Try Tuts+ Premium, Get Cash Back!
Quick Tip: Simple Steps for Avoiding Camera Shake

Quick Tip: Simple Steps for Avoiding Camera Shake

on Jan 5th 2013 with 26 comments

Camera shake is a problem that all photographers face. Although lots of lenses come with VR (Vibration Reduction) or IS (Image Stabilization) technology, not everyone can afford this feature – and even the best of us don’t have a totally steady hand. Here are a few tips to help you out with reducing the affect of camera shake.

Republished Tutorial

Every few weeks, we revisit some of our reader's favorite posts from throughout the history of the site. This tutorial was first published in November of 2010.

reduce camera shake

Step 1. Elbows In!

Try to hold a good, strong stance – legs shoulder width apart and standing tall and strong, holding the camera tightly into your face. The key is to tuck in your elbows, which will help support your upper body and reduce any chance of movement in your arms.

It also helps to either exhale or breathe in and hold your breath for the duration of the shot, as even the expansion of your lungs may cause that slight unwanted movement.

reduce camera shake

Step 2. Hold That Stance

There are two other popular stances which you could employ to help with stability. The first involves squatting down with one knee pointing up, using the knee as a rest for your elbow. Again, remembering to hold the camera tightly to your face and breathe out!

The other option is to lie flat on the ground, using your elbows to prop you up. This gives a lot of stability as you are totally grounded, but it’s often difficult to get the shot you want because of the angle. But you never know, it might provide an interesting view!

reduce camera shake

Step 3. Get Leaning

One of the best ways to stay steady ‘in the field’ is to find a solid structure to lean or rest on such as a wall, fence, or lamp post. Depending on the height, you could actually rest your camera upon said object – but often it’s better to just lean, taking some of the weight off your feet and giving that much needed stability.

Another tip that will help is to get as close to your subject as possible. The less you have to zoom, the lesser the impact of movement will be.

reduce camera shake

Step 4. And Of Course… Carry a Tripod!

The last and least practical of solutions is to carry a tripod with you. This will guarantee stability and reduce any risk of camera shake.

Obviously it’s not always convenient to carry a full size tripod, so it might be worth investing in a pocket-size mini tripod, which will give you all the stability of a full size tripod without all the inconvenience.

You could also try using a cable release, or the timer on your camera, to avoid any vibration moving through the camera as your depress the shutter.

Share Your Tips!

These are just a few of the techniques I employ to help out with this problem. Do you have any of your own? I’d love to hear them, so please do leave a comment and share your ideas!

Tags: Tips
 
Enjoyed this Post?

Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!

By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Simon Bray is a freelance photographer from Manchester, UK. He recently graduated from studying for a degree in Music at Manchester University, where he won Manchester Student Photographer of the Year. He previously worked at Manchester Photographic, a gallery and photographic school in the centre of the city, sharing his passion for photography alongside professionals and beginners and is now pursuing freelance photography work.  

Plus Premium
 
 
  • http://Roboman.se Joacim

    You could always use the strap as stabilization. Twist it a few times and put your right elbow into it, should give a pretty good result.

  • Orey

    Another trick could be to take three shots in rapid succession with a single press of the shutter. The first and the last frame might experience shake due to your finger pressing down and releasing. But the middle one will be a bit more stable. :) Thanks for the quick tips!

    • Bryan

      Yes, definitely! I use this method on a regular basis and it works very well!

  • http://vicky-photoexpression.blogspot.com/ Vicky Tsavdaridou

    Thanks for the tips !!!! I will try some of them

  • Kyle

    As a general rule of thumb, try to make sure your shutter speed is set at least as fast as 1 over your focal length. For example if you were shooting with a 50mm lens you’d want your shutter speed to be at least 1/50. Don’t forget to take into account that a 50mm on a body with a crop factor (like the Canon T2i) may actually be more like 85mm after conversion so you’d want to be shooting with at least 1/85 of a second to reduce the effect of camera shake.

  • http://www.shaneparkerphoto.com Shane Parker

    There are a ton of tricks to avoid camera shake and, surprisingly, some really basic stuff left out here.

    #1 – Increase shutter speed and open up your aperture. This decreases the amount of time between shutter open/close so that even if there were camera shake, your faster shutter may be quick enough to avoid it. The larger aperture (lower number) allows more light in, which allows you to increase shutter speed. One possible downside to this technique is losing some depth of field do to the shallower aperture.

    #2 – One of the most basic is the “3-point rule” (which cine shooters follow). That is, have three points attached to the camera. In the case of still shooting, that normally means two hands (one on the body, one on the lens) and the back of the camera pressed against your eye–three points of stability on the camera.

