Why are my photos so blurry?

There are several reasons that your photos may be coming out blurry. Here are some things to consider.

If the stationary background is in focus and your subject is not, you're either dealing with a slow shutter speed and your subject is moving, or your lens focused on the wrong thing. If the subject is moving either ask your subject to stay still or speed up the shutter speed. Shooting people at below 1/125th of a second or slower can be challenging if they're moving. If they're moving quickly it needs to be even faster, maybe even 1/1000th of a second or higher. If your camera focused on the background instead of your subject, your subject may be blurry. Consider center weighting the focusing point in your camera. This is something you may need to check your camera manual about. After you center weight your focus, look through the viewfinder and focus on your subject by holding the shutter button down halfway, then recompose the subject in the viewfinder so that it's pleasing to you, and push the shutter button down the rest of the way. Holding the shutter button down halfway gives you "focus lock".

If you're subject appears to be in focus and the background (and foreground) look blurry, it's a depth of field issue. A narrow depth of field-which some people call depth of focus-can be very pleasing in a photograph. Another term for a blurry background is Bokeh. Blurred backgrounds help to isolate the subject often making for a nicer picture. If you want the background blurry, use your widest aperture (smallest number- e.g. f2.8 - f5.6).

If your whole shot is blurry, it is probably due to camera shake and a slower shutter speed. If your shutter is open and the camera moves, everything in your picture will be blurry. So, speed up your shutter if possible. If you can't, try stabilizing your camera by bracing yourself or using a tripod. If you're not sure what you're shutter speed should be while hand holding your camera, look for the blog on using a tripod or Tripod Alternatives

Keep Hitting That Shutter Button!

http://www.chipshotz.com/
chip@chipshotz.com

For information on other Tampa photography classes, digital photography classes, and Tampa photography workshops feel free to call me or look under the Tampa Photography Classes section. I also give private individual lessons on camera operation and making better photographs and would love to work with you one on one to make you a better photographer. Photography instruction gift certificates are also available. They make great gifts for the photo enthusiast in your life. Let's talk about what you need! 813-786-7780. See you in class!

Chip Weiner is an award winning photojournalist and food photographer in Tampa. He has been a photography instructor for 10 years.

Copyright Chip Weiner Photographic Arts (2007-2015). All Rights Reserved

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