Professional photographer and videographer, Pieter Uys from Kaimara Studio in Pretoria, Gauteng, gets the skinny on the compact Joby Gorillapod GP8 with ball head.

I needed a small, compact tripod to take along on my travels. “Compact” being the operative word here (ask anyone who’s had to lug a huge tripod around while travelling). The Joby Gorillapod GP8 with ball head fit perfectly into my camera bag’s side pocket. So, it travelled comfortably along with me to Addis Ababa,  the capital of Ethiopia, to photograph a corporate event.

Why Every Photographer Needs A Gorillapod

After a long day of shooting at the conference, I went to scout prime locations from which to photograph the Addis city skyline. It never took more than a few moments before finding a place to attach the Gorillapod. It came in handy anywhere I went, as there was always something to mount it to. When shooting low-light panoramas, long exposures and time-lapse, this flexible portable tripod is a useful accessory to add to any photographic gear kit.

Thanks to its flexible legs, the Joby Gorillapod showed extreme versatility by being able to support my gear wherever I placed it, from rails to a concrete walls. The universal quick-release plate was also easy to attach and worked brilliantly.

Impressively, this compact, mobile tripod managed to keep a stable hold on my Canon 5D MKIII, mounted with a 70-200mm lens, even in rough wind conditions, and the ball head allowed me to effortlessly switch from landscape to portrait orientation. In the end, the Joby Gorillapod enabled me to take the photographs that would otherwise have been left “unshot”.

And Videographers?

This compact tripod came in handy during my photographic expeditions, but even more so when conducting interviews. I normally only have one tripod with me when shooting video, yet I need multiple angles, so the obvious solution is to mount the Gorillapod into my slider, and voilà! Once, I even mounted it to the nearest fire hydrant.

Smooth Hand-Held Shooting

I found that you can even use the tripod when filming hand-held. Do this by simply balancing the back leg on your shoulder while holding the other two legs, one in each hand. This stabilises your shot and provides you with many more options at the fraction of the price.

The Final Say

This is a great little tool with infinite possibilities. The only restriction is your creativity – so just let it flow!