Handheld Shooting Technique

[Reyed Mia (Apprentice, DIU)]

Handheld Shooting Technique

Wildlife photography is challenging in any circumstances. To get great images, you have to understand behavior and be observant to predict those key moments—times when all the elements in the frame come together. In a perfect world, the animals will be considerate enough to restrict their movements such that we can frame them up and lock down the camera on a sturdy tripod. That's seldom the case.

A lot of wildlife photographers use gimbal heads, which provide a measure of steadiness while allowing you to move the camera and follow the action. If you don't have a gimbal head, however, you'll probably be handholding, and because you'll be doing it with long lenses, technique is critically important for achieving sharp photos.

Think of your body as a tripod. To keep the camera steady in your hands, start by thinking about your feet. Take a comfortable stance, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Your right foot should be roughly perpendicular to the direction your lens is pointing and your left foot should be slightly to the left and pointing about 5 to 10 degrees to the right. Golfers would call this an open stance. This gives you a very stable base. Cameras are biased to right-handed and right-eye-dominant photographers in the way the shutter button is positioned. Because of that fact, even most lefties take this right-handed stance.

Because a lower center of gravity is inherently more stable, kneeling or even sitting can give you a better foundation than standing up. If you're kneeling, maintain a similar "right leg back, more or less perpendicular to the subject, and left leg forward" position. If there's a convenient rock, go ahead and sit.

https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/wildlife-techniques/solutions-handheld-shooting-technique/