One of the main apparatus the photographer uses for perfect shots is his camera digital lenses. Different lenses are used for different situations. Whether you are closing in on a tight shot or telescoping a wide landscape, your lens is crucial.
The further away your subject, the shaker the focus gets. If you are shooting up close, you can zoom in and focus fairly easily, but for those long distance shots you must have a tele lens and a steady hand. The high magnification of zoom lenses accentuates the effects of camera shake.
Camera shake is inevitably the greatest cause for unfocused, long distance shots. When shooting great distances, you must be able to steady the camera; even the depressing of the shutter button will smear your image. Here are a few ideas that may help.
Ideally, use a tripod. Setting your camera on a tripod gives it the stability it needs to focus on your subject and stay focused, and it will allow you to use slower shutter speeds. But your tripod must be on steady ground. If you're on shaky ground, tripods will transmit this motion.
Tripod-mounting collars attach the lens at the proper fulcrum to the tripod rather than the camera, when you use physically long lenses. You can also use a secondary support for the camera like Bogen's Long Lens Support. This telescoping brace attaches to most tripod legs with a universal clamp at one end and a swivel ball head for the camera at the other.
If don't have a tripod, try using something steady like a car or fencepost or your body. Rolling up a jacket or other item that you can brace your elbows on, place your arms closely towards your body, lens and camera balanced by the left had and arm, aim the camera slightly above the subject, take a deep breath, let the view drop to the proper composition while exhaling, and gently depress the shutter button.
Using this technique takes practice and a high resolution film and shutter speed. ISO 400 or higher should be used. This will allow you to use the higher shutter speed and minimize the effects of shake.
If you have better support-like a steady object-place your camera on top of it while shooting your image. This gives you the ability to use slower shutter speeds. The minimum shutter speed rule of thumb for hand-holding a long tele or zoom lens is this: Slowest safe shutter speed = 1 over the lens focal length.
For the serious on the go photographer, try using a monopod. Monopods are easy to carry and quick to set up. Your shutter speeds will have to be set on a higher speed, but it will enable you to get those long distance shots without much danger of image softening or camera shake, which would occur if you just were hand holding.
Practice in holding and focusing for long distance is essential. Your camera lens will definitely take your photography to a different level, but practice will keep that shaking hand from distorting your perfect image.
If you want to learn even more about a camera digital lenses, you'll love the brand new e-course I've created for you to help you start taking amazing pictures. It's yours for free and is delivered straight to your email. You can download it for free here: http://www.digitalphotographyadvantage.com/
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
tweet this!