In this paper we present and analyze new CCD UBVRI photometry down to V~ { } \approx 21 in the region of the young open cluster Trumpler 15 , located in the Carina spiral feature .
The cluster is rather compact and has a core radius of about 2 ^ { \prime } , which translates in about 1 pc at the distance of the cluster .
We provide the first CCD investigation and update its fundamental parameters .
We identify 90 candidate photometric members on the base of the position in the color-color and color-magnitude diagrams .
This sample allows us to obtain a distance of 2.4 \pm 0.3 kpc from the Sun and a reddening E ( B - V ) =0.52 \pm 0.07 .
We confirm that the cluster is young , and fix a upper limit of 6 million yrs to its age . In addition , we draw the attention on the lower part of the Main Sequence ( MS ) suggesting that some stars can be in contracting phase and on a gap in the MS , that we show to be a real feature , the B 1 - B 5 gap found in other young open clusters . We finally study in details the extinction toward Trumpler 15 concluding that it is normal and suggesting a value of 2.89 \pm 0.19 for the ratio of total to selective absorption R _ { V } .