I am a big believer in buying the tallest tripod I can. I now own a Gitzo Series 3 XLS, a Series 4, and also a mammoth 9ft tall series 5 Gitzo. I have always used the full range of height of each of these tripods, because sometimes the best shot is much higher than I am, or in many circumstances, when the tripod is on a slope or a tight area, I need to extend the leg way lower than where I am standing.

But sometimes no tripod height can help, and I’m seeking something that will allow me to get much higher.

In order to shoot this:

I had to do this:

If I hadn’t doe this, the background row of trees would have crashed into the foreground group of trees. This is the only time I have been on the roof of a car to make a photograph (or do anything at all!), but it does illustrate the point that sometimes, cameras need to be much higher than we are.

So I do recommend a really tall tripod. I have an old blog posting about it here: https://www.brucepercy.co.uk/blog/2017/9/24/gitzo-giant-tripod