I love low angle photography! It brings fresh and unusual angles that makes your pictures  stand out. You can buy Platypod for this purpose but I didn’t want to spend $100 on a chunky piece of metal. This site have many  suggestions for do-it-yourself low angle stands including a frying pan.  Good luck taking it on your trip. Here is a super low angle solution under $20. In addition, in my opinion, it is more stable, probably lighter and more compact then Platypod.

I bought a couple of Dual Flash Bracket Holder for 1/4″ Screw Studio Tripod Light Stand. Cost is from $5 to $9 on Ebay. $5 if you are willing to wait for it to arrive from China.

Also get four 1/4′-20 bolts.  In addition, I bought a Pergear Heavy Duty Photography Camera Tripod Ball Head. It is only $19.89 on Amazon. it includes Arca-swiss quick release plate. It is amazingly cheap and feels pretty solid fit for large SLRs.

Remove 1/4” adapter screws from the brakets and use one to connect two brakets in the middle making a cross. Screw four bolts to the ends of two bruckets and finally screw in the Pergear ball head or any other tripod ball head to the middle of the brackets.

Congratulation! You are done! You have a low-angle quadpod solution. It is more stable than Platypod because the legs extend further. That allows you to use longer lens. You can adjust the screws to position it as parallel as you want depending on a surface. When done unscrew the ball head and the screws and store two light brackets in your bag. You can also accessorize it the same way Platypod is doing, like using a strap or a pad.

About the Author

Ilya Schiller learned photography in college and has never left his camera since. His major passions are wildlife and street photography. He tries to travel as much as he can on this globe to search for beauty, color, composition, and emotions. He strives for that special moment to capture the shot that tells the story.

Ilya is a member and on the executive committee of Boston Camera Club. If you’d like to see his work, visit his Flickr page.