# 4 - HOW TO AVOID CAMERA SHAKE
Just captured a lovely shot and been disappointed when you zoom in to see it's blurry? If you focused correctly on the subject and all other settings are correct - then it might be that you moved the camera whilst squeezing the shutter release. Here are some tips to avoid that happening in the future:
- Use a tripod - the most common cause of camera shake is your movement. Shaky hands, breathing, moving, excitement - all these have ruined an otherwise perfect shot for me in the past. Get your camera onto a tripod then your shaky hands will not be the cause.
- Shutter release cable - even on a tripod you might get some camera shake because your hand still needs to be on the camera to press the shutter. A cable to trigger the shutter is ideal, some cameras have a remote trigger. Check out what options are available for your camera.
- Timer - if buying a cable seems like a silly thing to do then find out about the self-timer settings on your camera. Read through your manual to understand how to operate it, set your camera down somewhere safe and stable and let it do its thing for you.
- Make yourself stable - if you don't have a tripod or the situation is inconvenient for a tripod then make yourself become the tripod. The easiest thing to do to make yourself more stable is to pull your arms into the side of your body. Squatting down and resting your elbow on your knee is also a stable position. If you are near a solid object lean against that to give you stability. All of these will help stop your body movement causing camera shake.
- Make the camera stable - think about putting the camera onto solid objects - a wall if you are out in the landscape, a table if you are indoors, your camera kit bag if you want to get down low, think about using the ground (as long as it is not wet). Avoid using things that have suspension - so don't use the roof of a car or a seat of a motorbike.
Hopefully these tips will help reduce blur in your images caused by camera shake.
Next top tip - Shooting Star Trails - next week.
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