Tried capturing a comet last weekend and spent 45 minutes fighting a tripod that slowly sank into muddy ground

I was out at this field near Estacada at 2 AM, got everything set up perfectly, only to realize my camera had been pointing at the ground for the last 20 minutes because the leg just kept sinking into the mud and I wasted the whole window, has anyone else dealt with soft ground ruining a long exposure shot?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_hall4911d ago

Yep, I showed up to this spot I scouted on Google Earth, looked solid in the daytime but at 3 AM my tripod was basically doing the limbo into the mud. Spent a full hour trying to jam rocks under the legs, ended up with a blurry mess that looked more like a swamp monster than a comet. Now I just carry a couple of those plastic camping stakes with me to anchor the legs down before I even start framing the shot.

kelly_west7410d ago

Come on, how bad can a little mud really be?

fox.derek11d ago

Camping stakes are a good fix, I just wrap duct tape around my tripod feet.