Gear up Rock steady

All of the images on this spread required a sturdy tripod. When using a telephoto lens, you are more susceptible to camera shake, which will result in lessthan-sharp images. The longer the focal length, the greater the susceptibility. Also, if your lens has vibration reduction, turn it off when using a tripod because the gyros inside will try to stabilise the image and may cause a slightly soft image. If you are including a lot of foreground using a wide-angle lens, as with the sand dune image left, you will most likely need to use a smaller aperture. This will require a slower shutter speed so a tripod is again a must. Close-up images need exact framing so unwanted elements don’t creep into the frame. A tripod will allow perfect framing every time.