Releasing the shutter

The only thing you should move is your finger

Think of your camera as a rifle pointed at a target when you are shooting a picture.

A marksman will do whatever is necessary to keep the rifle's sights on the bullseye, even to regulate his or her breathing to minimize the rise and fall of the rifle barrel.

You must act upon the same lines to minimize the movement of your lens when you press the camera's shutter release. Lens movement, even with a fast shutter speed, can cause you to point the camera slightly off target. Slow shutter speeds demand a rock-steady camera to avoid blurring.

Move only your index finger. Nothing else should move under most typical picture-taking situations. Depress the shutter with deliberate, steady pressure until it releases, not with a snap or a quick plunge that is likely to cause camera movement.

SLOW SHUTTER SPEED & TIME EXPOSURES

When the shutter will be open for a longer than normal time for hand-holding the camera (generally 1/30 sec or longer), it is important to avoid any camera shake that may blur the scene you are shooting. This means the camera must be mounted on a tripod (or another means of solid support) for maximum stability to ensure sharpness.

You can depress the shutter release manually, but even the slight pressure from your finger may cause camera movement. Better to use a cable release or the camera's automatic timed shutter release (the "self-timer"), if it is equipped with one.

THE SHUTTER RELEASE DOES MORE THAN OPEN AND CLOSE THE SHUTTER

Depressing the shutter release button triggers a number of actions that will cause a picture to be taken.

In a traditional film camera, the shutter activates autoexposure in order to take a light meter reading and focuses an autofocus lens.

In an automatic digital camera,

This can all occur in milliseconds in a high-end dSLR camera, but may take a bit longer in an inexpensive consumer camera. This delay is known as shutter lag, and can be very annoying.