It is quite difficult to keep any footage stable while filming something while you are walking. And shaky and blurry footage is one of the nightmares in any video record, which can ruin the meaning of the whole story.
However, you can keep the camera steady while walking by taking help from monopods, gimbals, and other camera stabilizers. Alongside taking help from stabilization gear, you can keep the camera steady by following some handheld techniques.
Wondering how to keep camera steady while walking with and without stabilization gear? Let’s walk through some of the simple and reliable tips that will be found throughout this article.
Why Is It Important To Keep A Camera Steady?
Many things contribute to getting buttery smooth and desired footage and photos, and keeping the camera steady is one of them. Keeping the camera steady is one of the essential things that ensure clear and sharp footage or pictures.
You may use a good camera for carp fishing photography, wild photography, or even casual photography, blurry or shaky look will give your photo a horrible look. And that’s why it’s important to keep your camera steady when clicking photos or recording videos.
Here we’ve included some of the core reasons to keep your camera steady, have a look:
- Keeping your camera steady helps to get super smoother footage.
- By keeping your camera steady you can track objects better.
- To avoid a soft and blurry look on your photos and videos.
Well, these are some of the very common reasons that explain why to keep your camera steady while shooting. In short, if you want a good quality photo or footage, keeping your camera steady is kind of mandatory.
How To Keep Camera Steady While Walking
When it’s about keeping your camera steady while walking, there are many ways that you can follow. You can take help from stabilization gear, or you can also follow handheld techniques. So if you have no idea about them, follow the section below for reliable information.
1. Stabilization Gear
Nothing can be a better option than using stabilization gear to make your camera steady while walking. And there is a lot of stabilization gear available, you can follow the section below to know some of them:
Gimbals:
There are many types of stabilizers, and gimbals are one of them, which helps keep the camera steady while taking tracking shots. They help to prevent and reduce all the unnecessary movement and shaking while capturing footage or filming.
This stabilizer helps eliminate all the shakes and blurry effects it can cause by running or walking while filming. Gimbal’s main task is capturing a well-controlled and smooth shot without any wobbles.
Tripod:
Another effective and easy solution to keep the camera steady while capturing footage is using a tripod. It’s one of the old and usable techniques that has been used for a long time.
Here is the technique that you need to follow to use a tripod as a camera stabilizer:
- Set the camera on a tripod and then hold the center bar with one or two hands.
- Don’t close the tripod legs as they will work as a weight to keep the camera steady.
- And while walking with a tripod attached to the camera, try to keep your hands steady and slightly bend your knees.
This technique will help to get a crisp, sharp, and study shot with a camera while walking or running slowly.
MONOPOD:
The use of a monopod can be a handy way to keep the camera steady while capturing footage or pictures. A monopod will keep your camera still as it will rest in the ground, it can help to provide blurry and shaky free footage. It’s like a one-legged camera stand which helps to reduce camera shake while filming or clicking photos.
Use a Gorillapod:
The gorilla pod is pretty much similar to the tripod, which comes with rubberized ball joints. It’s designed to provide flexibility and bend and even warp it as your preferences. The main task of a gorilla pod is to provide steady camera support in almost all different conditions.
And along with mounting cameras, a gorilla pod also allows mounting camera light and many other gears. So using a gorilla pod will be worth it to keep the camera steady while walking.
2. Handheld Techniques
Alongside using several stabilizer gears, you can follow some handheld techniques to keep your footage shaky and blurry-free. And follow the section below to discover them.
Steady Camera Support and Handling:
One of the most basic things that you need to follow to keep the camera steady while walking is to hold the camera properly. Many beginners don’t know the appropriate camera holding process and
Here are some techniques that you can follow to hold your camera perfectly:
Use Your Both Hands:
The first thing you have to do is always use your two hands while holding the camera. Using the camera with one hand can provide blurry and shaky footage and images.
Hold the Camera Close to Your Chest:
To keep the camera steady while walking, you must keep the camera close to your chest. Extending your arms can hamper the camera balance and result in shaky images or footage.
