Tripods and heads

Tripods are great. When doing macro photography a tripod is a must. And if you are doing a still life setup, you will need a tripod. Time lapses are impossible to do without and so is night photography. And just for use in the studio it will be handy. Tripods come in many variations.
For macro you see those tripods where you can split out the legs almost to a 90°, and where you can have the arm with the camera mounted on the tripod in a 90° angle, and move that back and forth. (See below).
It's faster to lock the camera in place when attached to a ball head. If you on the other hand need to move steady and even, then a 3 way head is to prefer.
Also, a 3 way head is good for taking pictures to be stitched as a panorama. There might even be a scale that shows the angle so you easily know how much to turn the camera for the next picture.
The 3 way head is furthermore best for video graphing, again because the 3 way system, that works so you can lock all movements but the one you want to move.
I will recommend the 3 way head for use in your home studio. The ball head on the other hand is practical if you have to set up the equipment quickly, like in the field, in nature or where you have to act swiftly.
The 3 way head will also be useful at sports, imagine a football match, where you may want to follow the ball around in the same vertical level, but moving the camera quickly turning horizontal.
A good thing on your tripod, or actually the head, is a small plate to be mounted underneath the camera. It works in a way so you can put the camera on the tripod and snap the plate into place, and take it off again, almost just as easily. That way you can take the camera on and off very fast, and don't have to screw it on/off.
They are called "quick release plates". And if you get a good tripod you can buy extra or replacements.

Here is shown a tripod of the brand Manfrotto. Below that you see a ball head. There are pros and cons of using either the ball head or using a 3 way head, as mentioned above.
The heads are exchangeable so you can have one tripod and shift between heads depending on your need, the kind of photography you are shooting.
Or you can have one chosen head, and then change the tripod, depending on your use, like a sturdy tripod for your studio, and one lightweight for traveling.
A good tripod costs. But then you have the possibility to get spare parts.
And good quality is not cheap.

Then I want to mention Monopods. They are one legged stands for use f.ex. with a super tele lens, if you want to have more freedom to move around. And you can kind of use yourself to keep it steady, by using a pouch for your belt on your trousers. You can see a such here on the photo. It gives you the freedom to move around and yet keep the super tele lens steady enough to make the pictures sharp. You can of course be in situiations where a tripod is the right choice. But a monopod is easier and does the job in many situations. The picture here is of a Manfrotto monopod.

Information

A tripod helps you, keeping your camera still. If you like the macro photography world, then it can surely be a necessity. Also, if you are into shooting pictures at night - with shutter openings like 30-60 secs - you really cannot do it without. But in many situations where you need to keep your camera steady, a tripod comes useful. Time lapse is impossible to do without a tripod. And a thing like taking photos of waterfalls, big or small, and even the waves at the shore of the sea - you will need a tripod.