Today we’ll try to figure out the tricks, how to take pictures with hand to achieve the best picture. Hand-held photography is divided into two fundamentally different methods - photography with flash and photography without flash. It is very important to learn how to take pictures handheld without a flash.
How to take pictures with your hands. Photo Tricks from Radozhiva
Remove hand shake
The main problem with handheld photography is trembling of these hands. Hands tremble, even if you have iron, you can still get a blurry picture with long exposures. There are several ways to deal with hand shake:
- Start weightlifting and pump up to hold the camera tighter.
- Mount the camera on a tripod
- Mount the camera on another stable surface.
- Group and lean on a stable surface, while you can shoot in a series to increase the chances of a successful shot.
- Still turn on the flash
- Use an expensive fast lens or camera with a stabilizer.
- And the most interesting is simply reduce shutter speed
Since there is no time for athletics, money for a tripod and an external flash, just like a stable surface, you will have to experiment with shutter speed. To get a good sharp shot without grease - need to shoot at short exposures. Shorter excerpt - That will make it more likely that when shooting handheld there will be a sharp shot.
How to make the shutter speed shorter?
There are only two ways. The first - open maximum aperture. The larger the aperture, the shorter excerpt. The diaphragm is the number F on the camera. And to open the aperture means lower the number F. For example, shoot at F5.6, to reduce the shutter speed you need to open the aperture, for example to F3.5, while excerpt automatically decrease somewhere in 2-3 times. If you do not know how to open the aperture, find the aperture priority mode on the camera, usually it is called A or AV (aperture value) or just read the instructions. If you have reached the maximum and the aperture is still not enough, you should think about a fast lens.
The second way - increase ISO. The higher the ISO, the shorter excerpt it will be and the easier it will be to get a successful shot. Normally, the ISO changes in the camera menu. On compact digital cameras (on soap dishes), I do not recommend raising the ISO above 800. On advanced SLR cameras, you can set the ISO to taste. More details about the pitfalls of ISO in my article how to configure ISO.
How to shoot in super short shutter speeds with the effect of stopping time, you can read here.
What is the maximum shutter speed? Golden Rule:
There is a beautiful Golden Rule. Need to be removed from handwhose numerical value should be greater than the effective focal length of the lens. Exposure usually measured in fractions of a second. For example, excerpt 1 / 10s indicates that the camera takes a picture within one tenth of a second. Likewise, 1/1250 says the shutter speed is very short and the picture is taken in just one thousand two hundred and fiftieth of a second. With such a short shutter speed, no hand shake is a hindrance. So, if you have a focal length lens X mm, then you need to shoot at a shutter speed no longer 1 / X seconds. Example if you have a focal length lens 50 mm, then you need to shoot no longer 1 / 50 with, usually standard shutter speeds faster than 1/50 s are 1/60, 1/80, 1/100 of a second, etc. Thus, it follows that shooting handheld with wide-angle lenses with a short focal length is much easier than with body lenses with a long focal length.
Attention: when using cameras with a high pixel density, the golden rule requires a little correction. For example, when you shoot on a camera with a lot of pixels, Nikon D7100, D5200, Canon 600D and the like, you should use shorter shutter speeds than using the golden rule. This is due to the high sensitivity of cameras with a large number of megapixels to micro-lubrication due to movement, in more detail here.
How to apply all this in business?
To avoid blur during handheld shooting, you need to open the aperture as much as possible and reduce shutter speed. If the shutter speed does not fall under the golden rule, then you need to raise the ISO. Well, if nothing helps, then you need to use a flash.
Other ways to overcome hand shake:
Jitter can also be overcome using lenses with stabilizers, which give a gain in 2-4 shutter speeds. Such lenses are slightly more expensive than conventional ones, but they are worth it. You can look, for example, at Nikon 70-300mm f / 4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor. More details about stabilizers in my article Image Stabilizers. Also, some cameras have built-in stabilization in the camera. When shooting with your hands, it is better to include these types of stabilizers. But some cameras have a stabilization software solution, it almost always spoils the picture with high ISOs. And some more cameras. eg Pentax K30, have a stabilization system built into the camera itself. If all else fails, you should already think about a tripod or monopod.