Lock Your Arms:
The best way to keep the camera steady while walking is to keep the camera close to your chest and lock your arms. Locking your arms will let you take nice and solid footage.
Use the Camera Strap:
Using the camera strap is one of the simplest ways to keep the camera steady while walking. You have to use the camera strap as a three-point of contact and here is the process on how to do it:
- Attach the camera strap on your camera if the strap is not attached.
- Place the strap back of your neck, and then pull the camera tightly (pull the camera forward until the strap is nice and tight.)
- Once the strap is nice and tight, now lock your arms in that position and start filming.
Good Body Posture:
When it’s about both photography and videography, good body posture is really necessary. And to keep the camera steady while walking it’s mandatory to ensure good body posture. All you have to do is bend your knees slightly, which will help you to get a good balance over your camera.
Camera Strap Handles:
Camera Strap Handles is another handy way to keep the camera steady while walking. It may not sound cool, but it’s actually effective when it comes to taking stable shots while walking. Here is how to use the camera straps handles:
- Attach the camera strap around your camera’s lens.
- Now hold or carry the camera by using the strap’s ends and starting shooting or filming.
This handy method is one of the effective and easy solutions to keep the camera steady while walking or even running gently.
3. Some Other Techniques
Here we’ve included some other techniques that you can follow to take steady footage from your camera while walking. Have a look:
- Use a Wider Lens: The best thing you can do to have steady footage while walking is to use a wider lens on your camera. If you have a full-frame camera, you should stay below 35mm and stick below 24mm if you have a crop sensor camera.
- Use Optical Image Stabilization Lens: Another effective solution is to get nice and steady footage while walking using a camera lens with optical image stabilization.
- Slow Motion: Last but not least, you can shoot footage in a slow-motion or higher frame rate to get smooth and nice footage.
How Does Camera Stabilizer Work?
Yes, it’s common to guess that a camera stabilizer helps to keep the camera steady during filming tracking shots. But only a few people know how camera stabilizers work. Well, if you’re a beginner or have never used a camera stabilizer before, follow the section below to know about their working process:
- Support: The camera stabilizer will work as a support system for your camera. The primary purpose of this tool is to hold your camera of different sizes and angles to ensure stable and smooth filming.
- Balance: Not keeping the balance is the main reason to get blurry and shaky footage. In that case, a camera stabilizer helps to keep the appropriate balance by holding the camera in place.
- Shock Absorb: When you record footage on different surfaces, it’s common not to get a plain or flat track. And different tracks or surfaces can create shock which will make your video worse. In that case, alongside keeping the support and balance, the camera stabilizer will also absorb all types of shocks.
- Convenient: When you’re about to make long-running videography, holding the camera for a long time can be tough. And the camera stabilizer will make your work easier as the stabilizer is designed to ensure enough comfort.
How Are Camera Stabilizers Maintained?
Camera stabilizers are something that helps to get solid, nice, and clear footage in different conditions. Since they are important pieces of equipment, it’s essential to maintain them properly. In that case, you can follow the section below to know camera stabilizers maintaining process:
- Learn Stabilizers Using Techniques: To learn how to maintain your camera stabilizer, at first you should know how to use it properly. Using a camera stabilizer with the wrong using approach will damage it.
- Avoiding Wetting Them: A camera stabilizer is an electronic device, and always avoid wetting it if you want to use it for a long time. Always be careful that no water drop should reach inside of your stabilizer.
- Store Your Stabilizers Appropriately: Stabilizer does come with a packet or storing system, once your work is done with the stabilizer, store it properly. Storing the stabilizer properly will help to increase its lifespan.
Final Thoughts
Nothing can be more frustrating and annoying than getting shaky and blurry footage or images that take a lot of labor. But when you take footage while walking without following any technique or equipment, it’s common not to get desired footage.
However, now you know how to keep camera steady while walking with stabilizer gear and handheld techniques. Using several stabilizer tools and handheld techniques will help you to get your desired footage.
Now you also know how stabilizer tools work and how to maintain them for the long run. Perform videography or photography at any condition and get the desired result by following this article.