TOP 3 DIY Tripods – How To Make A Substitutes For A Tripod – Photo Tip

Often you face the situations, when in order to take a photo, you need a tripod. Not everyone has a tripod (few people remember about them, when buying the camera). Often you simply don’t have the possibility to bring it with because of its large size. And sometimes the tripod will not satisfy your needs, when you need to photograph a small object, which is on the floor (and the tripod cannot be lowered so low).
In this photo tip we offer you three solutions to replace a tripod. We won’t make real tripods; we will make substitutions with our own hands.
First option: Tripod made from a plastic bottle.
You will need: empty plastic bottle, screw ¼ “, nut ¼”, drill, sand.
Make a hole in the bottle cap. It is recommended, that the size of the drill to be ¼ inch.

Insert the screw into the hole so that the head of the screw is inside the cap. And fasten the nut to the screw (so that the screw doesn’t fall out). If you have a long screw, then you can fasten it with a few nuts.

Inside the bottle pour sand so that our improvised “tripod” is heavy and the camera wouldn’t overturn it.

Fasten the cap to the bottle. That’s all! Our first substitute for tripod is ready.

This option has several advantages. For example, if you go somewhere on vacation, you may not take the tripod with and make it from the bottle straight in the hotel room (instead of the drill you can use a knife to make a hole). You can put this handmade “tripod” in shallow water without fear that it will rust. The last but not least, it is recycling. After all, you are giving a second life to needless plastic bottle.

Second option: String stabilizer (“tripod”) on a string (on a tight rope)).
You will need: a few meters of rope, two weights, screw-on ¼ “, nut on ¼”.
You need to measure the rope so that its length corresponds with the distance from your feet to your face. And then double this length. Tie the weights at the both ends of the rope. You can use anything that can be tied to the rope as the weight: the old keys, sinkers for fishing, etc. We used weight plates from steadicam.

Fasten the screw in the middle of the rope. To do this, wrap the rope around the screw and then clamp it by fastening the screw nut on.

How does string stabilizer work for DSLR camera: screw the screw into the camera, lower the weights on the floor and stamp on them with your feet. Pull the camera up to make the stretch. You will immediately feel that the camera ceased to wabble and rests in your hands more steadily.

Option three: A bag of grain.
This option is very simple. You just need to fill bag or package with some grain (rice, buckwheat, lens, etc). You can regulate exactly how much grain you use.

This substitute is ideal for those who make pictures of small objects on the floor or table. Also with the help of such a substitute you will be able to put a camera on an uneven surface (on a rock, for example). You can adjust the angle of the camera by simply moving the grain inside the package.

For more detailed instruction, watch the video tutorial: