Tripod accessories
In addition to a tripod and a tripod head, there are plenty of accessories you can use. The three common, and often essential, accessories for tripods are the spirit level, leg warmer and counterweight.
Many tripods already have a built-in spirit level. If not, you can purchase one that you can attach to your camera. With a spirit level, you can always be sure your photo is straight. This will save you a lot of time in post-processing. Especially if you have to go and straighten hundreds of holiday photos, for example.
The leg warmer has already been briefly explained under aluminium tripods. Even with this accessory, many tripods already have it as standard. If you often head outside during the colder months of the year, the legs of your aluminium tripod will get very cold. If you don't wear gloves because you prefer a better grip, grabbing hold of your tripod can be quite uncomfortable. So a leg warmer is what you're after. This soft shell, unlike the metal leg, does not change temperature.
Although a tripod ensures a lot of stability, in some cases it may not be enough. This may be because of strong winds, for example. To increase your stability as well as prevent your precious camera from falling over, use a counterweight. Many tripods have a small hook at the bottom. You can hang a weight on this to make the tripod more stable. This can be a stuffed bag, a sandbag or anything else with weight. Before hanging anything on this hook, it's helpful to check the load capacity of your tripod.