from 5 different manufacturers will be on hand.

A detailed discussion of Polarizing and neutral density filters will also be given, as well as a demonstration on long exposures to get that silky blur. After the discussion and demo of tripods and filters, a short hike will be taken to a waterfall for a demonstration.

This workshop is designed to help you make informed purchases, as you build a wildlife and landscape photography outfit. Bring your current gear for a chance to try out equipment, especially if you have a longer telephoto lens, you will have an opportunity to try it out on 2 different gimbal heads. There will be a small parking fee and possibly entrance fee to the State Park.