hmmm... on my tripod there is a thingy that lets me turn the camera to portrait orientation... basically, once my camera is on the tripod i can swivel it around in a circle if i want, tilt it up and down... and also put it in portrait orientation... what kind of tripod do you have?
@frankhymus You may be able to buy a swivel head that will fit your tripod. I used to have one for my cheap tripod. I got it from a camera store (Henry's I think)
I might guess that you have a video head on your tripod. The head of the tripod is that bit that goes between the legs and the camera, and has the movement controls.
Some cheap tripods come with video heads designed for camcorders, rather than for still cameras. They typically have a single 'stick' control pointing out the back, that you twist to release and tighten, and when released, the camera can move both left and right as well as up and down.
As switching to portrait mode doesn't make much sense when you're using a video camera, they often don't have the ability to do so.
Depending on your tripod, you might be able to unscrew the head from the legs, and screw on a replacement head that's more suited to still photography. However, very cheap tripods often don't have removable heads, or use a non-standard screw fitting to fix the head to the legs.
You might be best going to a reputable camera store and ask them if you can fit a different head to your tripod -- but be aware that most aftermarket heads are relatively expensive ($100+) and if you are looking for a cheap solution, it might be easier to simply buy a new budget tripod with an included head that's more suitable for still photography.
(Personally I would recommend buying a decent tripod and head if you can, as they will last you years, but that may not be an option in your budget).
Theoretically that should work, but you'd have to make sure it was large enough to prevent the camera impacting the tripod controls, and also I suspect it would be rather fiddly!
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Some cheap tripods come with video heads designed for camcorders, rather than for still cameras. They typically have a single 'stick' control pointing out the back, that you twist to release and tighten, and when released, the camera can move both left and right as well as up and down.
As switching to portrait mode doesn't make much sense when you're using a video camera, they often don't have the ability to do so.
Depending on your tripod, you might be able to unscrew the head from the legs, and screw on a replacement head that's more suited to still photography. However, very cheap tripods often don't have removable heads, or use a non-standard screw fitting to fix the head to the legs.
You might be best going to a reputable camera store and ask them if you can fit a different head to your tripod -- but be aware that most aftermarket heads are relatively expensive ($100+) and if you are looking for a cheap solution, it might be easier to simply buy a new budget tripod with an included head that's more suitable for still photography.
(Personally I would recommend buying a decent tripod and head if you can, as they will last you years, but that may not be an option in your budget).
If you really want to continue using your existing tripod, you might be able to use an L-plate such as this one, designed for binoculars:
http://www.amazon.com/Orion-Large-Binocular-Tripod-L-Adapter/dp/B0000XMULO
Theoretically that should work, but you'd have to make sure it was large enough to prevent the camera impacting the tripod controls, and also I suspect it would be rather fiddly!