Hand held photography (Tips ,advice required please)

[Harry.G]

Hi All

I am looking for tips and advice for hand held shots ..

now i know there are going to be dozens if not hundreds of Variables were it depends on all sorts of things like ,shutter speed,ISO,Aperture ,moving subjects ,static objects etc etc ,However for a relatively new comer i am wondering if there is -lets say a basic level that i should aim towards ,, let me explain ,,

So lets take for example a static subject like my Grandson who`s sitting still on a chair or standing still and i Take the camera out ,dial in the shutter,ISO and aperture and take the shot at 1/10 sec and its blurry, so i increase shutter speed to 1/150 and the shot is nice and sharp but i ended up pushing the ISO higher to gain that faster shutter speed - So now my question is "Is it all about practising my technique" to learn to hold the camera as still as possible ? Is there a base level that i should aim towards ? for example if i cannot take a steady sharp image at 1/100sec down to 1/50 sec then i need to keep working towards that level......Of course there are VR lenses or IS which helps keep things steady but again if lets say in a real world situation were you have a Camera with a 18-105mm lens (No VR or IS enabled) and you bring it to eye level to shoot a coffee mug sitting on a table is there a point at which you would say -if you cannot take a sharp image of that coffee mug hand held at 1/150sec to 1/30sec then your technique sucks and you need to practise more ..

One thing i learned very early on is -the more you push the ISO to gain a faster shutter speed in order to obtain sharp images the more you sacrifice image quality -i know thats a "Given" right now ... at the start i used to grab the camera and simply shoot without giving a thought to technique however fast forward to today and im constantly trying to work on keeping the camera steady ie try to stand properly,tuck elbows in ,dont grip the camera body to tight and all other things....

In the first few months i nearly always shot images with the camera mounted on a tripod but now its the opposite as i try as much as possible to hand hold were possible although having said that, i dont believe i have ever taken a Landscape shot hand held its always 100% with a tripod ...

any tips or suggestions will be gratefully received


Harry.G

 

[Steve]

The first tip is that everyone has different abilities when it comes to hand-holding. Some can go much lower than others. I have a friend in CR who can hand-hold my 500PD at 1/20th of a second on a D850 and come away with a tack sharp photo (not every time, but he can do it). That's a lost cause for me. So, there's no one ideal speed anyone can give you - it's a matter of testing it for yourself.

There's also "transitionary" speeds. Speeds where you can get some sharp images but not 100% of them. In fact, one tip I pass along to my workshop participants is when you get into slower shutter speeds, take longer bursts. Think of it this way - if at a given shutter speed you only get 1 out of 5 sharp (on average), if you shoot a burst of ten frames, you should - in theory - have at least two sharp images.

There's also hand-howling technique. I outline this in my AF and wildlife books - here's a part of the relevant section:

1. Always support the whole rig.

The first thing we need to do is hold the gear in a way that protects the equipment from itself. If the lens is on the hefty side, it can literally bend your lens mount. Never, ever, lift a large lens with the camera body - always lift the lens. A good guideline is if the lens includes a tripod collar as part of the package, it’s too heavy to lift with just the camera. For lenses the size of - or smaller than - a 24-70mm, the danger of bending a mount or damaging your camera is minimal. Still, I tend to support both the camera and lens at the same time. I just think it’s a good habit.

2. Now that you have the rig in hand, place your open left hand UNDERNEATH the middle of the lens. If there’s a tripod collar, rotate it to the top of the lens so it’s completely out of your way. If it’s a short lens, you may find part of your palm ends up under the body itself and that’s fine.

3. Now, bring your arms in close to your body and move your eye to the viewfinder. Note that with some super telephoto lenses, you won’t be able to bring your arms in quite as much as you’d like, just make sure the “brace” you create feels stable.

4. Finally, hold as still as you can and gently release the shutter. I usually hold my breath a bit just before release. Although, if you pass out, you’re doing it wrong ☺

In addition, you can also look for additional support. If you're kneeling, go with one knee on the ground and the other up. Prop your elbow on the knee that's up for additional support (I use this all the time in the field). If you're sitting, brace on elbow on the arm of the chair and keep the other tucked in as shown above.

Finally, a quick word on ISO.

