Unsteady hands.

[Rabid Bunny]

Well, I received a camera for my birthday(Nikon Coolpics 2200) and I'm having a lot of fun taking pictures but I always have a problem with getting sharp pictures. A lot of this is probably attributed to my relatively unsteady and shakey hands. I always have to prop my wrists on something to get a non blurry picture but this is unpractical as most of the time there is nothing to rest on to get that good shot.

Any tips to help a fledgling photographer beat his problems with his shakey hands? Nothing involving drugs, please.

 

[FlipperBizkut]

Invest $15 in a tripod.

 

[Rabid Bunny]

Why the hell didn't I think of that? Bah. I feel stupid.

 

[Ariez]

Why the hell didn't I think of that? Bah. I feel stupid.

15 bucks for a tripod sounds too cheap. I would spend at least 40 bucks on it, because remeber the cheap tripod are not steady, and when you push down on the shutter button, you will shake the whole tripod, resulting in unsharp images.

 

[FlipperBizkut]

For us who are cash-flow challenged, and new to the whole photography scene, I don't think you can beat a $15 tripod and a 2 second timer.

 

[UICompE02]

Yeah, I have a decent $30 tripod that works great.

Also, something you can do is rest your elbows against your chest and make sure you're holding your camera up with both hands. Press the shutter button slowly and hold it down until you're sure the picture is completed. These two techniques have helped me get some decent low-light pictures when there wasn't a tripod around.

Also, you can find something to lean your arm against as your taking a picture (a tree, lightpost, etc.) I've even gone so far as to setting my camera on top of a garbage can to get a night shot (yes, people were looking at me funny... but you do what you gotta do!)

 

[Rabid Bunny]

Yeah, I have a decent $30 tripod that works great.

Also, something you can do is rest your elbows against your chest and make sure you're holding your camera up with both hands. Press the shutter button slowly and hold it down until you're sure the picture is completed. These two techniques have helped me get some decent low-light pictures when there wasn't a tripod around.

Also, you can find something to lean your arm against as your taking a picture (a tree, lightpost, etc.) I've even gone so far as to setting my camera on top of a garbage can to get a night shot (yes, people were looking at me funny... but you do what you gotta do!)

Hmm, interesting, I shall have to try this out. Seems logical enough to work.

 

[agentzero9]

15 bucks for a tripod sounds too cheap. I would spend at least 40 bucks on it, because remeber the cheap tripod are not steady, and when you push down on the shutter button, you will shake the whole tripod, resulting in unsharp images.

2-second timer

 

[ambientZ]

well, somebodys gotta chime in with a much more expensive option.

Canon has a new point and shoot with optical image stabilisation built in. Pretty nifty technology (i have a dslr Lens with IS). That would probably help. I think its many hundred $. (called the powershot S1 IS).

At least one other company has / is coming out with a camera with stabilization too, it might be minolta, i dont remember.

Its something to think about when you are looking at a new camera.

 

[StOCK]

plant it to your face too, it helps with my sr7

 

[twelveparsex]

15 bucks for a tripod sounds too cheap. I would spend at least 40 bucks on it, because remeber the cheap tripod are not steady, and when you push down on the shutter button, you will shake the whole tripod, resulting in unsharp images.

buy one of those bulb release things and you can buy a d slr to go with it too!