Basic Photography Course

shock absorber. When handholding a camera, keep your

arms in close to your body and your legs and feet spread
about a shoulder width apart. Bend your knees slightly,
keeping your weight on the balls of your feet. Lean your

body backslightly for better balance. The camera should
be over your knees for greatest stability. Hold the camera

firmly against your face and place your hand in the

camera strap.

Control your breathing while shooting. Each breath

you take causes the camera to rise and fall slightly. The
technique of taking a deep breath, exhaling a little, and
holding the rest while you shoot is an effective way to
help eliminate camera unsteadiness. When shooting a
long scene, breathe as evenly and slowly as possible.

For added steadiness when handholding a camera,

you can lean against something, such as a tree or a wall.
Another method for handholding a video camera is to
kneel on one leg and rest your elbow on the raised knee.

When you must pan the camera, keep your elbow free

and pivot your body at the waist.

When handholding a video camera, keep the

following facts in mind to reduce the shakiness problem:

Concentrate on handholding the camera steady

while using a wide-angle lens. Your shakiness will be
reduced considerably. When using a wide-angle lens,
you must get as close to the subject as possible to provide
an acceptable image size.

TRIPODS

13-11

Shakiness is directly proportional to the focal

length of the lens. Slight shakiness may be almost
unnoticeable with a wide lens. With a long lens, the same
amount of shakiness destroys the entire scene. (See table

13-1.)

Give yourself a steady platform. Before you

squeeze the record button, inhale, then partially exhale.
Now, squeeze. Do not pull or jerk the record button.
Lean against a building, a tree, or the side of a car. Any
support of this nature may provide more steadiness than
free standing.

A tripod can literally be considered the "basis" for

most good motion-media products. To help you realize

just how important a tripod is for shooting motion

media, consider handholding a movie projector. You
cannot hold the projector steady for any period of time.
The picture weaves around on the screen and is very
distracting to the viewers. `The same result is created
when a motion-video camera is handheld, but in this
case, images within the picture area appear to weave

around because of camera movement. The image you
see in the camera viewfinder is so small that you may
not notice the camera movement. It is easy to think you
are holding the camera steady. Bear in mind that the
slightest amount of camera movement is magnified
many times when the image is played back

While not all situations permit the use of a tripod,

the use of a folded tripod as a unipod is preferable to
shooting without camera support. Even the lightest
weight, so-called "handheld" video camera produces
much better results when supported adequately.

Camera steadiness is only one advantage of using a

tripod. When using a tripod, you automatically take
more time to compose and check scenes before
recording them.

RECORDING FROM A MOVING VEHICLE

Sometimes you may have to record from a moving

vehicle, such as a truck or a boat. For this type of
assignment, the problem of holding the camera steady
becomes even more difficult. In this situation you should
handhold the camera, because a tripod transmits
vibrations and movements from the vehicle to the

camera. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet, and

keep your knees flexed so you can sway and bend as the
vehicle rolls, pitches, or bounces. Watch the horizon in
the viewfinder. A tilted or wobbly horizon is very

detracting when being viewed. When shooting from
moving vehicles you should use a short focal-length lens

and a fast shutter speed.

CAUTION

When shooting from a moving vehicle, you

must follow all safety precautions. Use

common sense, you do not want to jeopardize
yourself or the video equipment.

PANNING

One of the most commonly abused motion-media

techniques is panning. Panning is moving the camera
from left to right or right to left. Moving it up or down
is called tilting.

Only a few subjects require panning while you are

actually taping. The use of panning can keep a moving
procession, such as a marching unit in view, show a
sweep of landscape, or show the relationship between
objects or subjects.

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Basic Photography Course

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DOFMaster for Windows On-line Depth of Field Calculator DOFMaster for Mobile Devices On-line Depth of Field Table Hyperfocal Distance Chart Articles FAQ Recommended Books Support Contact Links Home As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.	contents <- previous page next page -> shock absorber. When handholding a camera, keep your arms in close to your body and your legs and feet spread about a shoulder width apart. Bend your knees slightly, keeping your weight on the balls of your feet. Lean your body backslightly for better balance. The camera should be over your knees for greatest stability. Hold the camera firmly against your face and place your hand in the camera strap. Control your breathing while shooting. Each breath you take causes the camera to rise and fall slightly. The technique of taking a deep breath, exhaling a little, and holding the rest while you shoot is an effective way to help eliminate camera unsteadiness. When shooting a long scene, breathe as evenly and slowly as possible. For added steadiness when handholding a camera, you can lean against something, such as a tree or a wall. Another method for handholding a video camera is to kneel on one leg and rest your elbow on the raised knee. When you must pan the camera, keep your elbow free and pivot your body at the waist. When handholding a video camera, keep the following facts in mind to reduce the shakiness problem: Concentrate on handholding the camera steady while using a wide-angle lens. Your shakiness will be reduced considerably. When using a wide-angle lens, you must get as close to the subject as possible to provide an acceptable image size. TRIPODS 13-11 Shakiness is directly proportional to the focal length of the lens. Slight shakiness may be almost unnoticeable with a wide lens. With a long lens, the same amount of shakiness destroys the entire scene. (See table 13-1.) Give yourself a steady platform. Before you squeeze the record button, inhale, then partially exhale. Now, squeeze. Do not pull or jerk the record button. Lean against a building, a tree, or the side of a car. Any support of this nature may provide more steadiness than free standing. A tripod can literally be considered the "basis" for most good motion-media products. To help you realize just how important a tripod is for shooting motion media, consider handholding a movie projector. You cannot hold the projector steady for any period of time. The picture weaves around on the screen and is very distracting to the viewers. `The same result is created when a motion-video camera is handheld, but in this case, images within the picture area appear to weave around because of camera movement. The image you see in the camera viewfinder is so small that you may not notice the camera movement. It is easy to think you are holding the camera steady. Bear in mind that the slightest amount of camera movement is magnified many times when the image is played back While not all situations permit the use of a tripod, the use of a folded tripod as a unipod is preferable to shooting without camera support. Even the lightest weight, so-called "handheld" video camera produces much better results when supported adequately. Camera steadiness is only one advantage of using a tripod. When using a tripod, you automatically take more time to compose and check scenes before recording them. RECORDING FROM A MOVING VEHICLE Sometimes you may have to record from a moving vehicle, such as a truck or a boat. For this type of assignment, the problem of holding the camera steady becomes even more difficult. In this situation you should handhold the camera, because a tripod transmits vibrations and movements from the vehicle to the camera. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet, and keep your knees flexed so you can sway and bend as the vehicle rolls, pitches, or bounces. Watch the horizon in the viewfinder. A tilted or wobbly horizon is very detracting when being viewed. When shooting from moving vehicles you should use a short focal-length lens and a fast shutter speed. CAUTION When shooting from a moving vehicle, you must follow all safety precautions. Use common sense, you do not want to jeopardize yourself or the video equipment. PANNING One of the most commonly abused motion-media techniques is panning. Panning is moving the camera from left to right or right to left. Moving it up or down is called tilting. Only a few subjects require panning while you are actually taping. The use of panning can keep a moving procession, such as a marching unit in view, show a sweep of landscape, or show the relationship between objects or subjects. contents Basic Photography Course <- previous page next page ->	As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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