Joby's contortionist tripods
The Joby Gorillapod and Gorillapod SLR would’ve come in handy while my husband and I were in New York last week. Not that there’s anything wrong with all of those scenery-only shots, the "here’s me in front of the Empire State Building, and here’s you in front of the Empire State Building" photo pairs, and the pictures we took of ourselves together (you know the ones: arm outstretched, trying to include the background but really only getting our heads).
If you can look past the fool behind the decision to market the Gorillapod as Gorilla Fun,* these tripods are definitely something every traveler should consider. They’re lightweight (1.6 oz, 5.8 oz), inexpensive ($25, $50), and can bend, twist, and wrap around just about anything. Check out the two galleries to see how the Gorillapod defies nature and normalcy.
*My god, even some obvious play on monkey business, monkeying around, or going ape wild is better than Gorilla Fun. Even worse, the video on Joby’s homepage shows the Gorillapod jumping between branches with its cutesy "tail" swinging: gorillas don’t have tails. Creative liberties are fine, of course, but shouldn’t something called the Gorillapod be at least remotely gorilla-like? Oh well. Maybe Snakepod was already taken…
