Pro tip: Always check your tripod leg locks before a shoot

I was out at Joshua Tree last month trying to get a clear shot of the Milky Way. Set up my camera, dialed in the settings for a 20 second exposure, and hit the shutter. Right as the exposure started, one of the tripod legs slowly slid down and the whole thing tilted. The image came out as a blurry mess of streaked stars. Now I double check every lock before I even mount the camera. Anyone else have a good setup ruined by something dumb like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ray1mo ago

Learned that lesson the hard way myself, never skip the check.

kai7791mo ago

Idk @the_ray, I've been lucky and never had an issue skipping it.

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jamesblack14d ago

Facts, @the_ray is right though. I used to skip the check every time and got lucky for like a year straight. Then one day my car's check engine light popped on for something small, ignored it, and next thing I know my transmission is acting up. Cost me way more than if I'd just done the regular check. Now I don't even mess around - I follow the manual to the letter.

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