Although you really need carry nothing more than a camera to get great photographic results on your travels, packing a few accessories can certainly help you get the shot you want — and here are a couple of clever ones.

A tripod is all but essential for low-light and night photography, or anything with a long exposure — handheld shots will be far too blurry. Few photographers want to carry this kind of bulk though, which is where the Twig Pod comes in.


The Twig Pod is a mono pod — a one-legged tripod, in other words — but it has a clever design that means its 25” length collapses into just 8” for carrying.

The top-end has a mount with a ball joint for positioning the camera at just about any angle, while the bottom has a spike for sticking into soft ground. The only catch is that the Twig Pod is only available in the US for $28 (£18) and shipping to the UK costs at least $35 (£22)…

Next up is the Alpinist Camera case, which is ideal for people who just want to chuck their camera into a bag or rucksack, or down the side of a mountain.

Made from anodised aircraft grade aluminium, the cases look a little bit like a military ammo case and they’re certainly built along similar lines. The cases are light (less than 165g), water-resistant and have a magnetically sealed lid and clips for attaching to belts or backpacks.

Alpinist Camera cases are available in a range of sizes to suit different compact cameras and prices start from $69 (£43) plus $42 (£26) shipping to the UK.