You can.

You know that you should not shoot at shutter speeds lower than “1 divided by your chosen focal length”, unless you have a stabilized lens.

So a 50mm lens with a speed of 1/50 or faster is OK. Slower, not.

Or is it?

I shot the above picture of Shiva (Lord Shiva the destroyer) just now, at 1/10th sec with a prime lens at f/1.4, 800 ISO, Canon 7D. Against the rules, but  as you can see, it worked.

Why?

Two reasons.

  1. I can hold my camera very steady. Underhand under lens grip, no breathing – like target shooting with a handgun.
  2. I took the picture five times! One was unsharp, two OK, and two very sharp. When shooting handheld at “slower than possible” speeds, always take multiple shots. Ten, if you can.

And that is why you should never be afraid to try to break the rules. It may not work. But then, it may.

 

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