Choosing Your Shooting Position

Once you get to the location where you’ll be shooting, don’t just take your tripod out and set it up where you think you’ll be shooting from (rookie mistake). Instead, leave your tripod folded up, walk around with your camera in hand, and try out different angles to find which looks best. You’re not going to take any shots during this scouting phase—you’re just looking through the viewfinder to see which angle is most advantageous for that particular location. Once you’ve figured out where that is, then (and only then) do you set up your tripod. Walking around and scouting like this, with your camera in hand, is quick, easy, and effective. Walking around lugging your tripod with your camera on top is slow, it’s easy to trip, and you’ll end up settling on a spot that isn’t necessarily the best shooting angle, but at least you’re not carrying that heavy rig around anymore. Do yourself a favor and do the scouting first, then set up the tripod after. I promise you’ll come away with better images.