And here’s HOW you hold on: you hold the camera with your left hand under the lens. Not on top of, which beginners all do. Yes, sometimes I have major posts about complicated stuff; sometimes, however, it’s simple yips, and this is one of those days.
And when taking a portrait-orientation shot, the shutter goes on top, not below. So you do it like this (one of my students at yesterday’s class at Sheridan College):
Even better: wrap the strap around your wrist, too, so that if you drop the camera, it doesn’t fall to the ground:
Why? It’s more stable. That’s the main reason. Less shake. See yesterday’s picture: 1/10th of s econd handheld with a 50mm lens? Yup.
Also, you do not waste time moving your hand back and forth. And finally (this one is important for the guys): you look like a pro.
Testing on android since I wasn’t able to leave a comment about locking in elbows from my desktop. I use a Blackrapid strap which seems to make it easy to add dynamic strap tension to the mix.