Shaper Images with a Monopod

Sharper photos with a monopod

A big, heavy telephoto lens requires a big, heavy tripod and specialist tripod head if you're going to get shake-free shots.

However, lugging this kit around can slow you down - a good thing for considered compositions, but another thing entirely when it comes to following an active subject.

If you need to do a lot of chasing through the undergrowth, do what sports photographers do and use a long lens on a monopod. What you lose in the stability that three legs provides, you gain in mobility.

Treat a monopod as another weapon in your arsenal rather than a substitute for a tripod and you won't go far wrong.

It's a perfect choice for those locations where there's not always enough space to set up a tripod, such as at the zoo or other captive animal collection.

 Safe shutter speed for handheld photography

For sharp handheld photos, you shouldn't let the shutter speed be any slower than the equivalent focal length of the lens being used. If you do, you run the risk of blurred photos through camera shake.

On a full-frame camera, you can just use the actual focal length of the lens as a guide - if you've got a 300mm lens fitted, then the minimum recommended shutter speed for blur-free pictures is 1/300sec.

An APS-C has a crop factor of 1.5 or 1.6, so the lens's focal length needs to be multiplied by this amount for the 'safe' handheld shooting speed.

The same 300mm lens fitted on an APS-C body would need a shutter speed of around 1/500sec for sharp handheld shots.

Obviously this is just a rule of thumb, and the actual speed you need depends on your handholding ability, whether the animal is moving or not, whether the lens has stabilization and whether you're able to brace the lens on a fence, tree or railing.