Hey and welcome back for another edition of Photo Tips. Today's tip is simple...use a tripod. Now many photographers just will not use a tripod. I've heard so many different reasons it would make your head spin...a tripod is too heavy and cumbersome, I like the feel of the camera in my hands, it doesn't make a difference etc. Well, while a tripod can't and shouldn't be used for all applications (sports and action shots, candid images etc.) it's an invaluable tool for the landscape and often portrait photography. The question is why? The answers are many.

1. Using a tripod will ensure even during long shutter speed situations such as low light and small aperture settings that you will be able to capture clear, crisp, blur free images. This will allow you to gain greater depth of field through the use of apertures like f16 & f22.

2. You will be able to use lower ISO settings meaning less noise for cleaner sharper images.

3. You will have far more flexibility i.e.. you will be able to set your camera any way you want and take exactly the picture you want without compromise because you won't have to think about camera shake especially when using long focal length lenses.

4. One of the biggest benefits of using a tripod comes from slowing down the whole process of picture taking. Photographers using a tripod tend to take their time composing their shots, taking time to look at all the elements in the viewfinder and cropping in-camera with more efficiency. 

5. While used less with digital cameras than the old film cameras, graduated filters are used more effectively when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

So there you have some of the main reasons why a good sturdy tripod will boost the quality of your photography. For those of you still concerned with lugging around another piece of equipment, keep in mind that you can purchase rugged quality tripods that are quite light in weight. Gone are the days of the big heavy clunker that ended up sitting in the closet. There are terrific carbon fibre tripods that are extremely light and sturdy. They aren't inexpensive but consider how much money you've spent on your camera and lenses. You probably want to get as much out of your equipment as possible and a tripod is a huge step in that direction.

Until next time, keep shooting!