My Birthday Present: Just Tri - it!

So my birthday was Memorial day weekend this year, but I won't say how old I turned (let's just say that people tend to stay my age for many, many years). All spring I have been dropping hints to Dear Husband about the food processor that I inexplicably don't have in my kitchen after almost nine years of "keeping house." Well on the big day he handed me a long skinny package which I knew could be none other than NOT a food processor. So much for hummus!

When I saw what was in the package I was still excited. It was just as good a gift as a food processor, just a different hobby.

He got me a Platinum Plus 7500TM Tripod by SUNPAK. I have been wanting a tripod for awhile now. We have a digital camera with good image stabilization software (it's a Kodak EasyShare z612 - a great little camera that I hope to blog more about in the coming months), but a tripod really helps any camera reach it's full potential.

Yes, I realize the irony in the fact that this picture is crooked, hahaha.

I won't get into all the gory specs (it is "sick" as the young people say these days), but I will mention that it is a tripod that can grow to a taller height than I am personally capable of operating, and the center part detaches and extends to become a portable mono-pod. Pretty sweet.

I still have a lot to learn about using a tripod, but one of the ways that it will improve my photography became evident when I was playing with it at dusk yesterday evening!

In low light situations (such as at dusk, when there are so many beautiful photos to be had), the camera needs to either use the flash or hold the shutter open long enough to let in a proper amount of light. When the shutter is being held open for a longer period of time it is much harder for the camera to focus and any slight movement is amplified by the amount of time the shutter stays open. So without some sort of system for holding the camera steady you get lots of pictures like this one:

One option is to use the flash, which helps the focus tremendously, but does no favors to the natural colors and lighting of whatever you are photographing. It also darkens the background:

A tripod allows the photographer to take a low-light picture without the flash by keeping the camera very steady while the shutter is being held open to let in the natural light. And you get clearer photographs that are much closer to what you are actually weeing with your eye!

These are some examples of how a tripod made my lilac-at-dusk photos so much better:

Thanks for checking out my birthday present with me! I hope you enjoyed your digital photography lesson. I can't wait to post more about it as I learn more. Class dismissed!

Diana, The Ivy Kitchen