No tripod? Use a bean bag

A rice bag will also do the job

Probably the most common suggestion you will come across for a substitute camera support when you have left your tripod at home is to use a beanbag. Problem is, most people don't usually carry a beanbag around with them or even have one handy in their home, and most wouldn't know where to get one in a hurry. So, the idea of just using your handy beanbag when you have forgotten your tripod is an unrealistic solution for most of us.

Nonetheless, a beanbag can indeed be a boon when you need stability for your camera and either don’t have or can’t use a tripod – for instance, when your only option is to shoot with a long lens from inside a vehicle.

Drape the beanbag over whatever you can – the car’s windowframe, a fence post, stepladder – any solid support that is in the right location and at the right height for your picture.

Make a slight depression in the middle of the beanbag for the camera and lens to sit in. You may have to plump it up here and there to get it just right, but it doesn't take too long at all.

Shutter speeds as slow as 1/2 sec can be used, and probably even slower, especially if you employ a cable release or use the camera's timer to trip the shutter.

If you have an extremely light camera, you may wish to push firmly down on it as you take the picture to help keep it steady. It's tricky to do, though, without causing some camera shake at slow shutter speeds.

A heavy beanbag or sandbag can also be used to stabilize a tripod, as you may need to do in windy conditions or if you have a not-so-solid tripod. Hang it from the tripod's center column.

Beanbags come ready-made and can usually be purchased at toy or hobby shops, and in some grocery stores, or you can make one yourself. Many fabric stores carry "artificial beans," which are really small, Smarties-shaped pills made from plastic, and will last a lifetime. Burlap or canvas are inexpensive materials to use, but just about any strong fabric will do if you can sew or know someone who does. Be sure to stitch a zipper into place so the beans can be inserted and removed.

Can't sew? Or, need it in a rush? In a pinch, use a large plastic Ziplok baggie and load it with beans. Three quarters-filled is better than full. You want the contents to be fairly loose, but still full enough to provide adequate camera support. Make sure it is well-sealed with most of the air removed.

Viewer Austin Voss recommends a hacky sack. He writes: "When you are out in the field and need a simple and easy tripod, just reach for a hacky sack. They will conform to many angles and when on level surfaces stay in place."

A bean bag can be emptied of its contents to save weight and space when travelling, then filled with almost anything dry and granular when you reach your destination - uncooked rice, for example, or any similar grains available wherever you are in the world. Gunpowder, however, is not good.

Sand could be used in a pinch, but you would want to take care that the sand doesn't get into your equipment. Sand will also pick up and hold a good deal of moisture if it's placed on damp or wet surfaces, creating problems you'd rather not have.