Camera Shake

Steady as She Goes…

Something I always see and feel compelled to comment on, (since I just saw a friend who will remain nameless fall victim to it again this week), is Camera Shake.  Well, you shouldn’t be a victim if you just pay attention to a couple of things:   Shutter Speed and ISO.

Camera Shake happens mostly in low light situations.  You take a picture and the flash doesn’t go off because the auto settings on your camera adjust the Shutter Speed to expose for Middle Grey no matter how dark your overall scene might be.  How thoughtful of your little point and shoot.  However, your point and shoot camera’s brains always assume you’re rock steady, and since most of us are breathing, moving creatures…well…not so thoughtful of your little point and shoot.  Actually, any camera will do the same thing, slow down your Shutter Speed to something you can’t hand hold steady in low light, unless you tell it not to.

Most camera’s come out the box with their ISO setting at their lowest, usually 100.  Most people never even know what that is, so they never think to change it.  Most people also don’t know at what Shutter Speed they can hand hold their camera without Camera Shake.

So here a few things to do:

• When in low light, switch to a higher ISO.  (Remember the trade off is noise, so use the lowest you can get away with if you don’t have noise reducing software).
• Hold your camera steady!  Practice bracing your arms against your body, lean against something stable if you can and hold your breath as you take the shot.
• Set your camera’s Shutter Speed to something you know you can hand hold safely.  If you’re not paying attention at all and swinging your arms, even at 1/100th of a second you’ll get motion blur.  If you’re super careful, you can get away with even ¼ of a second.
• Make sure you expose correctly.  Most low lit scenes are darker than Middle Grey, so adjust your Exposure Compensation dial to underexpose, or just watch the needle in camera and make sure it’s left of center as needed.
• Lastly, if you have Image Stabilization as a feature, make sure it’s on.

Good Luck!  Here’s to never being a victim of Camera Shake again!

Shout out to my lovely model, the Blenko Water Bottle in Electric Blue.