Gorillapod

I love taking pictures and Dadda monkey was nice enough to give me a DSLR camera for Christmas a couple of years ago. I took a couple of years of photography classes in school, but that was before the digital age and I feel like it's a whole new ballgame now. All that time we spent on learning how to process your film and develop your pictures seems all for not now. I think I may take a class to work more on composition and lighting. I'll forever be working on taking better photos, but at least I'm on the right track in terms of equipment.

One item I have that helps me take better pictures is my new Joby Gorillapod. It really makes a difference having your camera on a steady base versus relying on your hands. However, the best thing about Gorillapod is it's flexibility (literally). You can wrap the 3 legs around almost anything to help you take great photos.

I can use it as a regular tripod standing flat on a surface or have tripod stability by wrapping it around a post or tree limb and have the ability to take some unique shots that I wouldn't otherwise be able to get. In the picture below, I wrapped it around my kitchen chandelier to take a photo from directly above the vase of flowers I had.

From the side versus from above:

Joby's website for the Gorillapod makes it really easy to find the right tripod for you. You can search by your camera make or type. In addition, they have Gorillapods for your video cameras. I have the Gorillapod SLR which also has an attached level to help ensure you're taking the best pictures you can. I've just started playing around with manual settings, but the Gorillapod will make taking long exposure shots much better.

One of the things I was worried about, despite the fact it's clearly made for it, was putting my camera on the tripod, while hanging from something, but the Gorillapod did it's job well. It holds up to 1.75 pounds. Some features from their site:

• It's made from injection molded plastic which will stay firm through lots of action
• Over 24 leg joints bend and rotate 360 degrees
• The lock ring provides extra security that your camera is safely attached

You can buy the Gorillapod direct from Joby's store and the model I have retails for $39,95 which is extremely reasonable to me for such a versatile tripod. The quality is clearly superior and I have no hesitation in putting my camera in unique locations now. At this price, I highly recommend it for any photographer. I'm looking forward to using it to take some family pictures for the holidays.

Disclaimer:
Mommy 2 Monkeys was provided with a sample for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own.