Beginner

Getting Started: How to Hold Your DSLR Camera

Glossary

This sounds a bit silly, doesn't it? How to hold your DSLR camera? It's pretty obvious: You pick it up with the lens pointing away from you, put your eye to the viewfinder and press the shutter button. Couldn't be simpler, right? Well, yes and no. Doing the above will certainly get a picture, but the way you hold your camera can help ensure you get a good picture.

What one thing ruins more pictures than anything else? The blur that results from an out-of-focus image. Holding the camera correctly can help prevent that blur.

Blur is caused by the movement of either the subject or the camera. Subject movement is something we really can't control, although adjusting the shutter speed can give us some control over how subject movement is captured. Camera movement, however, is something we can control. Short of using a tripod or a VR, image-stabilized NIKKOR lens, holding the camera properly is the best way to avoid a blurry picture.

You need to hold the camera as steady as possible. Hold the camera's handgrip in your right hand and cradle the camera body or lens with your left. Keep your elbows propped lightly against your torso for support and place one foot half a pace ahead of the other to keep your upper body stable. This is a steadier position than holding the camera away from your face.

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