As a Landscape Photographer I find myself naturally wanting to use a Tripod when shooting. I like the tripod as a tool; not only does it provide rock solid support for my camera, it also slows me down and makes me think more about my position and composition.

Unfortunately, the Tripod doesn’t always lend itself to the wide range of conditions I find myself shooting in. The Urban Landscape is one such example where the Tripod just isn’t practical. In the past I have had people deliberately try to kick or knock the tripod, whilst others have tried to make out they tripped over my tripod. Other problems include being asked to move on and not take pictures whilst in some locations the tripod is just simply banned.

Whatever way you look at it, the use of a tripod marks you out as a target for many people in the urban environment. For this reason I have just purchased a monopod. Whilst the monopod can’t match the tripod in very low light situations, it is a great tool where you just need to find that extra couple of stops or to be sure you are getting a steady picture.

I have long been a user of a walking pole that doubles as a monopod when out in the hills. The results from this have been great but it’s not really a good solution for urban work. My new monopod however is and is a high quality unit with a separate head design for use on a Monopod (it only moves through 180 degrees). What surprised me about this purchase is the quality of the unit and how cheap it was. I should have invested in one of these years ago.