Editor's Note: Tom Whelan was the first place winner in our initial photo contest so naturally we wanted him to strut his stuff by telling us how that macro slider courtesy of Really Right Stuff helps him in the field.

The focusing slider is a simple device that solves an annoying problem in macro photography. When you set up a macro photograph, most people handhold the camera to find a good composition and then set up the tripod in that spot. Too often, a frustrating period of adjustment follows. The camera is too close to focus. The camera is too far from the subject and the simplified composition you started with is filled with clutter - or the subject is too small or too large in the frame.

So, you do what John Shaw calls "jockeying the tripod" - moving your tripod closer or farther away. If you're lucky, your tripod isn't tangled in branches, and you don't knock the dew off the flower you were a few inches from. If your subject is an insect, moving the tripod may not be an option at all unless you do it very carefully.

Enter the Really Right Stuff focusing slider (Model B31a). The focusing slider lets you move your camera closer or farther without moving your tripod. The slider is a six-inch long bar that fits in an Arca-Swiss type ballhead clamp. Mount your camera and lens in the clamp on the bar, then mount the bar in your ballhead. By loosening your ballhead clamp slightly, slide the bar and your camera nearer or farther from the subject. Six inches of travel can make a significant difference when you're close to the subject. For instance, you could start out with the view on the right of a mushroom with the slider out all the way.

By sliding in closer, you fill the frame with the subject and crop out distractions such as the green shoot at the bottom and the out-of-focus highlight at the top. The slider is an alternative to a more common macro tool, a geared focusing rail. The idea with a geared focusing rail is the same: adjust the camera position without moving the tripod. With a geared rack, you can move the camera by turning a knob.

I found that the slider was very easy to move, and moved in a controlled way with my ballhead clamp adjusted properly. It didn't slip, and there are stops at either end of the slider that help keep the slider in the ball head clamp. As the mushroom picture shows, it works for vertical pictures as well as horizontals. With the slider, you move in to the right image size and use the camera to focus. I suspect that people who use a geared rail don't rely on the rail for focusing.

Editor's Comment: Let us know what you think! Please email the Editor to let us know your thoughts.

Tom Whelan is an avid naturalist and photographer of insects, birds, and plant life. You'll find him in Massachusetts fields and meadows chasing and photographing butterflies and birds, along with flowers. A digital photography enthusiast, he uses a Canon D30 and EF lenses from 300mm to 24mm. Stop by his nature photography website at Roadsides and Waste Places.