Breathing techniques

Hi everyone on photo.net,

 

When hand holding a 200mm f2.8 lens with IS, and shooting after dusk hours, do you release

the shutter while holding your breath or after you release or while breathing slowly?

 

Thanks!

 

Andi

"after dusk hours" means night time to me. i don't think using a 200mm after dusk is a good idea w/out a tripod on a wedding. as a rifleman/hunter, i was always told to squeeze, in the middle/end of the exhale, and concentrate on the pad of your fingure, and use extra presure on your two smaller fingers that hold rifle/camera, wich frees up moveability of your index finger.

Get a monopod.

If it were me, I use long lenses and slow speeds hand held like a rifle. Inhale a little more (not much more) than a normal breath. Hold while finishing focus/framing, let out half and slowly squeeze. I try and only breath through my nose during this process. Also tuck elbows to support against my chest.

 

Don't hold on too long, you will shake more.

Thanks guys! When you mention "squeeze" do you mean crunching in the abs ? Sorry I

haven't tried rifles yets... :)

Sorry to mislead the question about shooting after dusk, I did mean hand holding for slow

shutter speed....

Good question!

 

Release the shutter while slowly exhaling. Holding your breath tenses your body. Also think of what football coaches value in a receiver (besides speed): having "soft hands". Brace your left elbow and upper left arm against your body with your left hand cradling the lens and your right hand holding the camera body snugly -slight pressure -- against your face

I try to support the weight of the lens on my fingers of my left hand. The lens is just resting there at the balance point, I'm not "holding" it. The rest of what's been described about elbows against the body, gentle grip on the camera, and breathing is correct. ARCH your right index finger and practice moving just the finger straight up and down against the shutter release button. Nothing else in your hand should move. Just the finger tip moving up and down that few millimeters. You should get to the point where 1/30 with a 180 to 200mm lens is very doable. Good luck! Keep practicing your breathing and the finger movement. You don't need a camera to practice either one.

 

If there's a drugstore nearby with one of those "check your blood pressure" things you can practice relaxing. It'll lower your PB by a significant amount if you do it right. Next time you're at the doctor for a check-up you can surprise your physician ;-)

An old thread that has some good stuff.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0093z3

actually, holding your breath is not a great idea for target shooting. You have no natural point of holding your breath (i.e height/width of lungs). Instead, you naturally exhale to the same point if you just let the air out (no effort) until no more comes out. This gives you a much better platform. I won a few comps using the "wrong" method but would have won more if i found this method earlier (like, not a month before i left the ATC)

 

I normally do this after a few slow deep breaths. It works for me at 100mm @1/5sec but my subjects were not moving. A good lighting setup or flash will probably be better for you

"Instead, you naturally exhale to the same point if you just let the air out (no effort) until no more comes out."

 

Yes, IMX. There's an area at the bottom of the breathing cycle where the muscles are relaxed. There's no strain until the CO2 builds up.

the right answer is of course ; don't bother

Find something to lean against. if the subjects are relatively still you can have some success

to about as long as a 1/15 of a second. You might get ten awfull ones for every good one.

also take a deep breath exhal half steady and shoot. that is what rifle team coaches all teach.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6344/1997/1600/Almonkeypepsican.jpg

 

I've mentioned the 30+ year old Pepsi can before as an example of breathing techniques. My friend Spencer Tiger had just bought a new 30-30 Winchester 94 rifle and we went out on his back porch on the Miccosukee reservation, propping the can on a twig about 30 yards away. He took a shot and we could see the can "dance". I then took a shot. I'm taller than Spencer and was standing next to him so the angle was different. I managed to put the bullet through the same entrance hole on the near side of the can but it made a seperate exit hole on the far side. Monkey? He's about 62, my baby toy,and lately I've been using him in some personal work. Next week he's flying out to San Francisco for a photo shoot with a friend.

I've always found that sneezing while pushing the trigger gives amazing effects! I'm a believer in tripods. Yes they are a pain to carry, but wouldn't leave home without one.