How do you hold your camera and breathe properly to reduce camera shake?

3 Breathe properly

To avoid camera shake, the third step is to breathe properly. Though it may sound trivial, breathing can significantly affect your video quality. If you breathe too fast, too deep, or too irregularly, it can cause vibrations and movements in your camera. To breathe properly when shooting video, relax and calm yourself beforehand to avoid stress, anxiety, or excitement that could affect your breathing pattern and heart rate. Breathe normally and steadily throughout the video; don't hold your breath or exhale too forcefully as this creates tension and jerkiness in the camera. If possible, time your breathing with your camera movements; for example, inhale before you start a pan or tilt and exhale as you finish it for smoother motion. Lastly, if you need to take a break or adjust settings, stop recording and breathe normally instead of trying to do it while rolling as this could create noise and inconsistency in the video.

4 Use a tripod or a stabilizer

The fourth step to avoid camera shake is to use a tripod or a stabilizer. These are accessories that can help you secure your camera and eliminate any unwanted movements. A tripod is a three-legged stand that can hold your camera steady and allow you to adjust the height, angle, and orientation of your shot. It is ideal for static shots, long exposures, timelapses, interviews, or landscapes, but can be bulky, heavy, and restrictive if you need to move around or change your perspective frequently. Alternatively, a stabilizer is a device that can attach to your camera and counteract any shake or vibration with a gimbal, a counterweight, or a motor. It is ideal for dynamic shots, handheld shots, action shots, or vlogs but can be expensive, complex, and battery-dependent if you need to use it for long periods of time.

5 Apply some post-production techniques

To avoid camera shake, you can apply some post-production techniques. Depending on your editing software and skills, cropping your video is a simple and fast way to remove some of the shake, although it can reduce resolution and quality. Stabilizing your video is a more advanced and effective way to remove the shake, although it can introduce artifacts and distortion. Adding motion blur is a creative and subtle way to hide the shake, but too much blur can make your video look out of focus.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?