Tripods I have been wanting a tripod for some time, and this first picture shows why I needed one. In low-light situations, I can't keep the camera steady enough to take a decent long-exposure shot, so I either get a fuzzy pic or use the flash. I often don't want to use the flash (such as when I'm shooting a spider or a 'shroom in the woods, or a dog in the house), so I've been frustrated for some time. Well, I mentioned this to two friends within the past week, and one suggested a great small flexible-armed tripod available at REI which can be easily carried in a pocket or camera bag and attached to odd surfaces like tree limbs. The other friend said "I've got a tripod I'm not using; you're welcome to borrow it!"

So now I have two tripods - and it's great. The more traditional tall telescoping-legs one will be perfect for shooting people and scenery, while the flexi-armed one will be great to use for shooting odd things like mold and spiders.

So these two pictures were taken within seconds of each other - it's a bowl of beautiful peppers I got for pickling from the farmer's market. The first pic was taken by holding the camera 'steady' by hand, and the second with the tripod steadying the camera for the long exposure. I know this is all pretty elementary stuff, but this is really the first time I've been interested enough in photography to play around making mistakes and learning stuff on my own, so it's all newish to me. Aren't those pepper gorgeous?    ¶ 11:51 PM