Holding and standing correctly

Learning goal

You will be able to tell the cause of a shaky photo: is it the camera moving, the subject moving, or the focus slipping? You will practice the basic ways of steadying a camera and a phone with your body, be able to shoot standing, kneeling and leaning against something, know how the way you press the shutter button affects sharpness, and start building a support setup that suits your own body.

The question

You think you have caught a lovely moment at dinner. The photo looks fine small on the screen. Then you zoom in, and the disappointment: everything looks slightly doubled, the candle flames have turned into little streaks, the edges of the faces have gone soft. The subject didn't move, and the focus was in place. The problem was somewhere else.

Why do my photos come out shaky? Almost everyone who takes up photography meets this question one day. A large part of the answer lies not in the camera but in the body holding it. In the brief moment the shutter is open, even the smallest movement of your hands shifts the image falling on the sensor. In this lesson we will see ways to keep that movement to a minimum: elbows against your body, the left hand supporting the lens from below, breathing out and pressing the shutter button gently.

Context

Blur doesn't come from a single source, and every source has a different fix. If the camera moves, the whole frame slides in the same direction; this is camera shake. If the subject moves, only the thing that moves blurs and the background stays sharp; this is called motion blur. If the focus lands in the wrong place, one area is sharp and the real subject stays soft. Zooming into the photo and looking at what is sharp and what is blurry is the quickest way to find the cause.

This lesson is about camera shake. However calm you are, your body never stops: your heart beats, you breathe, your muscles make small corrections. If there is plenty of light, the shutter stays open for so short a time that these movements don't show in the image. As the light falls, though, the camera keeps the shutter open longer, and your body's small movements get into the photo. We will see the rule for which shutter speeds can be used safely handheld in the exposure module, in Lesson 8.5. Today we focus on the physical ways to take a sharper photo at the same speed.

Simple explanation

How is the camera steadied between the hands?

A correct hold begins with a division of labor between the two hands. The right hand grips the camera's handgrip; the index finger rests on the shutter button, the thumb at the back. The left hand goes under the lens: the palm faces up and carries the lens like a tray. Instead of loading the camera's weight onto the right wrist, this grip balances it between both arms. The fingers of the left hand also reach the lens's zoom or focus ring.

The real steadiness comes from the elbows. When the elbows stand open in the air, the arms are like swaying branches. When you tuck your elbows against your body, next to your ribs, your arms form a triangle, and that triangle gets the solid support of your torso. On a camera with a viewfinder, pressing the camera against your forehead or face adds a third support point. Shooting while looking at the screen, arms stretched out in front, is the shakiest stance of all; avoid it if you can.

The same principle applies to a phone. Instead of holding the phone in one hand with your arm stretched out, shoot with both hands, elbows against your body, the screen close to your face. Using the volume button as a shutter button, or tapping the screen lightly instead of jabbing at it, reduces the phone's jolt.

How does the body become a solid base?

Your feet are part of the grip too. Open your feet to shoulder width and bring one slightly forward; spread your weight evenly over both legs. This stance gives you the balance not of a pole swaying in the wind but of a wide-based table. If you need to shoot from a low angle, kneel and rest your left elbow on your knee; your arm and leg together build a supporting triangle.

The objects around you are support points too. Leaning your shoulder against a wall, putting your back against a tree, or setting the camera on a table, a railing or a bag clearly reduces shake. When experienced photographers arrive somewhere new, while they look at the light they also look at where they can lean.

Don't forget that bodies aren't the same for everyone. For someone with a natural tremor in their hands, who can't stand for long, or who uses a wheelchair, these support points matter even more. Resting the camera on a knee, on the arm of the chair or on the table in front, keeping the neck strap taut to pull the camera toward the body, or using a single-leg support pole all lead to the same sharpness by different roads. A correct grip is not a single pose but finding the steadiness that suits your own body.

How do you press the shutter button?

However good your grip, if you press the shutter button with a hard movement you shake the camera yourself. Instead of hitting the shutter button, press it as if you were slowly squeezing it: first half-press and wait for the focus to settle, then keep your finger moving and bring it all the way down. At the end of the movement, don't pull your finger away at once; hold it down for a moment.

Breath is part of this movement too. When you breathe in, your rib cage expands and your arms rise. Before you shoot, take a normal breath, let it out slowly, and press in the short calm at the end of the breath. In difficult light, taking several frames in a row helps too: the first frame often carries the movement of pressing the shutter button, and the second or third comes out sharper.

