WHY DO MY PHOTOS LOOK LIKE THIS

[Photonoob1]

So I have been taking some photographs for my girlfriends blog, while I am an amateur I feel like I may be doing something wrong to produce this amount of softness on the images.

I'm using a T3i with a 17-55mm 2.8 lens, why is the zoomed image so soft?!

ALl advice much appreciated

 

[Ilovemycam]

motion blur from shutter speed, focus, poor lens, dirty lens, subject moving (maybe sharpen RAW, but prob not.)

Shoot a dollar bill on a tripod and see how sharp your set up really is.

 

[kathyt]

I really can't tell too much, but it looks like your focus did not fall on your subjects face. Your image is also really underexposed, histogram pushed all the way to the left, which will have an impact on quality as well.

 

[Derrel]

I must agree with kathythorson, the focus seems to be off...it's just not focused properly.

 

[pixelwhip]

a combination of things.

1) kit lens shot wide open (try stopping down 2 stops for better sharpness)
2) shot with slow shutter; a bit of motion blur
3) shot with UV filter on lens
4) not enough diffussed light, what light is there looks pretty hard (on-camera flash?)

 

[Photonoob1]

a combination of things.

1) kit lens shot wide open (try stopping down 2 stops for better sharpness)

2) shot with slow shutter; a bit of motion blur
3) shot with UV filter on lens
4) not enough diffussed light, what light is there looks pretty hard (on-camera flash?)

-

It was shot with a flash at around 7pm in Boston (pretty low light)

What do you recommend shutter speed to be? I figured 1/100 would be decent for a relatively still subject

- no UV filter

This isn't the kit lens, it is this guy -http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=425812&is=USA&Q=&A=details

Does hard light ruin image quality like this?

 

[Photonoob1]

Maybe I should get my lens looked at?

 

[David444]

.

 

[Photonoob1]

What are the exif settings for the photo? Are you choosing the focus point or are you letting the camera choose it for you?

Here you are.\

That was auto focus, most likely on her right eye.

 

[SCraig]

\

That was auto focus, most likely on her right eye.

Actually it looks to me like the focus was on the bracelet on her right arm. It seems to be more in focus than her face.

The image was shot at f/2.8. No lens is at its sharpest at maximum aperture, you need to stop it down a couple of stops to get the sharpest image from it.

 

[David444]

.

 

[Overread]

If you can get a sharp photo using manual focus then you have an AF problem.

Note that this does not mean that the AF is broken, it means more likely that you've used it incorrectly.

How have you got the AF on the camera currently setup? Go through your motions, settings and process for taking a photo and we'll be able to see what steps and settings you have and give suggestions as to where you can make improvements.

 

[runnah]

Shoot a dollar bill on a tripod and see how sharp your set up really is.

Photographers don't have that kind of money!

 

[Juga]

Shoot a dollar bill on a tripod and see how sharp your set up really is.

Photographers don't have that kind of money!

 

[Photonoob1]

If you can get a sharp photo using manual focus then you have an AF problem.

Note that this does not mean that the AF is broken, it means more likely that you've used it incorrectly.

How have you got the AF on the camera currently setup? Go through your motions, settings and process for taking a photo and we'll be able to see what steps and settings you have and give suggestions as to where you can make improvements.

Well, shooting this kind of thing I would obviously flip to autofocus on the lens (IS is always on). Look through view finder, depress shutter half way to AF, then fire when focus is confirmed.

Often times I like a little fill flash but I'm finding that the photos turn out better if I just use ambient light unless I'm in a studio environment. So with flash I usually have it turned to a super low power with a soft box in front of it to shoot a wide beam.

Hope this is enough info? I honestly seem to only have problems when shooting still photos. With video (manually focusing in live view) I obviously don't have focus issues. I'm leaning towards it being a lens problem because I haven't noticed this until I bought this new lens, I shot with a 50mm 1.6 a lot and thought it was crystal clear, even wide open.