Can the focus be saved on this picture of my family's dog?

[photo1x1.com]

Here´s my quick try. Sometimes it helps to blur the parts that weren´t meant to be in focus and "slightly" sharpen the ones that you want to be sharp to create the feeling of a sharper image. I did this in photoshop, using different layers with masks. Filters used: unsharp mask and lens blur.

 

[Ben1989]

Thank you everybody. All great edits. I'm going to knuckle down and learn how to apply the unsharp masks and blurring the (purposeful) out of focus areas tonight.

Just to clear the whole RAW JPEG issue. I understand the difference, all I'm purely trying to say is that I had not modified the image in anyway prior to posting this thread just in case people thought that I was happy with how it looked (minus the focus) when I posted it.

 

[Ben1989]

Camera: Nikon D3200
Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Shot at 46 mm
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/50 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
Flash: none

You may also want to learn more about faster Shutter Speeds
and learn about the Focus Mode and Area settings.

To be quite honest that is something I am not familiar with so I will spend some time looking at tutorials on YouTube regarding this

 

[photo1x1.com]

Camera: Nikon D3200
Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Shot at 46 mm
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/50 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
Flash: none

You may also want to learn more about faster Shutter Speeds
and learn about the Focus Mode and Area settings.

To be quite honest that is something I am not familiar with so I will spend some time looking at tutorials on YouTube regarding this

May I humbly suggest my videos? Link to one of my videos on youtube. The course is still not ready yet, but the basics are already covered. The linked video is an intro to shutter speed.

 

[astroNikon]

Camera: Nikon D3200
Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Shot at 46 mm
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/50 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
Flash: none

You may also want to learn more about faster Shutter Speeds
and learn about the Focus Mode and Area settings.

To be quite honest that is something I am not familiar with so I will spend some time looking at tutorials on YouTube regarding this

You image would have been a lot better if you used about a shutter speed of 1/200
This would require your settings to be 1/200, f/7.1 and ISO 800

Reducing Camera Shake with Hand-Held Photos

Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

 

[Ben1989]

ISO is something that I always hesitate to increase too much but I need to stop being scared!

 

[Ben1989]

May I humbly suggest my videos? Link to one of my videos on youtube. The course is still not ready yet, but the basics are already covered. The linked video is an intro to shutter speed.

Of course. I will have a look after work.

On a side note: I've recently moved to Liverpool so my inspiration for my photography has gone ten-fold with all the possibilities now presented to myself so I am keen to learn as much as I can

 

[astroNikon]

ISO is something that I always hesitate to increase too much but I need to stop being scared!

Keep in mind there are 3 things in the Exposure Triangle
Thus with:
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/50 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200

You could keep ISO at 200. If you took Shutter up 1 full stop to 1/100 then you would have to bring aperture down 1 full stop to f/5 ish. BUT your lens may not be able to do f/5. Maybe only f/5.6 at that focal length of 42mm. So ... you'd either have to lower your shutter speed a bit to 1/75ish or raise your ISO to 300.

It's all a give and take for the Exposure. If you plan on taking pics of your dog running though you'll need even higher Shutter Speeds. And of course the Aperture also is the Depth of Field of what is in focus from the focus point (thus the reason to learn about Focus Modes and Areas).

FYI, I think your camera is pretty good up to ISO 1600

 

[chuasam]

Nope, unless you have a Lytro camera.

 

[mcap1972]

The quality is not the best. Maybe you should invest in better RAW processing software.

 

[thereyougo!]

The quality is not the best. Maybe you should invest in better RAW processing software.

Wow! What a helpful comment.

 

[abaeza02]

I probably would have just turned it black and white and added a little grain to make it look like I did it on purpose.