If you’re like most people, photography boils down to automatic mode paired with luck. Not for US Army officer Alex Jansen, who wrote up a massive guide to crisp low-light photography based on “the four fundamentals of marksmanship. Snap, headshot.
Separated into several sections depending on circumstance — though none for suppressing enemy fire — Jansen walks you through “Hand, Elbow, and Standing Positions”, “Kneeling and Sitting Positions”, “Bracing Techniques” and “Breathing Control”. For example:
If there is a vertical column, fence post, or simply the end of the wall (to include door frames, like the one picture below), you can hook your elbow on the edge of it. Here I am shooting through a doorway and having my elbow stabilise my entire body. Is it perfect? No, of course not, just like none of these are. But it will help if it is the only solution available to you.
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If possible, it will even help to put the corner of the wall, fence post, whatever, in your armpit and squeeze, making a sort of hasty vice.
The guide is exhaustive, visual, and I applaud Jansen for his willingness to be both a military man and a dude willing to have himself photographed with his arse sticking out in such a sassy manner. [Pentax Forums via PetaPixel]