Select a Custom Equipment Article >>> Super-telephoto Lens Camo Cover Tripod Camo Skirt Homemade Leafy Camo Suit Camera Bags from Duck Blind Bags Dry Bag/Camera Bag for Kayaking Dry Legs for your Tripod Photography Equipment Cart The Butterfly Bean Bag The Flying Saucer Ball Head Backpack Case for Super-telephoto LensPadded Protection for Super-telephotos Camo Net Body Drape Camo Cover for Duck Boat - The Beginning Camo Cover for Duck Boat - Phase 2 - Additions and Modifications Camo Cover for Duck Boat - Phase 3 - Improvements and Major Addition Camo Cover for Duck Boat - Phase 4 - Complete Redesign Camo Cover Frame for Kayak Lightweight Camo for Kayak Collapsing Blind with Dry Seat for Wetlands (Marsh Blind) Feather-light Portable One-man Blinds The Better Tripod Shoulder Pad Portable Photo Blind Frames Select Reviews and Tips >>> Equipment Tips index Technique Tips index Walkstool Manfrotto 685B NeoTec Monopod Mini-review Manfrotto 685B NeoTec Monopod Review with video Safety Cable for Monopod Foot Manfrotto 234 Tilt Head Manfrotto 357 Quick Release Manfrotto 393 Gimbel Monopod Technique with video Beanbags Using Camouflage in Bird Photography    Mini-reviews and useful tips on equipment I use (no commercials here, just honest first-hand information) Beanbags: There are times when the tripod is simply impractical, and that's where this simple gadget comes into it's own. I find them indispensable for steadying my telephotos when shooting out the vehicle window. Drape the bag over a car door/window, put it on a fence rail or fence post, on top of a wall, the back of a chair, across a porch railing- you name it - and it will likely conform to give your lens a steady base to sit on. A search on the web will find some to buy, but they can get pretty expensive. Don't bother walking into a camera dealer and asking for one. Oh, they know what they are, they just don't carry them.       My solution was to make my own. I made the small "double beanbag" shown here from a do-it-yourself article by Scott Fairbairn. His instructions seemed a little fuzzy to me, and it took a bit until I understood how to do it. This small beanbag works fine for a 300mm or smaller lens. There are a couple of additional photos here of the bag, one of them showing its use on a fence post (well obviously not a real fence post, just a 4x4 simulating a fence post).      When I purchased my 500mm lens, I found the first beanbag was too small for it, so I simply altered Scott Fairbairn's pattern dimensions a bit and made a second beanbag, only larger. This second "medium size" beanbag is shown at left below with my "Flying Saucer Ball Head".      I soon found though that I really needed something a bit taller, so I designed my own beanbag, which I call the "Butterfly Beanbag". The main feature of this design is that pound for pound you get more beanbag. In other words, a more efficient use of the bean filling makes it work like a larger beanbag, but it weighs less, and weight is something we photographers are always trying to minimize. I've provided more information and detailed instructions on how to make the Butterfly Beanbag and the Flying Saucer Ball Head.