Picture going to be blurred eventhough my focus works pretty well

Hi guys, This is Steve.
Recently, I've taken pictures for an event hosted by the place where I'm working at. Even though, it has been 4 months since the time i started to develop my photography skill, just i cannot understand the reason why all of the faces appeared in the picture (with auto-focus on) getting blurred, it works pretty well on a single target but when I attempt to take pic of a group (2++ or more), focus loses its clarity, some might not be clear but still can be seen, some will get heavily blurred, or even being wiped out focus on their.

What i'm trying to ask here do i have any other ways to not blurring all of the faces in the picture (and without being fixed by using PTS)?

I'm trying to shoot with a Canon EOS 60D, Lens: 18-135mm
Shoot mode: JPEG // Shutter Speed: 1/80 // F: 3.5~4.5 // Portrait Mode // 3x3 Grid // ISO: 1000~1250 // AWB: Auto // Auto-focus

Shooting environment: No flash, inside a hall's room with ceiling orange light mixed with Florence Light, the color looks warm, the background is the creamy white wall, drop shadow from the light might not be considered.

P/S: Down here is a picture which i've taken for my friends, it looks blurred from start, I've changed its sharpness and enhanced the color by using PTS.

*** From google drive contains no harmful source, no sensitivity ***
Example-001.jpg
Thanks, guys.
Truly thank in advance for reading & helping me

 

The example photo looks sharp enough to me.

Your depth of field is likely too thin for larger group photos. There are multiple ways to solve this but the easiest is to use a small aperture (larger number). This will allow you to get more of the frame in sharp focus.

The problem with this is that it also requires higher iso values which will also degrade your image quality and cause loss of sharpness. This is why most event photographers rely on flash for these situations.

 

Kit lens, shooting wide-open. Stop the lens down to f/5.6. Yes, this will increase your ISO but that's a trade-off I'd consider acceptable.

You may also need to adjust for front- or back-focusing.

 

Thanks! Destin, this is great!~

 

@480 Sparky, this might be the reason why I should spend for the flash also, trade-off ISO is not a good thing to do. My camera was the borrowing one, so I cannot invest that much on its ownership. And one thing, will Neutral shoot mode affects the how picture will be coloring?

 

Could be camera shake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Good catch. Didn’t even see the shutter speed.

 

There may also be a problem with handshake like when you click a picture your hand might be shaking a bit, isn't it something like this?

 

Looked at the picture: focus is good, shutter speed was okay, the softness is strictly due to the ISO level of 1,000 or ISO 1,250 or whatever...the image would have been VERY sharp at lower ISO, or with flash.

 

Event pictures like this are best done with a flash. I took a couple hundred shots this weekend at a birthday party, camera with flash bounced off a white ceiling and most the images were at ISO range 250-500, F-stop range 2.8-7.1, shutter speed range 1/40-1/80th and flash from 1/16 to 1/4 power. Shooting an event without flash I tend to stay away from the posed people shot like you posted just due to poor lighting in most cases.

 

If the example photo the original or the one the you enhanced?
You need to post the original photo.

 

The 18-135 has IS, so that will compensate some for the slower shutter speed. But it will NOT compensate for the subject moving. So they have to stay STILL.

Did you observe and make sure that the selected focus point was on your subject?

If you shot a group with the camera on "auto" and there was anything between you and the subjects, the camera may focus on that. That is the problem with my Nikon. Auto = closest subject. And the closest subject is many times NOT my subject, but something like a chair or plates on table, etc. I shoot on P mode so that I can select where to focus.

Auto Focus will not work if it is aimed at something of a single color/contrast, like a plain solid color shirt. It needs contrast to focus. Example, the AF would have trouble or won't be able to focus on the white dress of the girl on the left.

When you have a group of people, even 2, the AF point MUST be on the subject, to focus on the subject. If you put the AF between them as you compose the shot, the camera will focus on the wall behind them. (been there, done that)