Hold still, be steady

Want to hold your camera for long exposures without having to resort to a flash or tripod? It’s not hard to do once you learn the proper way to hold your camera! The trick is as simple as putting your arms close to your body. As the photo below illustrates, doing this eliminates the “flying elbows” syndrome that is at the root of camera unsteadiness. 

I learned to shoot this way years ago from the late Eddie Adams. He showed me that by simply tucking my elbows into my sides, I could steady myself enough to consistently shoot sharp photos at slow shutter speeds. That one tip has followed me throughout my career. In fact, I can still handhold my camera at shutter speeds as slow as 1/15th of a second! Give it a try and see if it helps your available light shooting. Please post how this tip worked/didn’t work for you!

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The basics…shoot on exhale

Part of my job is editing photos submitted by readers who aren’t necessarily photographers. The main flaw I see in their work is photos blurred due to camera motion. A tip I picked up early on in my career can help eliminate a lot of this camera shake. It’s a simple solution, just shoot as you exhale. 

The theory here is that the body is more relaxed and less tense when exhaling a breath. A body that’s in a relaxed state will shake less than one that’s all tensed up. It’s a trick taught to snipers and can apply to shooters with a camera too. Try it for yourself the next time you’re out with your camera. Adjust your exposure to 1/30th of a second or so and shoot a series of photos with your breath held during the exposure and some shot during a slow exhale. Squeeze off your shots while doing both, of course — don’t stab at the shutter release!

I think you’ll see a big difference. 

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