    #3 – Another technique is to use the timed shutter feature that most cameras have. On a lot of DSLR’s, there are two options, 2 seconds or 10 seconds. Often, if I’m without a tripod and have to shoot at a slower shutter speed, I’ll set it to a 2 second timer. That way, when I press the shutter button the movement/vibration of me hitting the shutter button is not transferred to the exposure. Instead, I press the shutter release, lift my finger, and the shot goes off two seconds later preventing any camera shake that my shutter press may have caused.

    NOTE: The “hold your breath” rule should be amended to use the same techniques that snipers use. Seriously, it’s the exact same thing, they’re looking through a lens just as we are and the principles they use are the exact methods good photographers use, especially when shooting objects with very long lenses. First, you have to be very careful about simply holding your breath. If you hold it too long, you can actually cause loss of focus and concentration as well as body quiver. Instead of holding your breath, take a nice deep inhale and slowly, naturally exhale; when you reach the bottom of your exhale, where your breathing “stroke” is at its most relaxed and your lungs are almost empty, take the shot. This has proven to be much more effective in controlling lens/scope shake and increases concentration because it doesn’t start the shooter of oxygen while he’s trying to shoot.

    • steph

      Awesome comment. I learned more from this comment than from the actual article.

      Thanks, Shane.

      • http://www.shaneparkerphoto.com Shane Parker

        Haha, nice :) Thanks Steph! Maybe someday I’ll find the time to write one of these articles myself.

  • http://jantimmons.net Jan Timmons

    I carry a monopod with me in my car, on walks, and often grab it as often as I reach for my camera. Perhaps in Alaska it’s more usual to have a hiking “pole” of some sort, but a monopod offers a third point of angled leverage and stability.

    • http://www.shaneparkerphoto.com Shane Parker

      Another great recommendation! Monopods are cheap and offer really good vertical stability. I have a few monopods and leave one in the back of my car as well. I don’t use it as much as I used to, but it definitely comes in handy once in a while.

  • Jore Puusa

    Step1.
    Never elbows in. Your body is shaking and moving all the time, when muscles are tense the image will be blurred. The ergonomics in tha picture are totally wrong. Shooting vertical means that right hand has to be on the top and left hand should be under the cam totally different way than in the picture.
    Tutorial says nothing about the most important thing, squeezing the shutter release.In the first picture ( which have all mistakes possible) the fingertip is on the shutter knob. There should be the first joint of finger.

    JorePuusa
    Professional pressphotographer

  • http://www.emilpaje..tripod.com Emil

    The Golden Rule of Handholding is 1/60th per second, if you go lower than that use a tripod to get sharper images.

    • http://blog.shetye.net/category/photography/ Kunal

      Emily,

      Wouldn’t the 1/Xth per second rule vary depending on the type of lens being used?

      For example:

      If I am using a 85mm prime, i never go below 1/85 of a second

      Where as when I am shooting with my 10-24mm Wide Angle lens, I can go as low as 1/15 or 1/20 of a second without the need of a Tripod.

      • http://www.emilpaje.tripod.com Emil

        Hey Kunal,
        First of all my name is not Emily…its Emil Only. I agree with you using those lenses will vary your shutter speed but lets talk about how many photographers are using those lenses probably 1 out 10. Many beginner photographer uses higher zoom lenses while shooting. Let’s help them understand at what shutter speed they can handhold their camera to get sharp images. In case you did not notice also, if you are a canon shooter, when you are at night and you want to shoot people, without putting your flash or using your flash yet and you try to dial the mode “program or P”, it gives you first the very lower shutter speed like ’8 seconds depending on your very dark location, now when you switch on your flash, your shutter speed starts at 1/60 per second ….my question is WHY? Why not 1/80 or 1/100 or even 1/125 ….Did Canon company choose this shutter speed 1/60 by mistake or they just like this number? Call canon if you have their telephone number Ok. And by the way, read Scott kelby book volume 1-3 maybe this will help you a lot since you are professional photographer already. And he said also from his book, get married to your tripod. LOL.

        • http://blog.shetye.net/category/photography/ Kunal

          Emil,

          My apologies for misspelling your name. Regarding the “Why it shows 1/60th of a second” the reason is most of the people out there who have just purchased a Canon camera would be using the kit lens which is usually 18-55mm. Also most people have heir ISO set to Auto instead of a specific value like 100,200,400.. etc. Hence you get the ‘golden’ number. If you were to change your lens to say 55-250mm IS Telephoto lens and if you were zoomed out to 250mm the 1/60th of second ‘golden’ number would no longer apply. Give it a try if you will :)

          And regarding the ‘get married to your tripod’ , I do agree to that Tripod is the most stable thing that you would come across!