Everything is complicated and nothing is clear - there is a way out!
Just turn on the flash. With flash everything is much simpler. The camera will decide everything on its own and you will almost always get a sharp shot. To achieve the best result, you can lower the ISO and set the aperture value depending on the task.
Conclusions
The shorter the shutter speed, the easier it is to shoot. The higher the ISO, the shorter the shutter speed. The more open the aperture, the shorter the shutter speed. When shooting handheld it helps a lot Golden Ruledescribed above.
Do not forget to press the buttons ↓↓↓ social networks ↓↓↓ - it is important for me. Thank you for your attention. Arkady Shapoval.
Thank you very informative.
Hello, Arkady.
Question on the article. To apply the “golden rule”, is it necessary to take into account the camera's crop factor (nokon d5100) for a cropped lens (nikkor 18-105mm 3.5-5.6G DX VR), i.e. multiply the focal length of the lens by 1,5 to get the shutter speed?
Yes need. I mentioned something in passing about this in the article.
With the maximum aperture (3,5, shutter speed 1 / 30-1 / 100), my photo turns out to be very dark, even with an increase in ISO, the photo remains dark. Nikon 5100 camera (18-105). or is this article only about outdoor photos in good light?
please tell me, judging from the golden rule, should I put an excerpt of 1/300 on Jupiter?
Jupiter is a lens brand, for which model?
Jupiter 37 ms!
You can safely shoot for 1 \ 160s.
Thank you for the articles and knowledge!
You have a small typo in the second paragraph: "... even if you have them made of iron, you can still get a blurry picture at short shutter speeds." Probably "... at long exposures." should be.
Thank you again!
I got the second half-soap with soap on the 1.4d series, clarity from 1.8. Front focus and terribly chromate (blue letters on the table) how to be?
Search further :)
Thank you, the articles are very informative. +++
Arkady, thank you very much for your work !!!! For the first time I took a DSLR in my hands, gave myself a Nikon 5100 and a Tamron 17-50 f.2.8 lens for the New Year (naturally experienced comrades suggested WHAT is better to buy), for the first week I rushed around the apartment like a monkey with a grenade and it seemed to me that the pictures taken earlier on a soap dish is better than on this expensive super equipment ... until I ran into your site !!!!!! It is read fascinatingly, it is perceived easily and clearly. And even a couple of photos have already turned out)))
But to such "Huh, damn it ... I thought that there would be something interesting ..." I want to address: do not come here at all, everyone can moan, but that none of you, professional balers, wrote anything like that just from the bottom of the heart for ordinary people who, after reading this, can gain experience for free and at a convenient time for themselves, without even attending special courses.
Arkady, THANKS again ... went to read on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )
Hello, I join the words of gratitude and fair indignation about some….
I have already had d7000 for three days. Frankly, I have not looked into the instructions yet, firstly because I have not played enough, and secondly I ran into your site. The question is this. In the menu there is such an item show from or show and change. What is the point of having the ability to change if it immediately jumps to those that the camera pushes out (usually to the maximum allowed). thanks
so you most likely have iso on the machine ...
Yes, on the machine. the question is just about this, for which it is possible to change the wheel, if this is not taken into account.
I thought, let's say, the machine sets max. allowed 3200. And I would like to use 800 at the moment, while the machine should just increase the shutter speed (of course in mode A), and after pressing the shutter release set what suits him. I hope I clearly wrote.
Many thanks. Simple, affordable, understandable.
