The best 30 bucks I spent this year was on a selfie and group photo tripod for smartphones that my hairstylist, Kylee, told me about while I was sitting in her chair of hair magic. A few months ago, she’d posted the cutest pictures of her with her two doodle dogs dressed up in a group costume as the Addams Family for Halloween. When I asked her who took the photos, she said “I did.”
But this was not your typical selfie. There was no awkward outstretched arm in the corner of the frame. The photos looked almost professionally shot and were definitely frame-worthy. When I asked her how she did it, she told me about this awesome tripod and remote control duo that let her take a gazillion shots from her smartphone by pressing a tiny remote control hidden in the palm of her hand. It’s called the TONEOF Tripod with an integrated wireless remote. She got it on Amazon and paid about $30.
She texted me a link to the product because I wanted to try it out on a weekend trip my husband and I were taking for our 25th wedding anniversary. It worked SO well! We were able to get a few shots of us standing on a balcony in front of a gorgeous sunset.
The best part is that, because there’s no one standing behind the camera, you can get as many shots as you want. Just keep clicking the remote. We all know that when it comes to getting a group shot or any photo that includes kids, babies, or pets, you’ll need to take a ton of shots to find the one where everyone is looking at the camera with eyes open and not making a weird face.
The tripod and remote are all packaged in this metal “stick” that can extend to a height tall enough to get vertical standing pictures. Just move it forward or back to get a wider angle. It’ll hold any smartphone that’s between 4 to 7 inches. It fits my iPhone 13 perfectly, and it’s adjustable. The remote is small and it clicks into the stick itself when you’re not using it. Just be sure to put it back in the tripod because it would be easy to lose if you don’t.
I used this smartphone tripod to get some casual family photos when my college kids were home for the Thanksgiving break. It was so fun to just play around with it and keep clicking the remote until I felt sure I’d captured at least a few good shots. We took this one on our front steps about 45 minutes before sunset to get good light without shadows.
This tripod would also be a great gift for anyone with pets and/or kids or for teens and tweens who like to take pictures for social media or scrapbooks, and it comes in fun color options. Click here to check it out. (We do NOT receive any compensation for the recommendation. We just think it’s a cool product that works.)
We hope it makes your group holiday photos much easier and more fun to take!
