Sometimes I think that photography has got to be the most expensive hobby in the world. When I used to shoot pictures with my iPhone, I had almost no photography related expenses. There were a couple of props here and there, and that’s it.
Now, I dropped a bundle on a camera and a fabulous macro lens. It didn’t end there. Next I bought lights, a tripod, spare batteries and memory cards. And my wish list just doesn’t end. I’m not complaining. I know that there’s no comparison between the shots I take now and the old iPhone pictures. But in this chain of “well I got this so now I need that” is tough and I for one am happy to learn money saving tricks.
This one is super simple, courtesy of a coworker of mine. He helped me chose a good tripod, and I was discussing that I wanted it so I could reduce the shutter speed on my camera a whole lot. My next purchase was going to be a remote shutter release, because at a tenth of a second, the exposure is slow enough that your picture will be blurry, even with a tripod. Remember, your finger is on that shutter release, and the time it takes to remove it is enough to blur your image.
The solution is simple. Set a shutter release delay. One or two seconds is enough to get you and your finger out of the way of your camera. Now you can reduce the shutter speed as low as you want, and you don’t have to spend an extra penny!
I know this is super simple, and may seem obvious to some of you, but it blew my mind in its simple brilliance, so I had to share. Hope it helps!
PS! Confused by my talk of shutter speeds and such? Read this. Still confused? Full post to come!
Thanks for reading folks! Please let me know if you’ve got any questions you want to see answered here!
Great tip!
I’m lost!