How to Get Smooth Handheld Shots Notes

Video by Peter McKinnon

• Hold camera with 2 hands

  • Grip both body and lens

• Don't have arms extended

  • Pull camera into chest

  • Think of moving as one with camera

• Have 3 points of contact

  • Right hand

  • Left hand

  • Camera strap

  • Put tension on on strap against neck

• Have an image stabilized lens

  • Added bonus for smooth shots

• Use warp stabilizer in premier pro

  • Adds gyroscope to focus

  • Zooms in a bit to get rid of shake on edges

• PM rock n tilt

  • Lean forward or backward, fall for 1-2 seconds before putting foot out or back to stop

  • Gets 1-2 seconds of free fall motion before camera jerk

• Backward

• Forward

• Motion hides shake

  • Panning will hide shake better than still camera

• Shoot wide

  • Shake is more noticeable when zoomed in far

• Somethings that will cause shake

  • Changing camera settings

  • Have right camera settings ready before so you're just focusing on getting the shot

• Shoot in slow motion

  • 60 fps, 120fps, or higher

  • Even if clip is long and shaky, you probably have a chunk in there that's nice and smooth which you can use for your needs