Although noise does go up as ISO climbs, in my experience I can often rescue a noisy photo with software - there's really not much (or anything) I can do for a photo that's totally out of focus due to motion blur. In short, I'd rather have noisy photo than one that's out of focus.

(note - the topics in this post are covered more thoroughly in my AF books, but this should get you started )

 

[dabhand16]

Great advice from Steve.
The old adage is that whatever focal length you are using make sure that the shutter speed is at least that. That is 100mm lens, min 1/100th, 200mm lens, 1/200th etc. That is if you have a full frame camera as this adage is so old, digital imaging was not even a dream when it was adopted as good practice for hand holding.
So for crop factor cameras use at least 1.5x the focal length. There are more things to consider too band I've found that with hi resolution full frame bodies I'm having to use a shutter speed of at least double the focal length - and this is someone who prides himself at good hand-holding technique!
Of course all this is without stabilisation which can give decent images at ridiculously slow shutter speeds. However this is not a substitute for good technique. Think of it as a tool to assist you rather than the only thing that gives you a good image.
My take on using high ISO is do you want a noisey image or no image? Also what is the final use of the image? If you are shooting happy snaps/family stuff that will only ever be looked at on a phone, nobody is even going to notice. If you are intending to print large/exhibit/sell then the image quality is far more important.

 

[Ralph]

Also consider that you can hold your camera perfectly still but if the subject is moving frequently even if it’s just a head turn, that will produce blur as well. That’s where Steve’s advice about shooting a burst will help get a few good one. Keep that in mind when shooting slow.

 

[DRwyoming]

any tips or suggestions will be gratefully received

In addition to the great tips above, don't be overly scared of moderate ISO rises particularly for things like snapshots of your kids. Sure in a perfect world we'd always shoot at base ISO but modern digital cameras can tolerate surprisingly high ISO compared to film or early digital cameras. I don't know what camera you're shooting or how you're processing your images but you may be surprised what kinds of ISO you can get away with and still come out with high quality images particularly if you use a tool like Topaz Denoise as part of your processing workflow when necessary.

FWIW, I came from film shooting where I mostly shot Velvia at ISO 50 and occasionally push processed it to ISO 100 or very rarely ISO 200. Then I shot early Nikon DSLRs that didn't really do well much above ISO 400. These days with a D5, D850 and D500 I frequently shoot live subjects at ISO 800 to 1250 and if needed I'll go much higher than that to maintain sufficient shutter speed especially when hand holding. Even the D500 can do all right at ISO 2500 if I can fill the frame and the D850 and D5 can go quite a bit higher than that and still produce good images perhaps with a touch of noise reduction in post. I'll still strive for lowest possible ISO on landscapes but will also use a tripod for that kind of shooting.

As posted above, practice your handholding technique and your gentle finger rolling (not jabbing) shutter release but generally speaking I'll avoid shooting most live subjects at shutter speeds slower than 1/125" or even 1/250" though there can be exceptions like Owls that tend to stay rock solid when they perch. And when handholding with a longer lens I'll often increase that shutter speed a bit more unless I'm doing something like panning for intentional background blur.

 

[Hermann]

The minimum shutterspeed I use handheld (and without VR/IS) is focal length x 2 = shutterspeed, rounded to the next shutterspeed. So with my 55mm Micro Nikkor on an APS-C camera I'd use 55 x 1,5 (Remember, on an APS-C camera) = 82,5 x 2 = 165. In other words, I'd use a shutterspeed of 1/160 (or 1/200 to be on the safe side). I always use Auto ISO, so I choose the shutterspeed and the aperture I need and let the camera choose the ISO.

I'm not worried so much about high ISOs, the modern cameras are pretty good at high ISO. And an unsharp photo is always worse than a (slightly) grainy one.

 

[Woodpecker]

The first tip is that everyone has different abilities when it comes to hand-holding. Some can go much lower than others. I have a friend in CR who can hand-hold my 500PD at 1/20th of a second on a D850 and come away with a tack sharp photo (not every time, but he can do it). That's a lost cause for me. So, there's no one ideal speed anyone can give you - it's a matter of testing it for yourself.

