We talked so many times in our past tutorials on how important is to have a tripod for a sharp photo.

Sunset or sunrise is the best time of the day to make a photo, however, the light may be not enough for a stable photo.

That is where the tripod comes to help.

The tripod uses is very important, if not essential, in landscape photography. It is obviously a must in night photography.

These are few tips that may help to use the tripod in the correct way

Tripod uses – Extend the upper legs

Start with your tripod at its minimum height (ie with its legs safely tucked away).

If you need extra height, always extend the thicker upper legs nearest the head first, as these are the most stable.

Extend the lower leg sections and centre column only if absolutely necessary.

This is very important especially in windy days

Tripod uses – Tighten the knobs

You don’t want to spend ages fine-tuning your composition only to let tripod ‘creep’ subtly shift the camera’s position and spoil your shot.

Make sure the tripod plate is firmly attached before mounting the camera and always tighten the knobs on the tripod head.

Check spirit level

Many tripods feature built-in spirit levels that allow you to check the horizon is level.

Failing that, you could buy a hot shoe spirit level ($1-$2 on eBay), or use your camera’s level, which can be found in Live View.

Just make sure you check before pressing the shutter – there’s nothing worse than a wonky horizon.

Tripod uses – Use the cable release

Although not part of the tripod, the cable release to avoids touching the camera during exposures, causing possible camera shake.

If you don’t have a cable release use the self-timer function

These are a few easy tricks that will definitely help with the correct use of the tripod.

What next?

Go out in the field and try a few shots and see the difference.

Remember to send us the result!

If you think that this post has helped and you want to know much more about travel photography then you should read and download the FREE Ultimate Guide to Travel Photography (no emails required), a 70 pages PDF file.

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