I bought the Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT tripod to help me take flat lay photos for my blog; it has an extending arm so you can really get a nice top-down shot. I’ve been using it for a while now and wanted to share my experience with it.
As you may know, I take all of my blog photos on my iPhone. It’s really the best camera for me because I always have my phone with me and it can take really beautiful shots. Even though I don’t use a large, traditional camera, I still need to be able to set up a shot from the same angle or have the stability of a tripod. I have a small “travel” tripod that I have taken with me to Hawaii and other smaller trips and it’s very nice and portable, but it’s not very stable on its own and doesn’t allow me the flexibility to take top-down pictures.
Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT
This tripod is super sturdy/professional. On our recent trip to San Francisco, I took it up to the top of Battery Spencer to watch the sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a little windy and the ground was rough/uneven, but my tripod was perfect through it all — it wasn’t shaking in the wind, and I was able to adjust the legs to make sure my camera was level. I wouldn’t have been able to do that with my smaller tripod.
Extendable Arm
The real reason that I picked this tripod was it’s ability to extend to allow for a top-down picture. I like to do flat-lays for pictures of ingredients for my bath bomb DIYs, or in my recent What’s in My Disneyland Bag post, or just on my Instagram. I think that they look clean and really highlight the item in the photo.
In the past, I would just hold my phone out and try to center the crosshairs in the middle, but it can be hard to keep a steady angle and to get high enough over your object to keep it all in frame. With this tripod, I can adjust the legs as low or as high as I need to get the perfect top-down shot I’m looking for.
I bought an iPhone adapter to screw onto the end of the tripod, so it can hold my phone. I really like it because it’s really sturdy and I know my phone won’t pop out (like it has with other adapters).
The only down side to having such a sturdy tripod is that it is a lot heavier than my other one. It comes in its own carry case, so it’s still portable, but it’s definitely larger than I’m used to. I’m really happy with it though and am excited to keep using it!
