Rocking it out without a tripod in Fiji. Note to self: Always remember the base plate!

What is one to do when one has no tripod and needs a little elevation and a sturdy shot?

I pondered this question recently at the Sonaisali Island Resort and this little gem of a setup is what I came up with. It isn’t what I would call aesthetically pleasing, but hey, it did the job!

Let me walk you through it. That’s 3 rock solid slabs of frozen chicken fillets on the bottom there. They were commandeered from a passing porter who had a whole trolley full destined for the kitchen’s deep freeze. I’m not quite sure he understood what we were doing, but he sure found it amusing.

Next in line we have a somewhat flexible seed pod from a nearby tree that was found on the ground. The seed pod is being propped up by the lens cap of the wide angle converter.

I’m definitely not proud of working like this, I forgot the tripod base plate and just had to make do for a couple of hours. At the end of the day though, the end justifies the means. If I hadn’t of posted it here, nobody (except the confused porter, who had to explain the three missing slabs of chicken to a cranky head chef) would be any the wiser. So I guess it just goes to show a little ingenuity, no matter how fraught with the risk of salmonella, can work wonders when you’re in a bind without a tripod.

More soon. . .