Friday 20 February 2009

Posture and camera shake

Be careful where you stand. If the ideal composition is just a little higher than your height you can lift your arms and a compact digital (and one or two SLR digital cameras) will allow you to look at the screen. However do be aware of the much greater risk of camera shake. It may well be that the best photo is one step further back, but behind you is a river or a cliff face. My advice is don't step back. You can buy different lenses that allow for such situations, but generally you can step backwards.

Perhaps the worst thing you can do is bend your back a little to get just the right photo. You may get the photo that you want but it is not good for your back and this technique tends to develop into a habit. Apart from the back pain you will not be comfortable as you lean backwards and camera shake could well be an additional problem. The answer is simple. Take that step backwards or sideways, step up a step or kneel down.

In normal lighting you don't need a tripod for most photographs, but the photograph that you intend to take may need a little help. for example if your subject is in the distance and you are going to either zoom in or crop, then your slight camera shake will be exaggerated. If you don't have a tripod try leaning against a wall. One of my favourite tricks is to find a wall, put the timer on so there is no camera shake from pressing the shutter release. If you don't have a mini-tripod then a bean bag may be the answer to getting the angle right.

Happy snapping

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