It's amazing when you go shooting how easy it is to ignore pain. We'll happily contort our bodies into odd positions that would make a yoga master proud, trying to get just the right angle on something. And usually once we've gotten the shot, we right ourselves, go "ouch!" and move on to the next shot. However, what we really should be saying "ouch" to is the repetitive stress we place on our hands as we spend more and more time using a mouse and keyboard to process our images.

Try something--raise your hands in the air, shake them out, and place them back down on a table. How did your hands end up? I put mine on their sides in a vertical position, as if I were shaking someone's hand. Now try placing your hands down flat on your desk, and twist your wrists so that your fingers are all aligned square as if you were typing on a laptop keyboard. Not very comfortable, is it? Now think about how you hold a normal mouse, and look at your hand--you're rotating it in an unnatural way.

When you're shooting and contort yourself into a weird position, it's temporary, and you usually don't twist yourself into the same position each time. But every single time you use a non-ergonomic keyboard and mouse, you are putting your hands into an unnatural position, and eventually, you might get a disabling repetitive stress injury. In extreme cases, you might not even be able to lift your camera.

Thankfully, there are a number of ergonomic mice and keyboards that can help you prevent repetitive stress injuries. Believe it or not, Microsoft makes some great ergonomic keyboards. In fact, they have one that tilts the right way--it's lower towards the back (hold your hand in the air and pretend you're typing--notice that your fingers reach deeper when you're reaching for keys further away from your body). Their keyboards are also split in the middle so that you don't have to force your hands into a straight shape. Most of the time now, I type on a Goldtouch keyboard, which is a split keyboard that I can adjust vertically and horizontally to my liking. The Goldtouch keyboards also have fairly soft keys, so that I don't have to type hard.

In terms of mice, there are a lot of options. You're probably familiar with trackballs and tablets, but if you prefer a more "normal" mice, there are vertical mice so that you don't have to twist your wrist. Some are shaped like a joystick, and others are shaped like a mouse, just rotated 90 degrees. Microsoft has a wireless mouse that splits the difference between a normal mouse and a pure vertical mouse, although I've found its scrollwheel button to take way too much force.

It's good to have a couple different mice and keyboards that you switch between. But also pay attention to how you position them. You shouldn't have to reach for anything or lift your hands to an unnatural angle.

The nicest keyboard I've ever used is the FingerWorks Touchstream LP. In addition to being ergonomically shaped, it's a multitouch system. There are no actual buttons for the keys, and they take almost no force to press. Plus, you can use different gestures to mouse right on the keyboard, eliminating reaching for a mouse entirely. Unfortunately, since FingerWorks ceased operations as a business a while ago, these are nearly impossible to find. I was very sad when mine wore out (after years of intensive, daily use).

Lastly, even if you have ergonomic equipment, it's important to take breaks frequently. It's easy to get wrapped up in tweaking your images to make them just right, and you might not even realize how hard you're gripping your tablet pen while tweaking. Take breaks every 20 minutes or so and try some wrist stretches. Your hands will thank you!