@Niki: Thanks! I was in the place to shoot something else when I saw how that one bit of stairwell was lit from an open window, so I reversed course.
@ Tom: I could just imagine a would be thief trying to deal with those straps - it took me almost 10 minutes to re-thread them (to be fair, it was almost completely dark and I had to do it mostly by touch).
@ redpigeons: That seems like a great idea, and forgive my ignorance because I am not what you might call handy around the house, but that's black electrical tape, right? Do you wrap it around and around the camera and the stabilizing item and it's strong enough to hold? Is there residue to get off later or do you put something between the camera and the tape? I am intrigued, because I like solutions like this one.
@ Arpe: I've seen these too! There's a group on flickr specifically for camera tosses. I would be terrified to do that myself - I'm not that great a catch!
@ ricosuave: Intriguing! I wonder how much weight those can support. I googled "camera boom" and came up with some great ways to do it yourself. I might try this!
@ Andreas: The monopod idea is a good one, but you're right - a little tricky with a self-portrait
I'll have to look into seeing if there's a horizontal adapter for this tripod, although that sounds like it would do the trick, particularly with a counterbalance.
Thanks all for looking and taking the time to comment!