pictures keep coming out blurry

dahamsta7 · Jan 5, 2011

hey everyone. complete noob to photography and the forum so hellos off the bat.

ive been taking pics trying to practice but most of them keep coming out blurry when it comes to people. i keep changing shutter speed and aperature but keep running into the same problems.

ive got a canon t2i, 18-55 is lens. heres some info on a couple to give an example. sorry i cant put the exact link cuz of post count. any insight or tips would be great. thanks!

iso 3200
shutter speed 1/13
ap 4.0
pic url: img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/dahamsta7/IMG_9210.jpg?t=1294288897

iso 3200
shutter speed 1/15
ap 4.0
pic url: img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/dahamsta7/IMG_9209.jpg?t=1294288942

misstwinklytoes · Jan 5, 2011

You're gonna wanna post those pics directly instead of links.

Your focus fell on the cabinet behind the people. Shutter speed is way too low and you're catching movement from the people moving.

Trever1t · Jan 5, 2011

why are you shooting with ISO set to 3200?

your shutter speed is too slow to hand hold the camera. If you are shooting at ISO 3200 and such a slow speed you must not have enough light?

misstwinklytoes · Jan 5, 2011

If you're shooting at 3200 ISO you could probably up your shutter speed some. What mode were you shooting in?

BuS_RiDeR · Jan 5, 2011

Shutter speed is too slow for handheld photos. Thats why they are blurry.

I think it is recommended to use one 30th to one 60th of a second or faster shutter speed (depending how steady the photographer is) for handheld shooting.

And yes you should probably be using a lower ISO setting... Read THIS for a bit o help with these issues...

dahamsta7 · Jan 5, 2011

I've been shooting in AV. I had the ISO set to auto so didn't think I had to worry about that.

I kept increasing shutter speed but the pictures kept getting darker.

I was using auto focus so i take it thats why it focused on the cabinet. if i had been in manual and focused on the people, would it still be motion blurry?

misstwinklytoes · Jan 5, 2011

You need to read up on the exposure triangle. The shutter speed has to be high enough that you're not getting the movement of the people (or of yourself if you're holding the camera). In order to up the shutter speed you have to adjust the ISO and aperture to fit what you need the shutter speed to be. Yes, you would still catch the motion blur, even if you used manual focus. Your focus point is probably set to all points if you've not changed it and that means the camera basically gets to choose where to focus and it chose the cabinet. This is my understanding of it anyhow. More experienced folks can correct me if I'm wrong.

JeffieLove · Jan 5, 2011

dahamsta7 said:
I've been shooting in AV. I had the ISO set to auto so didn't think I had to worry about that.

I kept increasing shutter speed but the pictures kept getting darker.

I was using auto focus so i take it thats why it focused on the cabinet. if i had been in manual and focused on the people, would it still be motion blurry?

Increasing shutter speed lets less light in. If your picture is dark, you want to decrease your shutter speed or make your aperture a lower number (open it up).

I would set your ISO at 400 or 800 and see what your camera decides your aperture & shutter speed need to be. If it is still too low, use the built in flash on your camera... If that STILL doesn't work. IDK

lol

scotch59 · Jan 5, 2011

Does your lens have an image stabalizer on it? that could be why, just from very minor camera shake.. try resting it on something, so the camera is completly still and under the same lighting and try again..

dahamsta7 · Jan 5, 2011

ok reading as we speak....another thing im wondering.

so if im in AV mode. shouldnt i just be able to set the aperature and then the camera auto choose the shutter speed+ISO for the best exposure?

If I do have to make the adjustments, im only able to do that in manual right so i wouldnt be able to take a pic like this in AV mode?

sorry if this is answered by reading the xposure triangle, just antsy. =)

JeffieLove · Jan 5, 2011

Your camera is a computer - therefore, not always right.

Based on what I'm seeing with your shutter speed being low, your ISO being high and your aperture being pretty wide (I'm assuming you are using an 18-55mm lens) as far as how wide open the lens goes, you don't have enough light and you need to either use the flash, or add more light to the room.

misstwinklytoes · Jan 5, 2011

If you're inside and wanting to shoot in low light settings I would suggest using Shutter Priority if you're not comfortable in manual. That way you can set your SS high enough to stop the motion. Someone explained SS to me in the terms of focal length something like this to me. If you're shooting at 50mm you'll want your SS to be at least 1/50... The exposure triangle is the best thing to get the most basic of photography of down.