Keep the camera Steady

few things are more annoying than a great shot which is just a little bit blurry. this can happen for a number of reasons, most often because the camera was moving. it's hard to keep a camera still, and the bigger the lens you've got on the front, the harder it is.
this, combined with the fact that the faster the shutter speed, the less it matters that the camera may be moving, leads to the familiar rule of thumb for when you are hand-holding a shot:

• shutter speed should be at least as great as focal length

i.e. if you have a 200mm lens, you should use a shutter speed of 1 200th of a second or faster.
if you have a zoom lens which goes up to 200mm, you should still set the shutter to 1/200 or faster.

some lenses and some cameras have stabilisation mechanisms which claim to allow you to shoot at lower speeds. in general, these seem to work, but it's still good to bear the rule in mind.

following this rule will give you a good safety margin.

check your shutter speed just before you take the shot.