ASK JIM

Every month, Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.

Q: Jim . . . Do you take a tripod on all your trips? I find it to be a burden, and I’d like to leave it at home but I also don’t want to miss out on getting good pictures.

Barbara Middleman, Troy, Michigan

A: When I used to shoot a medium format film camera, I used a tripod for every shot and I took it with me everywhere when I traveled. Now, with the ability to use higher ISO settings than ever before, I find I’m using a tripod less and less. I now only bring a tripod on a photo tour if I’ll be shooting at night (cityscapes, the Milky Way, the aurora borealis, etc.) or twilight. I don’t bring a tripod when I’ll be photographing wildlife on safari, for example, or when I am primarily focusing on birds. When I travel to Europe, I always bring a tripod because I do a lot of night shooting in beautiful cities and villages.

If you are fine with shooting at high ISO settings like 5000 to 10,000 and you know how to use Topaz software to eliminate noise, you really don’t need to bring a tripod on most trips.