Combat Camera Shake

My biggest limitation in photography is camera shake. The unsteady hand or the uneven press of the shutter-release button can cause some unwanted blurryness in your photographs. I hate having to deal with great photographs that are ruined because of a little motion blur.

This photo of the Dale Earnhardt statue in Kannapolis, NC at a glance may not look blurred, but take a closer look at the eyes. The focus should be here but instead there is a faint blur. I expected this to happen because in order to get this photo I had to stand on my tip toes in front of the statue and take the picture way over my head. A monopod with a shutter button extension would have worked better.

If you're into taking scenic photographs or portraits, then you may want to think about investing in a tripod or a monopod to help with this problem. Depending on your needs, you can invest in a full-size tripod or a mini-tripod.

Tripods are not ideal when you need to move around, so you could think about purchasing a monopod. I use one of these and it works for me. I can carry it around and it's has adjustable height. However, the monopod is not ideal because of the camera being attached to the pole. You are unable to shoot in all directions.

Looking into some camera shake techniques to help my shooting, I came across this Youtube video on a cheap method to help with camera shake, when you don't want to use a tripod/monopod:



I have yet to try this method, but it got some pretty good reviews. I will post and let you guys know when I try it out, but in the mean time, please let me know if you've tried it out and how it worked for you.

Another method to reduce camera shake is to increase your shutter speed. On digital cameras with Tv mode, you can increase the shutter speed and the camera will adjust the aperture to insure correct exposure. Or, if you are using a point-ands-shoot camera that does not offer this mode, then go to scene selection mode and choose your Sports mode. This allows the camera to automatically increase the shutter speed and will often fire a flash. Both of these methods will cause the shutter to close faster and get rid of camera shake.

Camera shake is not the end of the world nor does it doom you to horrible photographs forever. You just need to figure out the best way to combat it for yourself. These tips are helpful starters and basic ways to stop camera shake.