COMPACTS

How do you hold a compact camera ?

Camera Handling - Compacts
​Holding the camera properly is very important. Compact cameras are small and light and easy to hold steady in one hand or two.
​The most important thing is to keep fingers away from the lens.
Put the strap around your neck or on your wrist
Find the shutter button with your right index finger  
Focus
  Stand still
Shoot 

Does your compact camera have a VIEWFINDER  ?

Most Compact cameras don't have viewfinders. If yours does you should use it. It will help you to compose the picture. If your camera does not have a viewfinder remember to look at the edges of the picture and think about the frame 

  TAKE CARE - AND KEEP YOUR FINGERS OFF THE LENS

Compact cameras are usually small and it's easy to get part of a thumb or finger in front of the lens.. It's also easy to get grubby fingerprints on the glass and that will ruin your pictures. Keeping your lens clean is really really important. 

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DSLR OR BRIDGE CAMERA 

DSLR and Bridge Cameras are bigger and heavier than Compacts . You need to be really careful to hold them properly. 

​Wrong        Position of left hand means camera is supported just by thumb and the photographer is unable to use the zoom 












Right    Left hand supports the lens and the photographer can zoom in or out. Elbows tucked in  neatly 





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Practise holding the lens and zooming in and out. It doesn't matter if your hand is on top or underneath the lens - just as long as you can zoom comfortably. If you become a sports or wildlife photographer you will definitely need to support the lens with your hand underneath but until then weight is not really as important as comfort. 

Changing from Landscape to Portrait orientation 
Release your grip on the lens as you switch from Landscape to Portrait. It doesn't matter which way you go ,
but practise doing it a few times until it's natural  

Stand Still !! 
Walking and shooting is one of the great crimes Click photographers commit. We are out and about so much that it's inevitable that as we walk students are tempted to just lift the camera and take a quick picture. But you have to STOP - even for a split second - if you want to avoid camera shake and motion blur. 
We don't need to tell you how to stand still - but occasionally you might need to think about adding an extra level of stability by leaning against a wall or tree. You might think of doing this if the light starts to fade and your shutter speed drops into the dangerous camera-shake zone between 1/30th and 1/125. Slower than this and you should be thinking about a tripod.  

Shooting with a smartphone 

Cleaning smartphone lenses is really important.
Use the volume controls as an alternative shutter button