1. Patrick Nagle



    Making a Tripod

    Hello everyone, Pat Nagle here for your next DIY project to help inspire you and better your photography. In this month’s edition, we will be learning how to make a tripod using an old frying pan. I certainly do like to cook, but when it’s time to replace those old pans we can now have another purpose for them instead of just throwing them in the trash.

    Vantage points are very important in photography. We don’t want to take all of our photos from a normal perspective standing up…that’s boring! We as photographers need to get low, get high, choose different and unique angles to help improve our imagery. That is where this frying pan tripod comes into play. With this, we can get our camera as low to the ground as possible without getting our precious equipment dirty or wet. Even the best tripods out there will still have to set up at least 6-10 inches off the ground. With this unique setup, we now have the ability to shoot from a true ground perspective.
  2. Let’s get to the supplies we will need:

    • Old frying pan
    • A ballhead
    • Drill with 10mm drillbit
    • Nuts and bolts

    • First up, you need to check what size screw thread the ball & socket head has. The standard size is 3/8" but you can also get little inserts that convert the thread to a 1/4". Raise the frying pan off the ground and drill a hole in the center. It doesn’t have to be absolutely in the middle. Take care if you’re drilling through a Teflon-coated non-stick frying pan like me and, as you’ll discover, this can take some time as frying pans are pretty tough. Once you’re through, tap any sharp edges of metal down with a hammer. Now take your tripod head, pass the bolt through the hole and screw it into the base of the head. If you have a long bolt like me, cut the excess length off with a hacksaw and then secure it all with the bolt. Your frying pan pod is now ready for action. Obviously, with a bolt in the base, this can’t be used on a solid surface, but it’s perfect for grass, soil, pebbles, mud and sand.

      © Patrick Nagle

      Now that it’s finished, we can get out and shoot. With this setup, I wanted to shoot a wide angle to get a nice and close foreground subject. I shot the image below with my NEW Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD. The camera was set securely on the frying pan pod on a flat rock in the stream. With this low to the ground perspective, I could get the angle I wanted and shoot slower shutter speeds to get the water flowing smooth.

      © Patrick Nagle

      So that’s it for this month, check in to see what we have in store for you next time. Happy shooting!