How do you position legs and feet in handheld photography?

Q1:
A big problem for me is that my body tends to incline back and forth in
a small range when I ready to trigger the shutter. Of course I put my
feet apart in the width of my shoulder as anyone suggested, but what's
the better for you, put legs one left one right or put them one front
and one back?

Q2:
If I keep the whole upper arm and elbow stick my body, I always find
it's a little lower than my eyes for most subjects ... Should I lower
my head ? bend my back? or keeep my back straight and bend the legs?
Any suggestion and ideals is welcome.

 

Someone here needs to read about the Alexander Technique.

Do that. It's good for your health, not just your photography. You
won't be asking this question.

 

Someone here needs to read about the Alexander Technique.
Oh .. What's that?

 

WHAT IS THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE?

"The Alexander Technique is a method that works to change (movement)
habits in our everyday activities. It is a simple and practical method
for improving ease and freedom of movement, balance, support and
coordination. The technique teaches the use of the appropriate amount
of effort for a particular activity, giving you more energy for all
your activities. It is not a series of treatments or exercises, but
rather a reeducation of the mind and body. The Alexander Technique is a
method which helps a person discover a new balance in the body by
releasing unnecessary tension. It can be applied to sitting, lying
down, standing, walking, lifting, and other daily activities..."
http://www.alexandertechnique.com/at.htm

 

Then you can apply to join the Ministry of Silly Walks.

 

I see. When you press the button, the camera sucks in the light
through the lens which causes you to rock forwards slightly. If you
blow out gently to compensate this may help.

Okay, I'll stop being stupid.

Bending anything would mean you introduce muscle shake. Whatever
stance you end up in, it needs to be fairly relaxed and comfortable. I
have had some success standing up with a 2 legs of a mini-tropod
jammed into my gut (which has been carefully developed over the years
to stick out a little). Technically hand-held.

Better still is to get down on the ground, jam your face into the
viewfinder, use your elbows as tripod feet, wait for the gap between
heartbeats and gently squeeze the trigger. Too many photos are taken
from 5.5ft off the ground these days, time to get a different
perspective.

PS. Don't use this trick when photographing railway lines, major
roads, ant nests or herds of wild animals.

The older you get, the more you shake. Here is a the table of
recommended minimum film speeds based on age:

0-10 Makes no difference, pictures will be boring.
10-25 ISO 50
25-35 ISO 100
36-45 ISO 200
46-55 ISO 400
56-75 ISO 800
75+ ISO 1600 or use IS lenses.

*This chart was completely fabricated by me just now, and as such has
as much technical accuracy merit as a CBS news report.

 

I tend to keep my feet on the diagonal. However I try to find something
to brace against, like a tree or wall.

Do what is comfortable for you. There is no one right way.

For both of these I suggest taping a laser pointer to your camera so you
can practice holding the camera in different positions and watch the point
of light move to get a good idea of what is working for you.

 

Use you body as a support. If standing place your feet slightly apart, one
foot slight forward, pull your elbows into your body and press your arms
against your ribs.

Rest the camera on a bag (camera bag or beanbag) and lay in a prone
position.

Lean against a wall or tree or rest camera on table, car roof or hood use a
jacket as a cushion and press down.

Or kneel down, place the camera holding arm elbow on your knee. Also try
sitting down and place both elbows on your folded legs.
Good luck.
Film best,
me

 

Good idea, I saw a similar test suggested by a Nikon engineer
regarding the effects of mirror slap. He wanted the distance between
camera and wall to be 2 blocks, and suggested that even with a sturdy
tripod, the pointer will be bucking about all over the place due to
ground vibration).

 

I tend to open the legs of my tripod all the way and to put the feet on
firm ground.

 

LOL

 

Or Cheerleaders - could get you in a lot of trouble...

Hmmm, I used ISO 25 between the ages of about 12 and 25, then ISO 50 till I
was about 37 - does that make me a slow developer?...

Surely you mean FOX....


Peter

 

[SNIP]

Just be careful doing this when taking pictures of politicians...


Peter

 

Bending anything would mean you introduce muscle shake. Whatever
stance you end up in, it needs to be fairly relaxed and comfortable.

I beleive you're right, bending always hurts. But it seemed not
answered my question: how to lower or raise, 5 inchs for example,
without bending anything?

I don't well understand the chart, that's only film speed, not the
shutter speed.

 

For both of these I suggest taping a laser pointer to your camera so
you

Thanks, I'm interesting that. Could you tell more about how to set up
that laser pointer? I get no ideal of how to do it.

 

Duct tape it to the bottom of the camera.

 

Might be a little off topic, but today's plastic cameras are always harder
to hold steady. Years ago, even with the alu/brass cameras, many attached a
motor w/ dead batteries to add weight. I always use a monopod, even if I
just leave it folded and hanging down. Bob Hickey

 

Well, I'm not one for actually jamming my elbow into my torso. I can't
do this without bending (and I'll get a lot of photos titled "My Feet"
that way). Every human is shaped differently, but I'll try and
describe my standing hand-held position:

My arm is tucked into my body as far as left-to-right is concerned
(imagine, I flap my folded arms like I'm doing a chicken dance. Now
take the inner-most position and fix it at that) After a slight
farting noise, my armpit is tightly closed.

Looking at me from the front, or from the side, my forearm is *almost*
vertical, and there is a 4" gap between my elbow and belly (it used to
be bigger when I was younger).

The other arm is doing much the same thing, but in my case, primary
support of the camera is from the left arm which holds the lens from
underneath and does focus/zoom, shutter release and camera body
support is being handled by the right arm. I also use my left eye
(just a preference), which means my left arm is a lot more vertical
than my right.

But the most important thing is to be relaxed, and *slowly* squeeze
the button.

First, it was a joke.

Secondly, the faster the film speed, the faster your shutter speed can
be at the same aperture to still get a correct exposure for a given
scene. In other words, camera shake becomes less and less of a problem
as you go to faster and faster film. The other major contributor here
is the focal length of the lens being used. Wide angle lenses are not
going to show minor camera shake, but with telephotos it can be a real
problem.

You are probably aware of the 1 over focal length rule:

Most people can handhold as slow as 1/30sec on a 30mm lens.
or a 1/50sec on a 50mm lens.
or a 1/200sec on a 200mm lens.
or a 1/300sec on a 300mm lens.

This guideline is based on a printed photo at 4x6, if you want
critical sharpness or enlargements, you'll want to at least double the
shutter speed or more (and preferably, always use a tripod or other
fixed support).

Camera shake effectively lowers the resolution of the picture being
taken and less obviously, de-saturates the colors.

 

...and duct tape round the pointer's trigger button so it stays on.

Cheap 2" jobs can be purchased at Target for under $10 (if you live in
the US). DIY stores have more expensive ones.

 

thanks a lot!