Elbows tucked into the area beneath the ribs, more anterior rather than the sides.Press the camera against the face though not too hard.Deep breath in, exhale half, hold..

Squeeze the shutter. Just increase pressure, not as if you are trying to move it, untill it goes..

Practice will improve you more than you might imagine.....in the mean time cut down the coffee from 16 cups/day to just 8 ";^).

A member of the rabble in good standingLM..

Take a look at my tips on stabilization, which I list at http://www.halley.cc/photo/stabilize.html.

Stringpods and other makeshift platforms are the best answer, short of a real tripod..

[ e d @ h a l l e yc c ] http://www.halley.cc/pix/..

It is important to actually believe you CAN hold the camera stable. Sometimes you can lean on a wall or whatever to lend your camera extra support..

See this one 'hand-held" at 1/3rd second. Camera resting on my other hand on top of a wall and using the flip out LCD - that's another reason why flip-out LCDs are a great idea..

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John.Please visit me at:http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/backtothebridgehttp://www.pbase.com/johnfr..

1) Use a 1 second timer so the shutter press does not shake your camera.

2) It seemed to work for me try to place your camera ON your shoulder. Lean on something if possible. Unless your legs are shaking too, it should be quite steady...

For steadiness-.

-tuck elbows in to your body as much as you can. do not hold as if your elbows are about to flap and take you off.-stand with your feet shoulder width apart. you want a big solid platform..

-if you know you will be takeing pics eliminate the coffee, or switch to decaf. also eliminate any other food or drink that can cause unsteadiness or shakes..

-do not assume that IS is going to give you a steady shot no matter what. there are limits to the effectivness of IS, most pros have stated in articles that 2 stops is all that you can expect. this is stated with the point of view that you are intending to enlarge the shots and not just show them on monitor or print them 4x6. for good enlargements you need what is called critical sharpness, and not something that is just good enough for a monitor.-try not to shoot in HEAVY winds. wait for calmer conditions...

Learn the classic stance and the correct way to hold the camera, in both vertical and horizontal positions. Learn the breath and squeeze technique, but bare in mind that it's better to let go of the camera and do a timed exposure than hold it..

You can place a camera on almost anything, and use your bag to rest it on if there's no flat surface available just an uneven or curved on..

Anything that helps lock your body into position is good. If you kneel, drop completely to the ground if possible - don't end up balancing on your toes !.

A mini-tripod if you can..

Disposable clothes syndrome. Expect to want to lean against objects, lie on floors and generally get your clothes dirty. Jeans are very popular with photography-types ! .

Learn to control shutter speed. If you cannot be sure, in a particular shot, that you can hold it steady, then ensure you are using a high enough shutter speed..

With practice it's possible to hold a camera surprising steady for a relatively long time. As someone said a lot of it is simply building up technique and acknowledging your successes. Don't expect all your hand-helds to be shake free. Even with IS I have found this does not always happen..

At night or in cold weather, keep yourself and your hands warm. It's old, but it's good. Even IS won't fix frozen and shaking hands and body..

Take several shots when you are worried about possible shake. By several shots I mean re-take the shot from scratch if possible, starting from adjusting your stance. You might not get all of them, but one might be good enough..

Don't discard a shot simply because it looks shaky at 100%. If you're printing small some shaky shots can turn out fine..

Sometimes it's better to sacrifice exposure for shutter speed. By this I mean shoot RAW and allow the shot to be under-exposed to ensure a decent shutter speed at a reasonable ISO. You can probably still get a decent photo in post processing, depending on your needs. This is a form of heresy and the Gods will eventually punish you, but it's another weapon in the arsenal of desperation !.

Finally, bring another person along and give them the tripod to carry !.

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..