Friday, September 30, 2005

Using Minitripod for camera grip provides stability for low-light images

While I was in Pennsylvania last week I tried my brother's suggestion of using the minitripod that came with my Panasonic FZ20 digital camera as a camera grip when I was photographing exhibits in low light conditions at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. I combined this technique with a remote shutter control.

I was quite pleased with the results, capturing images of dark objects (sculpted metal and wood) in a low light environment that I would not have been able to get with a shutter speed priority setting minimum of 1/30th of a second. The accessories in combination with the anti-shake technology built into the camera enabled me to capture well exposed images at a shutter speed of less than 1/15th of a second.

I'll get another chance to experiment with this technique when I visit the Chicago Field Museum in November to see the Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption. exhibit.