Probably a silly question...

Reyna

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I recently bought my first SLR camera and still trying to figure it out. I have the Nikon D60 and really didn't think learning photography would be so hard.

Anyway, my question is how do I get a shot without any noise reduction what-so-ever? I have been trying and increased the apeature as high as it would go (22) and there is still some slight blurring behing the subject when I try to crop the photo.

Another time, I took a family picture for my BILs graduation and there were about 25 people in the pic. The ap was at 22 and when I cropped the photo, a ton of the people were blurry. What the heck I'm I doing wrong?

I actually have a ton more questions but will start with this one. Thank you!
 
I recently bought my first SLR camera and still trying to figure it out. I have the Nikon D60 and really didn't think learning photography would be so hard.

Anyway, my question is how do I get a shot without any noise reduction what-so-ever? I have been trying and increased the apeature as high as it would go (22) and there is still some slight blurring behing the subject when I try to crop the photo.

Another time, I took a family picture for my BILs graduation and there were about 25 people in the pic. The ap was at 22 and when I cropped the photo, a ton of the people were blurry. What the heck I'm I doing wrong?

I actually have a ton more questions but will start with this one. Thank you!

I think your question, and what you are asking are two different things. Noise Reduction has nothing to do with what you ended up asking.

For starters, if you are shooting at f/22 then your shutter speed is probably too slow (unless in horribly bright, direct sunlight). This could be your problem with blurry pictures. Too slow of a shutter speed will cause blur from camera shake when you are taking the picture. Do you know what your shutter speed was?

Second, the aperture is not the only thing that control's Depth of Field. The distance between you and the subject, the focal length of the camera/lens also has an effect on how much Depth of Field you will have. The farther away from the subject, the more DOF. The shorter the focal length, the more DOF.

Post an example picture so we can see the exif data and we may be able to rule out whether it's shutter speed. At F22 and a lens wide enough to fit 22 people into the frame, you should have had plenty of DOF.
 
OH ok, I thought noise reduction was reducing the 'noise' in the background to focus on the subject. I really am a complete beginner and still learning. It was in sunlight, I was practicing around 7pm so it was still bright but would be way to embarrased to post my terrible photos on here. I don't know what the shutter speed was b/c I was shooting in A mode.

I think it was my lens, nikkor 55-200mm and I was not that close. My husband was suppose to help me learn all this but has no interest in helping me!!
 
Welcome to the forum.

Anyway, my question is how do I get a shot without any noise reduction what-so-ever?
I'm not sure how noise reduction fits with the rest of your post. Noise reduction is likely not causing the blur problems you are having.

I have been trying and increased the apeature as high as it would go (22) and there is still some slight blurring behing the subject when I try to crop the photo.
Using a very small aperture like F22 (higher F number means smaller aperture) will give you a deeper Depth of Field (DOF) but that doens't garentee that your whole photo will be in focus. The focal length (zoom) and the distance to your subject also play a part...but I'm guessing that this isn't your problem either.

My guess is that your problem has to do with shutter speed. You see, there are three things that control your exposure; Aperture, shutter speed and ISO. If you change one of them, then one or both of the others have to change to accommodate (if you want to keep the same exposure).
So when you adjust the aperture to F22 (very small) it will take a longer time to get enough light to make the exposure. In other words, when you use aperture priority mode and set a small aperture, the shutter speed will get longer and longer to compensate. As the shutter speed gets longer, motion becomes blur in the photo. It could be motion of the camera or motion of the subjects....or both. You can practically eliminate motion of the camera by using a tripod and the self timer but you can't make people stand perfectly still....so when shooting people, you need to use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze their movement. I would suggest that 1/60 is where you should start. 1/30 might work but only if they stand still....and 1/125 would be a better option.

If you could post an example of the shots in question, along with the EXIF data, we would be able to confirm if this was indeed your problem.
 
Using anything but the best quality lens fully stopped down will generally introduce distortion, wlhich I believe is what you are seeing at the edges, and you end up using an inadequate shutter speed which increases the problems..

You are looking in the wrong direction if you want to minimize noise. Your lens probably should be used at f-8 to f-16, tops, unless there is some overriding reason otherwise..

Beyond that, there isn't really enough information here to diagnose your problem.

(Edited)....... I guess I was late pushing the post button......... I agree with what everybody else said...
 
Welcome to the forum.

Anyway, my question is how do I get a shot without any noise reduction what-so-ever?
I'm not sure how noise reduction fits with the rest of your post. Noise reduction is likely not causing the blur problems you are having.

