First DSLR...what am I doing wrong?? HELP!

[allinschenk]

Husband bought me a Canon 60D for Christmas. Yes, I know it's early, but he can't keep a secret! I've read through the instruction manual and took some photos over the weekend. 75% of them turned out like the ones below. I was using the 18-135mm lens and shooting in Av with a single center focus point. I do have the Canon Speedlite 430EX II on its way too! Any help would be much appreciated...would love for some Christmas photos to turn out

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[rainking]

Here's your problem: Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/5 second ===> 0.2 second

Increase the ISO to increase your shutter speed. With the shutter being open for so long, it creates blur with anything that moves. You want to be in the 1/50th of a second or higher to hand held your shots. Just remember, the higher the ISO, the more noise you introduce. This is why a flash/fast lens is very helpful for indoor shots.

Since you are shooting in aperture mode, the camera is adjusting the shutter speed to create the "proper" exposure by decreasing the shutter speed.

 

[mjhoward]

Your shutter speed was 1/5 sec. That is SLOOW unless you are capturing a stationary subject on a tripod. Not to mention you were at 106mm. Since you were in Av mode, the camera had to adjust the shutter speed down to get proper exposure. You could increase the ISO so that less light is need to get the exposure (more noise) or you could increase ambient light/use flash. Yours was only set to ISO 400... the 60D should be usable to 1600 at least. And with the kind of focal length you were using, I believe the 'rule of thumb' is 1/focal length to stop motion handheld, so 1/100s.

 

[table1349]

Read through this and practice what it teaches.
Digital Photography Tutorials

 

[GrantH]

How do you know her shutter was at 1/5, exactly?

 

[o hey tyler]

How do you know her shutter was at 1/5, exactly?

Through the use of an EXIF viewer. What browser are you using?

 

[Derrel]

Do not shoot flash pictures in Av mode!!! Av mode will select very slow shutter speeds when indoors in dimmer lighting conditions, leading to blurred exposures that are a mixture of 1)ambient light and 2)the flash burst. Unless the camera is on a rock-solid tripod, and the subject is absolutely still, these slow speeds like 1/5 second will lead to blurred images with a sightly sharper image from the approximately 1/1000 second of flash.

Try shooting in M mode, with the shutter set to 1/60 second, and the lens f/stop set to f/6.3 or so....at ISO 400, that ought to be fine indoors.

 

[pgriz]

Actually, that's not the problem. You're shooting most probably with the pop-up flash, and in Av mode, the camera is holding open the shutter to give expose for the background, leading to blurring in the picture. See page 130 of your manual, especially the note at the bottom. One way to force the issue for the camera, is to shoot in Tv mode, with the shutter set to 1/125, and using the pop-up flash. The camera will open the aperture to wide open (since it thinks it needs to expose for ambient light), but go ahead and shoot. The flash will fire, the shutter will close after 1/125 sec, and you will have a flash photo without blurring.

I posted at the same time as Derrel. What he said. Actually, I think our advice is pretty similar, and if Tv doesn't give you the results you want because the camera's controlling the aperture, go for the full monty (emmm Manual).