Shutter Release Technique

Situation from: Digital Photography School

“Thanks for your tip on using the Continuous Shooting Darren. I use it on my DSLR regularly but have one problem – I always end up taking more shots than I want to. I put my finger down on the shutter button and before I know it I’ve taken a whole heap of shots. Any suggestions?”

Thanks for the question Harold – unfortunately there’s no easy answer to this problem except to use the old adage – ‘practice makes perfect’.

I know the problem you have because when I first discovered continuous shooting mode on my old film SLR I had the same problem and could quite easily go through a 36 exposure roll very quickly (an expensive problem). The way I got over it was to practice shooting in burst mode without any film in the camera. As I did that I learnt how much pressure it took to take one, two, three or more shots. Of course with a digital camera you can practice as you go without having to pay for unneccessary shots.

The best advice I can give when taking a shot in continuous mode (or in any mode for that matter) is to work hard at gently applying pressure to your shutter button rather than jabbing at it.

Someone once told me that it’s the same principle with shooting a gun (not that I’m too familiar with that). Rather than jabbing at the trigger and pulling yourself off aim you gentle squeeze it to keep the gun steady.

Using this technique with a camera will give you more control in continuous shooting mode to take the amount of shots you want and will also have the added benefit of keeping your camera still and reducing camera shake.

Lastly – don’t press the shutter with the very tip of your finger – rather use the flat part of it so that the end section of your finger is almost horizontal at the time of releasing the shutter (as pictured). This will help you to have as much control as possible and will also reduce camera shake.