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CAMERA HANDLING

button. Press the camera to your forehead while sighting with either your right or left eye. To hold the camera vertically, rotate the camera 90° so that the shutter button is near the top, place the left end of the camera in your left palm and grasp the focusing ring of the lens from the underside. Hold the camera with your right hand in exactly the same manner as in horizontal shooting. The advantage of this method is that it permits rapid changing of positions from horizontal to vertical with a minimum of fumbling.

C Bracing Yourself and the Camera

To reduce camera shake, brace your elbows against your body and stand flat on your feet. Spread them apart with one foot a little bit in front of the other, and bend your knees slightly. If there is a sturdy support near by, such as a telephone pole, a tree, a door jamb, or wall, lean against it. This is particularly necessary, when you are using shutter speeds of 1/30 sec. and below with the standard 50mm lens on the camera. At shutter speeds of 1/15 sec. and below, it is almost impossible to produce shots free of camera movement without the use of a tripod or some other camera supporting device. When you

change to a lens of different focal length, the above suggestions are not necessarily valid. A good rule of thumb in determining the slowest shutter speed you can safely hand-hold the camera with a particular lens is to make a fraction representing this "safe" shutter speed by putting a "one" over the focal length of the lens. For example, when a 135mm telephoto lens is mounted on the camera, the slowest hand-holdable shutter speed you can use to achieve sharp photographs is 1/135 sec. (135mm = 1/135 sec.). Set the shutter speed dial at 1/125 sec., which is closest to 1/135 sec. This rule can be applied to all lenses, from moderate wide-angle to super-telephoto.

D Releasing the Shutter

Squeeze the shutter button gently, instead of punching it. Also, try to coordinate your breathing with the release of the shutter. A good time is the instant between exhaling and inhaling (or vice versa) when your diaphragm is at rest. Of course, when shooting fast action, this coordination is not always possible or even desirable. It is more important to concentrate on capturing the action rather than on the position of your diaphragm.

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