Music and Cats

The armature on which my camera is riding may look like it came from outer space, but it really came from Joby, and it’s called a Gorillapod. I’ve been making noises about wanting a tripod for some months now, and Paul gave me this one for Christmas. As shown in this photo, taken with the Canon PowerShot I used before getting the Rebel XT, it’s quite happy to stand on a kitchen countertop, where I’m sure I’ll use it to take lots of photos of food. (How nice that it’s color-coordinated with our new kitchen!)

But wait! There’s more! Each of the spherical knobs on those otherworldly legs is a ball joint, and the gray rings and feet are some grippy rubbery substance, so the legs can be twisted around all sorts of objects, creating an impromptu camera stabilizer from a tree branch, or a railing, or, in this case, the back of one of our black metal patio chairs. You just hold the ‘pod up against the chosen support, and twist/fold the legs around it until the ‘pod gets a good, steady grip.

This critter is great where you can find a stable object around which to wrap it, or surface on which to set it. It works well for shooting the full moon from one’s bathroom window (’pod bent to sit at the correct angle on the windowsill), or one of the cats on the floor. (Now if I could just figure out how to get the cats to sit perfectly still while I photograph them without a flash in lowish light.) While it’s quite versatile, the gorillapod won’t work for everything, so I’ll be looking for a good lightweight monopod or tripod soon, too. Any suggestions?

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