Don't take this too serious these days, but it shows how creative it can be thinking about "hand-holding".
This is what I tried ages ago when still shooting a Fuji S5 Pro and not knowing anything about BBAF (I am not even sure whether this was possible with this camera).

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

This is - as mentioned - a Fuji S5 Pro with an AF-S 200-400 f4 G VR I. It is sitting in a (locked) Manfrotto quick release that was adjustable for different lens lengths and "the button" was a MC-30 sitting in the front of the gun body so that I could fire with the left trigger finger while supporting the whole thing.

Yes, it was top-heavy, because the wooden gun body was really light, but it was pretty easy to hold because of the shoulder being a stable support point. Actually it wasn't my idea, but was inspired by a guy I met in Kanada back in '94. He did it in a much more advanced manner using an adjustable high tech biathlon gun body with a modified gun trigger that was connected to a remote actuator for the camera (he was right handed and thus preferred to shoot with his right hand). As I couldn't afford the expensive parts and "I did it my way"....

However, the most spectacular result with this was not a photo but getting visited by the police. We have very different legislation compared to the US here in Germany when it comes to firearms. I used to live opposite side of a countryside pub these days and then somebody called the police because "on the other side of the road a man in camouflage outfit with a gun sticking out of his backpack dissapeared behind the house !". The cops showed up within 10 minutes and when I showed them what they thought would be a gun we had a good laugh about it.

 

[Warren D]

I've always wanted to try a BushHawk, basically a shoulder brace similar to the home-made one above, but they don't seem to make them anymore. Probably a good thing as I don't need the attention of law enforcement nor the ensuing legal problems.

 

[Woodpecker]

I've always wanted to try a BushHawk, basically a shoulder brace similar to the home-made one above, but they don't seem to make them anymore. Probably a good thing as I don't need the attention of law enforcement nor the ensuing legal problems.

In other countries it should be way easier to get the required gun parts and also the variety of things available should be better in a country where you even can buy pink mermaid design guns for ten year old girls . The biathlon bodies are relly good, because they are really light and provide the utmost flexibility if it comes to adjusting the shaft fitting to your body proportions. I f I had to do it again I would probably use an Arca connection and modify an electronic remote control as trigger. At this time I couldn't try it, but a pro body or a "normal" DSLR" with battery grip in combination with the modern lenses, which are much less front-heavy, should make it easier to handle.

Back then I would have loved to bring the camera further down by using a lower profile foot, but because I didn't know better I used what I had.

 

[Harry.G]

Whaaaoooo guys i`m blown away by the advice and tips thank you ALL so much ,there are lots of things here that i will definitely be implementing into my photography for sure ...

I now understand that i`ve been doing a lot of things the correct way But also lots of things incorrectly ... One very good tip in particular for me is dont be to bothered about using a higher ISO if necessary ..i use a Nikon d500 and normally never go beyond ISO 6.400 however from now on i wont be afraid to push it more in order to get the shot rather than not getting the shot .....


Harry.G

 

[Pacific1976]

 

[Woody Meristem]

Noisy photographs have never bothered me too much -- I remember the old Ektachrome slides I took back in the 1970s with all the grain (now called noise), some of them looked like they'd been sprinkled with fine sand (I usually used Kodachrome, but Ektachrome was faster and used in low light situations). I'd much rather have noise in my photos than a blurred subject. Image stabilization is wonderful compared to what we had to deal with in the old days. You young guys don't know how good we have it nowadays.

Yeah, I had a gunstock that I used with my SLR and telephoto lenses. It worked pretty well compared to handholding. Now I use an alpenstock mounted with a modified Manfroto tilthead and a quick-release Arca-Swiss mount -- it's more stable than the gunstock and doesn't attract the same type of attention. The alpenstock is basically a wooden non-adjustable monopod that's sturdier than any monopod I've seen and a great help in navigating rough terrain, crossing streams and the like.

 

[DRwyoming]

The alpenstock is basically a wooden non-adjustable monopod that's sturdier than any monopod I've seen and a great help in navigating rough terrain, crossing streams and the like.

Extra points for using an alpenstock in this day and age

Is yours a classic hardwood alpenstock shod with a good metal spike at the bottom?

