Argh What am i doing wrong?

[FemFugler]

None of my shots seem to be in focus.

No matter what, they just don't seem to come out the way i want them to. They look fine on the camera screen, and then when i get them on the computer they're slightly out of focus!

I'm sure it's just something like shooting with shutter speed or whatever, but darn it's frustrating. Like NONE of my pictures seem to turn out decent. I'm not looking for 'pro' work obviously but at least picture in focus!


Help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Also i'm sorry for complaining, i'm sure you've heard it a million of times.

 

[Rocky8]

Well, the shutter speed for all 3 was 1 second, so that's camera shake, fem. If they were handheld I would commend you on your firm hand. But if it was shot from tripod, the tripod apparently moved.

 

[chammer]

what you're dealing with is motion blur, not so much an out of focus shot. even if it were on a tripod it wouldnt matter. you're dealing with a living, breathing subject that is not going to sit still long enough for that shutter speed to work. because your subject here can and does move on their own it could move enough to cause it to be out of focus, but in this case i think you are more dealing with motion blur rather than it being out of focus.

you shot at the equivalent of 66mm so i would at least shoot for a shutter speed close to that, or even at 1/100th to be safe. remember that what we generally shoot for is 1/focal length or if you'd like to be safe on crop bodies, 1/focal length*crop factor. on your nikon its 1.5, so if shooting on a 50mm lens, for example, your focal length is 75mm so a 1/80th (or thereabouts) would be appropriate.

slower shutter speeds for this "rule" can be used, but it depends on your subject and how steady your hand is.