5 Tips for Shooting Great Video from Budget Travel Magazine and documentary filmmaker Roger Sherman:

1.  Hold Steady

Hold the camera, even a small smartphone, with two hands. Bend your knees a  bit. Tuck your elbows in close to your body. Breathe slowly and don’t rush your  shot. Don’t hit the record button until you’re really relaxed and ready.

2. Don’t Pan Back and Forth

Most professional films are made with static shots, no camera movement at  all. If you did the same, the quality of your videos would soar. Amateurs  usually move the camera far too much, to disastrous results. If you need to pan  (moving the camera left or right), take a quick look at the scene to determine  where the energy is. Pan slowly in that direction. Let’s say you’re in Florence  and you spot a majestic statue and a beautiful fountain. Frame on the statue and  pan over to the fountain—towards the energy. That’s where you’ll want to move in  for closer shots. Never pan left and then right in the same shot. Pan left, cut,  reframe, Then shoot again, another pan if you must, but it’s usually better to  follow a pan with a static shot. That’s the way pros do it.

3. Don’t Zoom

According to Roger, zooming is death. It’s guaranteed to ruin your film. No  one, not even pros, can hold steady a shot zoomed in all the way. Instead of  zooming, walk closer to the subject, then shoot. My rule of thumb is zoom no  more than 10-20% from full wide angle unless your camera is equipped with steady shot, a smoothing mechanism. Even then you can’t zoom in all the  way. Do a test to determine how far in you can truly hold a zoom.

4. Short Shots

Most shots can be six seconds or less for statics. It all depends on what  you’re looking at. A beautiful view of the Grand Canyon will keep your  audiences’ attention longer. A close up of a piece of Murano glass doesn’t need  to be held as long. Think about how long you held the previous shot. It will  help determine how long the next one should be. Look at your footage to learn  how to pace your movie. Watching TV shows, movies, anything with the sound  turned off is a great teacher.

5. Vary Your Shots

Professional films are made of a variety of shots: wide, medium, close. Yours  should too. Again, watch a few minutes of any movie or drama on TV with the  sound off and you’ll see what I mean. Many home video shooters make the mistake  of shooting their films repeating the same wide shot from the same distance to  the subject over and over.  Boring! If we go back to the example of the fountain  in Florence, we might begin with a wide shot of the whole fountain—people  hanging out, kids playing. If we walk in closer, we might frame a second shot of  most of the fountain with fewer people. That would be a medium shot. Going in  closer still, we might frame a shot of the mermaid spouting water, a close up.  Those three shots become a sequence that tell a complete story about the  fountain, one that viewers will be captivated by.

The best way to make great home videos is practice. Shoot a bit. Look hard at  your results. Learn from your mistakes. Shoot some more.