 

[Pacific1976]

 

[Woodpecker]

I pretty much like this idea. May be there is a way to combine one of the Lowepro Street & Field belts or harnesses with the tripod holders that come with their backpacks.
Then the only thinkg missing would be the monopod with head.
Any recommendation for monopod suitable for heavy combos like e.g. D4S + 500 f4 G ? What are your thoughts ?

 

[Flyboy]

Noise? What's that? At least, that's what I thought when I bought my first digital camera years ago. I had just come from years of shooting Plus-x, Tri-X and Fuji (I think) 1200 or 1600 film. Before I discovered adjustable ISO, I just set it at 200, and shot everything. Noise? no worse than Tri-X. Modern cameras do handle that really well. Then, one night, I shot a Gymnastics meet with auto ISO...Hmmmmm...not bad sez I...ISO 2500! Auto noise removal, or whatever its called on Low. The Noise, even at 100% was a non issue. Photeaux plenty sharp! I am a total klutz with computers, and my poor wife spent many dollars on "intuitive" photo software, which I finally gave up on, and found little Model T Picasa, now gone the way of the Dodo bird. Now looking for another simple, easy program. For me, Noise is not the problem that it's made out to be, and am completely...wellll...mostly satisfied with the result of my efforts. Anyhow, after reading Steve's "5 tips for Nikon cameras you just gotta know", OOooo, RADICAL! I am going to try shooting Manual with Auto ISO. It looks to be really useful!
I had a real interesting experience the day that Bengazi happened. Not having listened to the news that day, I went to the airport to take some photos with my long lens, and soon, was visited by an Airport Policeman. Pleasant fellow. We talked for a while, and he satisfied himself I wasn't a terrorist, or whatever. But! in this day and age, perception is reality, and mounting a large lens on some kind of a stock WILL guarantee several anxious calls to the local Gendarmerie, reporting someone with a RIFLE, shooting at?? I have an acquaintance that has a World War II weapons carrier, licensed for the road, and he was driving it to show a friend...SWAT team, put him on the ground, and it cost him $300 for "Disturbing the Peace"(?). In my State, Hunting and Fishing are big things, and one day a fellow was getting ready for the Pheasant hunt, and took his shotgun and equipment to a friend's house, so they could leave early the next morning . Well, somebody saw him carrying the gun and called 911. There was an Elementary School nearby, and it was locked down, the neighborhood cordoned off, until reality could be determined. Soooo...I don't use my camera stock any more! Low profile, polite, non-aggresssive , and no "I got rights!" discussions...nowadays, that's an argument that's hard to win!

 

[Rodamu]

So far no one has mentioned arm strength. If you have a heavy camera and lens, your level of physical fitness, especially strength makes a difference on your ability to hold steady without any other support.

 

[DRwyoming]

So far no one has mentioned arm strength. If you have a heavy camera and lens, your level of physical fitness, especially strength makes a difference on your ability to hold steady without any other support.

Good point and true.

I'd say camera lens combos break down into three hand holding categories from the strength perspective:

- Reasonably small and light where strength doesn't really come into play (e.g typical DSLR/Mirrorless with maybe a 24-120mm, 70-300mm, 70-200mm or similar lens) but good handholding technique still plays an important part at slower shutter speeds.

- Mid sized long lenses (e.g. 200-500mm or similar) where some strength and fitness come into play but still good stable hand holding techniques are key to sharp images. This seems like the place where differences in folks physical fitness can make the biggest difference over the course of a day's shooting. Some will be able to do it comfortably and get tack sharp images all day long, some won't be able to.

- Big glass (e.g. 500mm f/4, 600mm f/4, 400mm f/2.8, 800mm f/5.6, etc.) here even body builders will struggle to hand hold for extended periods and still deliver crisp images or even be able to keep the subject well placed in the viewfinder for very long. This is the place I see folks talking about physical fitness and going to the gym the most but for the most part I think they're kidding themselves. Sure I've hand held my 600mm f/4 here and there for a few moments and have captured some fleeting image opportunities that wouldn't have waited for me to set up a tripod. But to me relying on good fitness and strong arms and back to reliably shoot these monsters hand held isn't a great approach to getting the most out of these very expensive lenses. Sure, some fit photogs can probably hand hold these for longer than I can but anyone trying to do this for hours on end will likely struggle with stability before too much time has passed.