Photo Tip 4: When shooting in low light, always use a tripod if at all possible. This may seem obvious to you, but too often people who take my workshops always shoot hand holding their camera. If you want total control over your medium, and this includes getting complete depth of field when you need it, a tripod is necessary. Why spend thousands of dollars on camera gear, film, digital equipment and printers if your pictures aren't going to be sharp?

I strongly recommend getting a ball head for your tripod. Maybe one reason you hate using it is because two or three levers are so awkward and they slow you down. With a smooth ball head, tripod use is much less of a burden.

Jim Zuckerman left his medical studies in 1970 to turn his love of photography into a career. He has lectured and taught creative photography at many universities and private schools, including UCLA, Kent State University, the Hallmark Institute of Photography, and the Palm Beach Photographic Center. He also has led both domestic and international photo tours for 29 years to Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the American Southwest.

Zuckerman has been a contributing editor to Photographic Magazine for 32 years. His images, articles and photo features have been published in hundreds of books and magazines including several Time-Life Books, publications of the National Geographic Society, Outdoor Photographer, Omni Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Science Fiction Age, Australia's Photo World, and Greece's Opticon. He is the author of twelve books on photography.

His work has been used for packaging, advertising, and editorial layouts in thirty countries around the world. Jim's images have also appeared in calendars, posters, greeting cards, and corporate publications.