I have been trying and increased the apeature as high as it would go (22) and there is still some slight blurring behing the subject when I try to crop the photo.
Using a very small aperture like F22 (higher F number means smaller aperture) will give you a deeper Depth of Field (DOF) but that doens't garentee that your whole photo will be in focus. The focal length (zoom) and the distance to your subject also play a part...but I'm guessing that this isn't your problem either.

My guess is that your problem has to do with shutter speed. You see, there are three things that control your exposure; Aperture, shutter speed and ISO. If you change one of them, then one or both of the others have to change to accommodate (if you want to keep the same exposure).
So when you adjust the aperture to F22 (very small) it will take a longer time to get enough light to make the exposure. In other words, when you use aperture priority mode and set a small aperture, the shutter speed will get longer and longer to compensate. As the shutter speed gets longer, motion becomes blur in the photo. It could be motion of the camera or motion of the subjects....or both. You can practically eliminate motion of the camera by using a tripod and the self timer but you can't make people stand perfectly still....so when shooting people, you need to use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze their movement. I would suggest that 1/60 is where you should start. 1/30 might work but only if they stand still....and 1/125 would be a better option.

If you could post an example of the shots in question, along with the EXIF data, we would be able to confirm if this was indeed your problem.

Ok, this helps. So, if I am taking a picture of a lot of people in one shot, I should have the shutter speed high and not zoom much, then all the people should be in focus and clear even if I crop the photos some? Sorry for the stupid questions!
 
Ok, this helps. So, if I am taking a picture of a lot of people in one shot, I should have the shutter speed high and not zoom much, then all the people should be in focus and clear even if I crop the photos some?
Well, there are plenty of factors that have to fall into place. If you want a higher shutter speed, you may need to use a bigger aperture (low F number) but that will make your DOF shallower...and/or you might hit the limit of your lens. The third part of the equasion is to turn up the ISO. This can give you a faster shutter speed but as you get higher, you get more digital noise.

It all comes down to how much light you have to work with...and it's almost always a compromise. It can be a lot to understand when you are just starting out...but don't worry, you will get it sooner or later.
 
Ok, this helps. So, if I am taking a picture of a lot of people in one shot, I should have the shutter speed high and not zoom much, then all the people should be in focus and clear even if I crop the photos some? Sorry for the stupid questions!

Usually you'll want your shutter speed to be the reciprocal of the focal length or faster.

For example: if you're using a 200mm lens, the shutter speed should be 1/200th or faster. That will help you avoid camera shake.
If you have to go slower than that, use a tripod.

Getting all of the people in focus depends mostly on the depth of field (DOF).
How are they arranged - if they're in a straight line (everyone is an equal distance from the camera) you won't need much DOF.

If they are in a large group with some people up front and some in the back, you will need more DOF.
 
Thank you all. Here is the pic from my BILs grad that I am talking about. I cropped it and it's completely blurry. Yeah, my pics are not that good, I know.

t7z5aq.jpg
 
Honestly, it looks like you missed the focus.

This isn't a DOF issue.

Exif says you shot this at f/3.5, it looks like that would have given you enough DOF had it been in focus. f/5.6 would have probably been enough for sure.

Are you focusing manually, or using auto focus?
If you're doing it manually, you may need to adjust the diopter.
 
Honestly, it looks like you missed the focus.

This isn't a DOF issue.

Exif says you shot this at f/3.5, it looks like that would have given you enough DOF had it been in focus. f/5.6 would have probably been enough for sure.

Are you focusing manually, or using auto focus?
If you're doing it manually, you may need to adjust the diopter.

Thank you for helping me so much. I really do appreciate it. I am the blonde in the pic, so I guess the camera focused itself. Next time, I will focus it myself before. Thanks again.
 
Honestly, it looks like you missed the focus.

This isn't a DOF issue.

Exif says you shot this at f/3.5, it looks like that would have given you enough DOF had it been in focus. f/5.6 would have probably been enough for sure.

Are you focusing manually, or using auto focus?
If you're doing it manually, you may need to adjust the diopter.

Thank you for helping me so much. I really do appreciate it. I am the blonde in the pic, so I guess the camera focused itself. Next time, I will focus it myself before. Thanks again.

Anytime.

This actually explains a lot to me.

I assume that you had it on a tripod and used the timer/remote?

Here's what you need to do it that situation - focus the picture and then set it to manual focus, so that it will not move when you set the timer.
 
Yes, it was on a tripod with the timer/remote. I will do that next time. I feel so much better now that I have that figured out!
 

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