          PS: I ain’t no professional, its just my 2 cents :P

          • http://www.emilpaje.tripod.com Emil

            Kunal,

            Peace man! LOL!

            Anyway, I used the 18-200mm zoom for my canon but still the golden number applies when I used it in the night when I apply the flash. Nothing change. I think there is something wrong with my camera which is 500D Canon only. Its cheap probably, but trust me it gives amazing images….you can have a look in my website if you have time… its http://www.emilpaje.tripod.com

            Thanks

  • Ionut Cirja

    I have a phrase here: The best lens is a tripod! :D

  • http://www.danielsone.com Daniel S.

    Joe McNally uses this method he describes in this video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDsx3-FWfwk

    I’ve used it with great success and it helps me squeeze even more out of my image-stabilized lenses. Also, the principles used in accurately shooting firearms — like rifles — especially over long distances apply to photography as well. With good posture I’ve been able to get very, very usable hand-held photos between 4 seconds (standing, leaning on telephone pole, IS/VR on) and 10-seconds (prone).

    Shane Parker’s reference to the breath-control snipers use is extremely important in slow-shutter speed photography, especially when using a long lens, like a 70-200mm. To build on it, when you exhale and you body and lungs are the most relaxed, do not wait more than 6 seconds (or 6-count) to trip the shutter. After about 6 seconds, your heart rate will increase and your body will begin to tense and quiver, blurring your image. So, if you don’t take your photo within that window, just restart the cycle.

    Finally, hold your camera and lens firmly. You don’t need a crushing grip on it, that will actually cause your muscles to shake. Your method of supporting your camera should be your skeleton, not muscles.

    • http://www.shaneparkerphoto.com Shane Parker

      I was actually coming back to post the “McNally method” :)

      Thanks for expanding on my breathing cycle example. You definitely want to restart the cycle if you take too long to take the shot, otherwise, you’re in the same position you would be in if you just held your breath (out of oxygen!)

      Over a decade of shooting, I’ve found that my best shots come from when I’m the most relaxed (although there are exceptions) and able to concentrate.

      RE: 1/60th “Golden Rule”

      Someone above mentioned this and I’d caution against using it, I don’t know who started the rumor of it being the “golden rule” but it’s simply not true and it only applies to relatively small amount of lenses. If you’re above 85mm, you probably want to shoot faster than 1/60th and you certainly want to be faster once you get into the 100-200mm focal length. On the flipside, I’ve been able to shoot at much slower speeds and if your lens has Image Stability, you’d be surprised how slow you can get the shutter and still capture a nice, sharp exposure.

  • http://www.nouks.nl Anouk Timmerman

    “Another tip that will help is to get as close to your subject as possible. The less you have to zoom, the lesser the impact of movement will be.”

    I’d really not recommend this for avoiding camera shake, since shooting wider focal points will change your perspective and therefore your total image. Especially for portraits, when you usually don’t want much distortion in your images, any focal lengths wider than “tele” will be unwanted (except for the few portraits on which you use wider focal lenths for a creative reason, of course).

  • dan

    why has nobody mentioned pentax!
    pentax has just released an awesome camera(k-5)
    fixing many of the shortcomings with the k-7(poor high iso noise reduction)(autofocus)etc
    but the big seller for a lot is the in body shake reduction,works on all pentax lenses going back 40+ years.

  • http://www.dbwda.webeden.co.uk/ David Wallace

    A point worth noting when using a tripod – turn of the IS function otherwise it is trying to compensate for something which is not happening and may in fact cause slight “shake”.

    DW

  • alexander

    another tip is to use a battery pack. This can give an extra weight to the camera which is helpful to avoid the shake caused by the shutter pressing. Am I correct?

  • Terence

    I found that for slowish shutter speeds, get all the settings done, then invert the camera (turn it upside-down) and hold it against the forehead – arms have too much length to control.

  • http://www.skaremedia.com/ Skare Media

    Another tip is to shoot on burst mode, always take at least 3 shots and theoretically the second shot (or any of the middle shots) will always be the best with the least shake. This is because the first photo will have shake from pressing the shutter down, and the last will have shake from releasing the button.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

    Also, how you press the shutter button can cause camera shake, too. Roll your shutter finger over the shutter button instead of squeezing down on it, to prevent the hand from clenching and introducing shake. Especially vital in high-intensity times like sports, bird photography, etc. Improper shutter button technique (GOD that sounds pretentious–but it is what it is) can introduce shake even on a tripod.

    If you’re shooting a phone, or at least an iPhone, the shutter is not actually triggered until you lift your finger off the “button”, so instead of stabbing at the button, put your finger on it and remove your finger from the button when you’re ready to take the picture. Unless you’re using the volume button to trigger the shutter, in which case, see the above tip.