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How to Choose the Best Travel Tripod for your photo trip

How to Choose the Best Travel Tripod for your photo trip

Choosing the right travel tripod for your photo trip is essential. Biggest concerns of most travelers are size and weight. The smaller the better, right? But buying the smallest tripod necessarily doesn’t have to be the best idea. We will try to help you choose the right tripod which will cause you minimal transportation problems while keeping the best abilities to do what is its job, keep your camera steady.

 

Ideal size

Tripods have two different and important sizes (height). The maximum height after being fully retracted, which helps you with your vantage points when shooting and the carrying height, which makes the tripod as small as possible when you don’t need it.

The maximum height should be at least 165cm (65“) so you can shoot from eye-level height in order to keep natural vantage point. If possible, keep an eye on the center column, if a tripod can reach desired height without overextending the center column. It affects the stability.

Minimum height – travel size should be less than 50cm (20“) so a tripod could qualify as a travel tripod and fit your luggage.

Tip: Check out extra small Gitzo traveler tripods.

 

Weight of travel tripod

Travel tripod should be around 1,5kg (3.3 pounds), including a tripod head. However, most travel tripods come with preinstalled or fixed head. Choosing a carbon fiber, magnesium or titanium tripod instead of aluminum helps to save the weight, but comes with a higher cost. Some tripods can be secured with a bag of sand or water, in case of strong wind.

Tip: Look for extra lightweight carbon fiber tripods with magnesium ball heads.

Travel tripod

Construction

There are couple types of tripod construction. Some are better for stability, some are better for portability and ease of use. Choose tripods which are small when retracted and do not have too many moving parts. Also focus on the head mechanism. Three-way heads have handles for each axis, they take more space, but can support heavier cameras. Ball heads are more compact and fast to adjust, but cheaper ones do not offer enough friction to support a camera with heavy telephoto lens, for example.

If possible, try how easy you can adjust leg height. Some tripods have sturdy handles and require some effort to extend them to maximum height. That is also affected by how many sections tripod legs have, which is usually between 2 to 4 sections.

Tip: Check tripods at BH Photo Video for price levels.

 

Mini alternatives of travel tripod

If your space is limited or you simply don’t or can’t carry a tripod around, there are still couple options for you. There are plenty of “tabletop” tripods, in case you have an even surface to put tripod on, or special kind of tripods with bendable legs. Most famous of these tripods is line of Joby Gorillapods, which can stand on a surface or its legs could be bent and wrapped around objects like poles, railings etc.

Now you are equipped so go outside and explore. You can download our app to see travel destination inspirations and guides made by photographers for photographers.

Download our Fripito app for free:

Top locations to photograph in Azores!

Top locations to photograph in Azores!

Sao Miguel is the largest and the most varied of nine Azores islands. You will find beautiful volcanos, deep lakes and evergreen landscapes there and island is all year blooming! I choosed five photographic gems of Sao Miguel which you  cannot miss. You can download my full travel guide of Sao Miguel for photographers too.

 

1. Volcanos

Sao Miguel was created by volcanos and you will find 3 big volcanos there and many small till this days. The largest caldera is located in the west part. 3 miles wide and almost 1500 feeds high walls in Sete Cidades area hide four lakes overall. Boca do Inferno is my favorite viewpoint for this area. The best light conditions start at late afternoon and this place is awesome till deep night.

Azores 2015

 

 

2. Black cliffs

The lava cliffs with unbelievable contrast cover the most of the north coastline . The best views is to be find in the North west part, for example at port of S. Vincente Ferreira. There is natural swimming pool also. Take you tripod and try long exposures!

 

Azores 2015

3. Tea plantations

There is a lot of tea plantations and family tea factories specially in the north east part of island. Azores are the only place in Europe, where the tea is grown. Chá Gorreana is my recommended spot to start. Walk the tea plantations and taste the local tea. You will enjoy the best light before sunset.

 

Azores 2015

 

 

4. Hidden waterfalls

Faial da Terra is a small village in the south east coast of Sao Miguel. The 3 miles long round track to Salto do Prego waterfall starts there. You will walk through deep green forest and the waterfall is hidden in deep river valley. Don’t forget your tripod and wide angle lens.

Azores 2015

 

 

5. Whale watching

You can take boat trip for watching whale directly from the port of capital city – Ponta Delgada. Boats set off every day and the best choice is an early morning small boat trip. Reserve your seat in advance during the main seasson. Whale watching is extremally popular because there is a high chance to see the huge mammals every day!

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If you are going to Sao Miguel, download my full travel guide for photographers. It includes 70 places with exact GPS, photo tips, travel recommendations and offline maps.

HOW TO GET THE GUIDE?
It’s very simple:

  1. Download FREE application Fripito in AppStore or GooglePlay
  2. Choose “Azores” guide
  3. Purchase it through AppStore or GooglePlay and download the guide to your device.
The most beautiful waterfalls of Iceland

The most beautiful waterfalls of Iceland

Iceland is magical place with endless variety of photographic motives. Waterfalls are the most unique ones. You can find hundreds of them. We choosed the five most interesting waterfalls, which you cannot miss when visiting Iceland. If you are looking for more tips, try our Iceland travel guide for photographers. Our special offer 50% off is valid till August 23rd!

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