How creative am I?
 

This creative.

http://www.bmxbums.com/images/cam2.jpg

or I could just be really poor.

That depends on how you are using it. Perhaps another pic
with the camera on it and somebody holding the rig?

Dustin,

What about some footage as well? Let's see how it works! Look forward to seeing the output...

Clay

Dustin:

You have some weight distribution issues, you're going to be front heavy or back heavy depending on which direction you mount the camera. Centering the weight of the camera over the middle of the pole would be preferable. To balance what you have there you would have to redistribute the weights...if you had, say, the camera mounted so that the lens looked to the right (using your picture as reference), you will need more weight at lower left and/or less weight at lower right. However this "diagonal" load is not ideal. Also, the height of the system may be excessive.

If you have a small tripod around with a center column, try mounting your camera to that, extending the center column and opening the legs without extending them(spread them out). That should deliver a similar performance to what you've built but with a proper load centering.

I actually encountered the weight balance problem at an early stage of the project. I drilled a few different holes in the bottom supports that hold the weights so that I can move them around accordingly. The camera faces towards the right and if you notice the weights looks a little off center. This "off center" weight balances the camera perfectly. It is a bit long though. I may take it apart and cut it down some.

I see that now, Dustin. Gotcha.

For a non-gimballed device where you will be hard-gripping the rig at all times, this should work out OK. FYI, if you ever think about attaching a gimbal to this, you would want to recenter the weight distribution. Think of it this way: if you were to find the center of gravity of both the camera and the bottom weighted section, and draw a line between the two points, it would run at a diagonal (upper right to lower left). This affects your dynamic balance, meaning when the rig is rotated it will attempt to make this diagonal a vertical, causing the camera to tilt back during a pan.

Again, not something you are that likely to observe in a simple non-gimballed design, but it is a factor. By the way, when you chop down the length you will need to re-distribute the weights at the bottom.