Contemplating "The Latest Thing" ...And A Solution

Re: Restrictions on using a tripod in Chicago, a correspondent wrote:

"In light of the latest news, you may need to worry not just about a tripod but about having two armed bodyguards."

Armed bodyguards are a budget-buster. If worse comes to worse, you grab the tripod tightly by the bottom of the legs (with both hands) and swing it swiftly, counter-clockwise, in a wide arc at the flashmob. The weight of the camera and lens at the outward edge packs a wallop they will not soon forget. Ten pounds of glass and steel really smarts when it whacks you in the face. The cops are the least of your problems.

Plan B: Street shooters can accomplish the same by holding a camera strap at mid-point, and you can swing harder and faster that way, one-handed too, like a bolo. Damn, I miss my Nikon F!

(I'll be testing Plan B at the Old Town Art Fair this afternoon and the Chicago Blues Festival later this evening. If you hear anything about fifteen bloodied teen-agers and a jailed photographer..... oh, and if you find a lens cap, please mail it back to me.)

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Both above: Canon EOS-5D Mark II, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, ISO 100
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago 2010, hand-held and camera still intact