Many cameras and phones also have image stabilization; it reduces shake by shifting the sensor or the lens elements in small moves against the movement of the hand. This feature really works, but it doesn't replace a correct grip; it only adds to it. The difference matters especially in low light. When you photograph faces in a dark place, the camera stays open longer; when less light comes from a darker-skinned face, the automatic settings may keep the shutter open a little longer, and the chance of shake getting into the photo rises. In moments like these, a solid grip and a support point are the easiest way to keep the detail in the face.

Visual evidence

Imagine photographing an old handwritten book in a display case twice, in a dim museum hall. In one frame you hold the phone in one hand, arm stretched toward the case, and press the screen with a hard tap. In the photo the lines of the page look doubled, the edges of the letters have gone soft, and the small reflections of light on the display glass have turned into short, slanted streaks. The whole frame has slid slightly in the same direction.

In the other frame you hold the phone with both hands, elbows against your body and one shoulder leaning against a column in the hall. You breathe out and press the volume button gently. In this frame, taken in the same light with the same settings, the lines can be read one by one, the ink blots of the letters can be made out, and the reflection on the glass sits as a small, round dot. The light, the phone and the settings stayed the same; the only thing that changed is the support the body gave the camera.

Common mistakes

Summary

Most shaky photos come from the body's small movements getting into the image while the shutter is open. Tucking your elbows against your body and supporting the lens from below with your left hand, opening your feet like a solid base, leaning against something, and breathing out and pressing the shutter button gently give far sharper photos in the same light.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you measure the steadiness of your body.

1. In a dim room, choose an object with small writing on it: the spine of a book, a medicine box, a calendar.
2. First photograph the object five times with your arms stretched out and one hand, pressing the screen hard.
3. Then photograph it five more times with both hands, elbows against your body, breathing out and pressing gently; also try once leaning against a wall or a table.
4. Zoom into all the frames, count the frames in which the writing can be read, and note which stance gave the sharpest result.

Check yourself

• Did you see a difference in the number of sharp frames between the two stances?
• Could you notice in the blurry frames that the whole image had slid in the same direction?
• Did you find a support point that suits your own body?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. If the whole frame of a photo has slid in the same direction, what is most likely the cause?

• A) Camera shake
• B) The subject moving
• C) The focus slipping to the background
• D) The wrong white balance

2. How should the left hand support the lens?

• A) By pressing down on top of the lens
• B) Without touching it at all
• C) By carrying it from below with the palm facing up
• D) By holding it from the side with just one finger

3. Which is the best way to press the shutter button?

• A) With a quick, hard jab
• B) By half-pressing first, breathing out, then bringing it slowly all the way down
• C) By shaking the camera
• D) By hitting it twice in a row every time

4. Why does a solid grip matter even more when you photograph a darker-skinned face in a dimly lit place?

• A) Because darker skin makes the camera heavier
• B) Because image stabilization doesn't work on darker skin
• C) Because the face stays too small to focus on in the dark
• D) Because when less light comes from the face the shutter may stay open longer, and the chance of shake rises

Answers

1. A — When the camera moves, the whole image falling on the sensor slides; a moving subject blurs only itself, and wrong focus blurs only a certain area.
2. C — With the palm facing up, the left hand carries the lens like a tray, balances the weight between both arms and also reaches the rings.
3. B — Half-pressing to settle the focus and then pressing slowly all the way in the calm at the end of the breath doesn't shake the camera at the moment of the shot.
4. D — In low light the automatic settings keep the shutter open longer; as the light from the face falls, the time can grow and the body's small movements get into the frame.

Summary card

• Find the cause of the blur: if the whole frame slid, it is camera shake.
• Right hand on the handgrip, left hand under the lens, elbows against the body.
• Feet at shoulder width; lean against something if you can.
• Breathe out, press the shutter button slowly, hold it for a moment.
• Image stabilization helps; it doesn't replace a correct grip.

Bridge to the next lesson

You have learned to hold the camera steady; now it is time to keep it in good shape for a long time, that is, to protect it. A photographer's worst day usually starts not with a wrong setting but with a full card, a dead battery or a scratched lens. The next lesson asks: how do I protect my camera? There you will see why formatting the card in the camera, a spare battery and protecting the lens and the sensor matter so much.