Arkady, good time of the day. Like most readers of your articles, I want to thank you for very instructive lessons, interesting articles. I learned a lot of useful things while reading one topic after another. And every time I return to this site to find the answer to the question that has arisen. Thanks! I read about the golden rule - it's better to shoot handheld at shutter speeds, the numerical value of which should be greater than the effective focal length of the lens. I have a lens with a maximum focal length of 300mm, so it is preferable to set the shutter speed more than 300sec.? Is it so? I understand that it is necessary to take into account the conditions for shooting, but for some reason it confused me a little. Maybe I'm confusing something. Thanks in advance for your reply.
well, not 300sec, but 1 / 300sec and below. If this is a cropped camera with 300mm, then it is better to set the shutter speed below 1/500 second. Also, if there is a stabilizer in the lens, it can sometimes be removed without grease and at shutter speeds longer than 1 / 300sec.
Thanks Arkady for the answer. Well, 1/300 sec., I didn’t write it correctly, I'm sorry. The camera is not cropped. Full format Nikon D800. While little experience, I'm learning.
Arkady, and if not a cropped camera, then it is better to set the shutter speed which one?
Citizens who consider themselves cool photographers do not read Arkady's articles. This is not written for you. And to me, a month ago I picked up a mirror after Fujah HS10. Although I won’t say that I’m learning to print again. I am not offended by intellect, I get to myself a lot (I am a techie, electronics engineer and physicist with 40 years of experience). Everything written is intelligibly and correctly stated. Thanks to the author a lot. I read the whole site.
I want to brag; my brother gave me Helios-40 # 6601 ... and only after reading the review of Helios on Radozhiv, I understood how and why.
Congratulations on the Great and Mighty Helios :)
Arkady, can you please tell me if you need to turn off the stub when shooting from a stable surface? (All kinds of railings, and so on ..) For example, I will say that when shooting from a tripod, turning off the stub is simply necessary for its correct operation ...
It is better to disconnect from a tripod and other stable surface.
Nikon D300s bought the first DSLR in 2009. (even with friends shooting weddings, they somehow reluctantly explained) he trained for half a year, especially in the evening without a flash, until he realized what was needed for clear photos. And today, I know what to do, I READ your articles with MUCH FUN.
Thank you for your ROBOT.
but as for me, this is a very good article ... I myself know all this, but for beginners - just what you need ...))) Thank you for your work !!!
and for those who do not like it, I will give good advice ... sat down, put their hands on the table, and the booty in a chair grouped together and wrote better ... and that's it ...))
+1
Thank you!
Shoot as you exhale.
Thank you for the article. Threw in google
Good afternoon. Please tell me how the CANON EOS 30D will work with the rather not new Soligor Objektiv AF-28-80 mm Zoom Canon lens. Thank you. Your advice is very on business.
“To avoid blur when shooting handheld, open the aperture as much as possible and slow down the shutter speed. If the shutter speed does not fit the golden rule, then you need to raise the ISO. Well, if all else fails, then you need to use the flash. "
I would add before using the flash - put the camera on a tripod :) or saw it on YouTube, shooting with a rope - one end on the lens, the other on the leg, but this way the shutter speed is no longer than 1 s, as I understand it
Arkady, you just have to ban these specialists on the hinges and ignore them. Many people read you, for example in a photo salon they told me about you, I asked questions - and they tell me, read it there and everything will become clear.
Arkady, I took photographs as a child, an amateur, a hobby, or something like that, the ZENIT-11 apparatus, there are lenses - Industar-61 L / Z MS, Tair-11A 2,8 / 135, and I was familiar with the apparatus - Helios-44m-4. The UNOMAT B 24TAC flash also remained. Then it is clear, digital soap dishes went. Now I decided to return to “ZENIT”. Tell me, can everything you write about can be applied to the film, and then scanned, or is it better to sell everything and buy a digital apparatus?
It is also possible for the film, given that it is a film. All principles are the same. And there are a lot of stupid questions :)
Thank you for your work, it is always very nice to read your articles, everything is accessible and interesting !!!
Thanks for the helpful reviews. They really help the beginner.
Can I clarify? You write:
“So, if you have a lens with a focal length of X mm, then you need to shoot at a shutter speed no longer than 1 / X second”
What focal length do you mean: current for a given shooting, minimum or maximum?