Well....yes a tripod is absolutely necessary. Almost as important is a self-timer so you can get your hands off the camera before it takes the picture. As far as settings go...if you have f-stops..mine was on 8.0 and the shutter was open WAY long...6 seconds. That's why you have to have the self timer. Even pressing the "take a picture" button will shake the camera enough to ruin your shot. Plus a little photoshop editing (noise reduction...cheating? ) and viola! Hope that helps!