How do you balance your tripod and camera for optimal stability?

Even if you find yourself in a situation when your tripod is just too lightweight for a heavy camera, it’s a good idea to use the self timer and then step away to avoid unnecessary camera shake from the shutter release, or use a cable release (it’s actually a hugely underrated piece of kit these days)

Position your tripod so that one single leg is at the front, facing the direction that you are photographing and the two legs are at the back, where you are standing. It gives more stability than having the two legs facing forward and the single leg at the back, where you're standing. If a gust of wind comes from behind where you're standing or you accidentally knock the tripod, the leg in the centre at the front will prevent it from toppling forward in most circumstances. If a gust of wind comes from the front of the tripod you'll be behind the tripod, to catch it.

Most tripods are junk and have even worse heads and bad mounting systems. Cry once and buy top-quality and you won't regret the purchase nor having not to pay for impact damage crappy tripods cause. I have several that I use, from large to small and they are all well-built. In the past 20 years, I've only purchased name-brand carbon-fiber and it's worth the additional expense. As to heads, I use good-quality ball heads, mostly made with asymmetrical balls and Arca-style receptors. They are ubiquitous and offer many advantages such as good, solid contact with the head, are low-profile on bodies/lenses and light-weight. Many mechanical advantages to the system, and they offer drop-protection to my bodies.

Not much too this. With the Arca-style plates, it's just tighten the knob/lever and use the built-in horizon of the camera if needed and you are set.

With small and light carbon tripods, your camera bag can easily be hooked to the center column if you need a little more stability but be wary of the wind!

With the multi-axis in-body stabilization and lenses with similar, a tripod is needed less-and less for many people. It's great when you need precise framing or longer exposures with long lenses but for most, the built-in technology can be enough for most situations.