Photographers hold a weight out in front of their body, in a fixed grip, for as long as the shoot lasts.
A professional body with a fast zoom is two to three kilos, and it is carried at arm’s length with the left hand supporting the lens barrel and the right gripping the body and working the shutter.
That is a sustained static load with a long lever, which is one of the least efficient ways to hold anything.
The two hands, again
- The supporting hand holds the lens from underneath with the wrist extended and the thumb and fingers spread — sustained, static, and often for hours at a wedding or a match
- The shutter hand grips the body constantly and works the shutter and dials with the index finger. Repeated fine movement plus sustained grip in the same hand
Two kilos held against your chest is light. The same two kilos held at arm’s length for ten hours is a different object entirely.
What turns up
- Aching forearms and hands after a long shoot: general overuse, and by far the most likely
- Back-of-wrist pain in the supporting hand: extensor overload from a held extended position
- Thumb-side wrist pain: De Quervain’s, from lifting and supporting with the thumb out
- Index finger and hand pain in the shutter hand: repeated trigger use, the same mechanism as a warehouse scanner. Can progress to trigger finger
- Outer elbow pain: tennis elbow, from sustained grip rather than any impact — treated with loading
- Night numbness: carpal tunnel syndrome, especially in photographers who also edit for hours — see desk work, because the edit is part of the same week’s load
What reduces the load
- Bring the elbows in. Tuck them against your ribs so the body takes the weight rather than the arms holding it out
- Support from underneath, palm up, rather than gripping the barrel from the side with the wrist bent
- A proper strap, harness or sling system. Two bodies on neck straps for eight hours is a neck and shoulder problem that becomes a hand problem through compensation
- Monopod for long lens work, which removes the static hold almost entirely
- Lighter kit where the job allows it. A smaller body and a prime lens for a long documentary shoot is a load decision as much as a creative one
- Put the camera down between shots. Most photographers hold position through the gaps out of habit
- Split the edit. Ten hours shooting followed by ten hours at a mouse is one continuous load on the same tissue
Get it assessed if
- Numbness in any fingers, during shoots or at night
- Pain present before you pick the camera up
- A finger catching or locking
- Grip failing partway through a shoot
- Six weeks of a lighter setup and better support with no change
Elbows in, camera down between shots, monopod for the long lens. Most of this is holding position you did not need to hold.
Every article on this site is written using the Closing Window Method: name the window your condition runs on, find where you are in it, and act while it’s still open.