HELP!!!!!

karin p photography · Mar 8, 2011

Ok, so on the weekend, my brother in law and his wife asked me to take family pictures of them and the new addition to their family - the cutest baby girl you have ever seen!!

thing is, I don't have a studio, so I set up a black backdrop in their room and got some nice photos of them all in white shirts, holding and coochie-kooing with the little bundle of joy. The pics look GREAT in black and white!

Here's where my problem comes in.

I noticed that even with my flash on (pointed upwards away from them) my pictures are blurry and not sharp at all! I am horrified!!!!!
In my panic I didn't record my ISO setting but I think that it was 800 (which is correct, yes? - If I remember correctly, when indoors, one must use a higher ISO)
I used my standard 18-55 lens that my nikon D60 came with.

I played around on Manual with my apperture and shutter speeds but all my pics are a bit blurred.
I also noticed that in some of the pics where mommy was holding the baby, mom's face is perfectly sharp but baby's is blurred - now, she was moving around, but with the flash, surely the it will freeze the motion when I capture the photograph?

Can someone please help me!!!
i am afraid that there is something wrong with my camera (when In fact I am almost sure that there is something wrong with me!!! :lol:

)

MissCream · Mar 8, 2011

Can you post a picture?

FattyMcJ · Mar 8, 2011

It would help if you posted a photo with the EXIF data intact.

My initial thoughts are 1) It's a kit lens, not going to be tack sharp to begin with. 2) Your DoF was too shallow OR the baby/moms faces were on much different planes for the given aperture/DoF. 3) You were using too slow of a shutter speed. Dragging the shutter is helpful, but only to a point. Beyond that you're going to get motion blur like you normally would without flash. To compensate for this, if you must, use rear curtain sync...that way, at least the motion will look natural and "follow" the movements rather than the blur coming after the sharp/properly exposed portion of the photo. In all truth, rear curtain sync can make for some really cool photos if done right, even for a family portrait.

But again, this is all speculation without seeing a photo example.

MissCream · Mar 8, 2011

FattyMcJ said:
It would help if you posted a photo with the EXIF data intact.

My initial thoughts are 1) It's a kit lens, not going to be tack sharp to begin with. 2) Your DoF was too shallow OR the baby/moms faces were on much different planes for the given aperture/DoF. 3) You were using too slow of a shutter speed. Dragging the shutter is helpful, but only to a point. Beyond that you're going to get motion blur like you normally would without flash. To compensate for this, if you must, use rear curtain sync...that way, at least the motion will look natural and "follow" the movements rather than the blur coming after the sharp/properly exposed portion of the photo. In all truth, rear curtain sync can make for some really cool photos if done right, even for a family portrait.

But again, this is all speculation without seeing a photo example.

My kit lens is my fav. Its really sharp, I love it!

karin p photography · Mar 8, 2011

Ok, sorry i am having SUCH a senior moment here... this is my first time posting and this thing only will let me post the URL to my image and NOT the ACTUAL image.
is this okay?
otherwise, how do I post an image HERE??

karin p photography · Mar 8, 2011

tried to insert a url to my image here on photoforum.
hope this works...

Sonoma · Mar 8, 2011

I hope it is alright if I posted these here for you. I did no editing, nor did I copy them.
These are right from your album.

brdy · Mar 8, 2011

Take what I say with grain of salt as I am only L plates and dont have a DSLR but my little G11 can operate fully manual mode.

Iam curious about the need to use "high ISO indoors." when you have a flash mounted. If i was indoors and used ISO 800 or higher I'd expect my picture to be a bit noisy. With my G11 an external flash, ISO 200 shutter around 1/60th sec and app at around F4.0 or ISO 100, f2.8 @ 1/30th sec on tripod and external flash. Usually get s me sharp shots inside.

But like I say Im no expert, and dont have a DSLR yet but have seriously been thinking of getting one like yours a Canon 60D because it has that flip out swivel screen like on my G11 which I find really handy... my two cents (((smile)))) hope you sort it out.

Drake · Mar 8, 2011

Both are blurred mostly because of camera shake. On the first one you used a shutter speed of 1/30, which is fine at the focal length of 22mm, but only if you keep your camera very steady. The second one is shot at 1/8 of a second, which is way too slow for the focal length of 40mm. Even if your lens is the stabilized VR version, you have to hold the camera very steady. You could set a bigger aperture as I see you shot it at f13. Unless you have a very strong light source, that's way too small for shooting indoors. Try something like f4, you'll be able to shoot at a greater shutter speed.

How to solve this? First of all, I'd practice shooting with slow shutter speeds, also try to determine what's the slowest shutter speed you can shoot at a given focal length. A shutter speed of 1/focal is the most common rule, so at the focal length of 30mm you shoot with at least 1/30. It depends on one's skills though, some can go slower, some need it faster. Lens stabilization (VR) will also help. Of course you can also get faster lens, it won't hurt, but that's not always the solution. Learn what you're doing first.

gsgary · Mar 8, 2011

Sorry but it is pointless shooting with a black background unless you have lighting, in shot 2 their heads just blend into the background using studio lights will make them stand out like this

KmH · Mar 8, 2011

gsgary meant to say their hair blends into the black background.

When you use flash (strobed light) you can use a low ISO because the flash makes it like outside in daylight. Bright continuous lights also allow using a low ISO, but generate a lot of heat and are pretty uncomfortable for the people they are pointed at.

High ISO is only needed indoors if you only use the available light.

FattyMcJ · Mar 9, 2011

MissCream said:
My kit lens is my fav. Its really sharp, I love it!

Pentax kit lenses are known to be sharper than those of Canon or Nikon. My K-x's kit lens was great too...thus, the statement doesn't apply to you

Drake said:
Both are blurred mostly because of camera shake. On the first one you used a shutter speed of 1/30, which is fine at the focal length of 22mm, but only if you keep your camera very steady. The second one is shot at 1/8 of a second, which is way too slow for the focal length of 40mm. Even if your lens is the stabilized VR version, you have to hold the camera very steady. You could set a bigger aperture as I see you shot it at f13. Unless you have a very strong light source, that's way too small for shooting indoors. Try something like f4, you'll be able to shoot at a greater shutter speed.

How to solve this? First of all, I'd practice shooting with slow shutter speeds, also try to determine what's the slowest shutter speed you can shoot at a given focal length. A shutter speed of 1/focal is the most common rule, so at the focal length of 30mm you shoot with at least 1/30. It depends on one's skills though, some can go slower, some need it faster. Lens stabilization (VR) will also help. Of course you can also get faster lens, it won't hurt, but that's not always the solution. Learn what you're doing first.

Agreed. Lower ISO, open up the aperture, faster shutter speed...better photos.

gsgary said:
Sorry but it is pointless shooting with a black background unless you have lighting, in shot 2 their heads just blend into the background using studio lights will make them stand out like this

Also a good point and something to think about next time :thumbup: