Need help with "blurred" pictures

faceyournation · Sep 26, 2011

Hi everyone,

New to the forum and had some questions.. Recently I had taken some pictures of my car and they are turning out a bit too blurry. I'm somewhat sure this is before any kind of editing process, and I'm looking for tips as to making my photographs sharper. Pictures look great from the screen on the camera, and in focus when I look threw the viewfinder, but when I open them up on my computer is when I notice the blur. I shot with a 50mm 1.8f lens when I took the picture, and was fairly sure to be careful to get everything in focus with that low f-stop, could this be it? Or, would resizing the image smaller (photoshop, using "for reduction" setting) cause this? Using a Canon T2i... Any help would be greatly appreciated! Looking for that nice crisp sharpness you see in other professional car photos... Blur is most apparent in headlights, sorry for the darkness of pictures... Thanks again!

480sparky · Sep 26, 2011

What do you mean by "low f-stop"? A low number (2.0, 2.8 etc.) or a small aperture?

The issue looks to me to be a DOF one.

faceyournation · Sep 26, 2011

Sorry, I was meaning aperture. I agree with it seeming like a DOF issue, how would I go about correcting this, using a higher aperture number?

480sparky · Sep 26, 2011

Yes. Small aperture numbers (2.0, 2.8, 4, etc) produce very little depth of field in an image.

Click here so you can download a DOF calculator.

cgipson1 · Sep 26, 2011

Its a Dodge, they come blurry from the factory!

Exif data is missing... so we have no idea how you shot it. Need more info! Tripod? Shutter, aperture, ISO? Obviously shooting ambient light. Were you shooting wide open on the 1.8? If so, your DOF would be very narrow...it would difficult to get good focus, especially in this kind of light.... you probably can't see well enough to focus it.

2WheelPhoto · Sep 26, 2011

cgipson1 said:
Its a Dodge, they come blurry from the factory!

Exif data is missing... so we have no idea how you shot it. Need more info! Tripod? Shutter, aperture, ISO? Obviously shooting ambient light. Were you shooting wide open on the 1.8? If so, your DOF would be very narrow...it would difficult to get good focus, especially in this kind of light.... you probably can't see well enough to focus it.

^^^^that

faceyournation · Sep 26, 2011

Sorry about the missing exif data, im at a computer away from home at the moment. It was shot at ISO 100 or 200, with the aperture in between 1.8 - 3ish, on a tripod, with a shutter speed around 1/1000-1/1600, no flash.

And thanks again everyone, very much appreciate your knowledge and expertise on this issue, even though is may seem like a noob one

Neiby · Sep 26, 2011

faceyournation said:
Sorry, I was meaning aperture. I agree with it seeming like a DOF issue, how would I go about correcting this, using a higher aperture number?

Yes. Well, sort of. It's not actually a higher number because it is a ratio of focal length divided by a number. So, f/4 is a wider aperture than f/8. If your focal length were 100mm, f/4 = 25mm while f/8 = 12.5mm. So, the larger the number on the right side of that ratio, the smaller the aperture and the less light you let in.

Large apertures (wider) create a smaller depth of field, meaning more of your photo will likely be out of focus depending on other factors. A smaller aperture opening will have a larger depth of field, so try that to get more of your image in focus.

bigboi3 · Sep 26, 2011

Aw guys, don't rip on the Neon. I'd have to agree that it's a DOF issue.

Nice front mount. What do you run in the 1/4?

faceyournation · Sep 26, 2011

bigboi3 said:
Aw guys, don't rip on the Neon. I'd have to agree that it's a DOF issue.

Nice front mount. What do you run in the 1/4?

Hey now, not saying my car is awesome, just saying I was taking pictures of it lol! Last time I ran it a year or so ago (after turbo update) I was getting mid-high 12's

cgipson1 · Sep 26, 2011

faceyournation said:
Sorry about the missing exif data, im at a computer away from home at the moment. It was shot at ISO 100 or 200, with the aperture in between 1.8 - 3ish, on a tripod, with a shutter speed around 1/1000-1/1600, no flash.

And thanks again everyone, very much appreciate your knowledge and expertise on this issue, even though is may seem like a noob one

Did the camera meter that exposure? Or were you in manual? I would try a higher F-stop (smaller apperture) like F4 to F8.. and do some bracketing on the exposures so you have a range to work with. I am assuming since you had it on a tripod, you were using either a remote or the self timer to actuate? I would also get more lights on for the focusing... manual focus.. and then turn the lights back off if that is the effect you are going for.

faceyournation · Sep 26, 2011

cgipson1 said:
faceyournation said:

Sorry about the missing exif data, im at a computer away from home at the moment. It was shot at ISO 100 or 200, with the aperture in between 1.8 - 3ish, on a tripod, with a shutter speed around 1/1000-1/1600, no flash.

And thanks again everyone, very much appreciate your knowledge and expertise on this issue, even though is may seem like a noob one

Click to expand...

Did the camera meter that exposure? Or were you in manual? I would try a higher F-stop (smaller apperture) like F4 to F8.. and do some bracketing on the exposures so you have a range to work with. I am assuming since you had it on a tripod, you were using either a remote or the self timer to actuate? I would also get more lights on for the focusing... manual focus.. and then turn the lights back off if that is the effect you are going for.

Yes, the camera did meter a little under exposed (that picture was edited to be darker, however, but still had that "blur" to it) but it didn't seem like it was too dark or anything..Yes had it on tripod using the self timer, pictures looked absolutely perfect on the camera but once they hit (any) computer screen there is that weird "un-sharp" thing to it.. Will retry using a higher aperture.. What kind of lens would you all recommend in taking these kinds of shots?

gsgary · Sep 26, 2011

All i see is a blue bumper, what happened to the rest of the car ?

faceyournation · Sep 26, 2011

Here's another example... In this picture, it looks like the doors and stuff to the left on the car is in proper focus, but once again the front of the car and headlight area looks out of focus (please excuse the bad lighting!).