Here’s something very simple that I find pretty useful during my photo outings: a small beanbag. When not in use, it sits at the bottom of your camera bag and gives the camera a little extra cushion. In use, you just set your camera down on it. If the surface is rocky, it helps to stabilize the camera. If the surface is flat but not level, you can smoosh it around until the camera is pointed in the right direction.
The beanbag is nice if you don’t have a tripod on hand, or if you need to put the camera down in a small place where a tripod won’t work. Once it’s set, you can pretty easily take nice, sharp photos even with long shutter times. I’ll post an example tomorrow.
My beanbag was custom made for me, so you can’t have it. But I assume they’re fairly easy to find or make. A beanbag filled with little beads of silly putty or something similar might be even better, but I don’t where you could find something like that.
