What's the issue here?

[lisameowrie]

Do you see how there's blurring where there was movement? I am not sure why this happened. I had adequate lighting (multiple windows were open all around and I also used a speed light). Can someone please help so this doesn't happen again. Luckily, this was my niece and nephew.

 

[shefjr]

Shutter speed was too slow.

 

[ronlane]

What was the shutter speed? It is motion blur which would make me think you were using a slower shutter. (under 1/100 probably)

 

[lisameowrie]

I was in aperture priority. What should I do next time. I'm not comfortable with going complete manual, yet.

 

[lisameowrie]

What was the shutter speed? It is motion blur which would make me think you were using a slower shutter. (under 1/100 probably)

1/60

 

[Derrel]

Yes, this is called "ghosting". Ghosting is when the ambient light exposure is close to the intensity level of the flash exposure. This happens at various times; it can be done deliberately, as a creative effect, most often when a person does what is called "dragging the shutter", which typically involves slowing the shutter speed wayyyyyy down in dimmer environments, so that there is plenty of ambient light that registers on the film or sensor, and the flash provides a crisp, flash-frozen image, which also has the ambient light recorded over a longer, slower time frame, which creates the ghost-type presence.

Ghosting can occur by accident in brighter areas; when there is a lot of light present, like in a bright place, the shutter speed that we're limited to with most cameras, like 1/250 or 1/200 or 1/160 second depending on camera model, means that if the lens aperture is sufficiently large in diameter, at that flash sync speed range, there is enough light to produce a ghost image, especially on things that are moving, or if the camera is not held rock-steady. In the shot with the ball, we can see the baby's hand is moving rapidly...and it also looks like the ball itself has a little bit of movement, which is what is giving the lettering on the ball that ever-so-slight second-set-of-lettering look.

If the ambient light exposure is significantly dimmer (darker, more-black) than the flash part of the exposure, by around 3 to 4 stops, then ghosting is usually not a problem. If however, the ambient exposure is close to what the light in the room needs to be exposed at, and a flash exposure is also used, ghosting can be pretty pronounced, as it is in this case.

I didn't look at EXIF info, but wanted to ask, is this automatic exposure, like in programmed mode? If the flash is being fired and the camera is using the flash as "fill light", then this is a pretty expected result. ADDENDUM: Since I began typing, I see you've added info RE your shutter speed, of 1/60 second, which is slowish. AND you shot this in "aperture priority", which most likely means that yes, the camera was striving for some kind of balanced fill-flash, and at 1/60 second with an ambient light exposure value, yeah, ghosting is going to be super-likely on moving subjects.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

I was in aperture priority. What should I do next time. I'm not comfortable with going complete manual, yet.

Make your aperture wider and the camera will increase the shutter speed or shoot on shutter priority at 1/125th of a second or faster. That's the ideal shutter speed to stop typical human motion.

 

[lisameowrie]

Wow Derrel, Super informative, thank you! If I have all of that in a nutshell, for my case then correctly, then basically because I had enough adequate ambient light, there was no need for my flash and using my flash in combination with the ambient light is what caused this effect?

The reason I used the flash is because I had done a test shot without the flash and highlights weren't even in my subjects.

 

[pgriz]

When I started to use flash more regularly, it took me a while to understand that a photo with "flash" is actually two exposures at the same time: the ambient light exposure and the flash exposure. The ambient light exposure is controlled by aperture+shutter speed, while the flash exposure is controlled by aperture + flash power + distance, with aperture being the common element.

If the ambient light is much dimmer than the flash, then for all practical purposes, it's the flash that will show up as the dominant exposure. However, if you're using aperture-priority, the camera is still trying to set the shutter according to the amount of ambient it senses, and the shutter will therefore almost always be held open for a long time in dim conditions. That tripped me up quite at bit at the beginning until I switched to manual mode for those shots.

Now, when I want to shoot with relatively bright ambient, but with some flash fill, I'll select the aperture for the DOF I want, then meter the ambient to set the shutter speed, and dial in a flash exposure compensation to tell the flash by how much to "underexpose" because I want the flash to fill in the shadows, but not add to the overall highlights exposure. If I'm shooting in a relatively static situation, then I'll switch the flash to manual mode as well, and dial in the appropriate amount of flash power to give me about 1-1-2/3 stops underexposure.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

Wow Derrel, Super informative, thank you! If I have all of that in a nutshell, for my case then correctly, then basically because I had enough adequate ambient light, there was no need for my flash and using my flash in combination with the ambient light is what caused this effect?

The reason I used the flash is because I had done a test shot without the flash and highlights weren't even in my subjects.

While it may be true that you didn't need to use flash to capture the image; the flash is not the cause of the blur, the ambient light actually is. You can actually use a flash to create a ghosting effect which blurs everything except those areas that the flash lit up by swinging your camera while taking a flash exposure.

The blur is caused not by the flash but by the ambient light (the blur would be there given the same exposure variables but minus the flash) so the only way to reduce the blur is by capturing a smaller fraction of the motion, hence increasing your shutter speed.

To put it simply.. Your shutter was open for the same amount of time that the kids hand took to move from the top of the blur to the bottom of it, to stop the blur you need to make it stay open for less time.

 

[vintagesnaps]

With moving objects (kids! lol) besides having a fast enough shutter speed it's the timing, and takes practice (a lot), to get them with a good expression, a movement or position that doesn't look awkward, etc.

The second one is a great expression, you did well catching the right moment. It might have been better framed lower or getting down on the floor (to get more ball less sofa). It might be worth making copies and trying some different crops, looking at the background too - that face to me is worth seeing what could be done with the photo.

I'd try too thinking about how you're framing your photos, noticing your backgrounds and everything in your viewfinder/viewscreen - do you want it all in your picture? If not, try reframing or changing your vantage point. It just takes time to keep getting better at it.

 

[Designer]

Can someone please help so this doesn't happen again.

When you post a photograph for C&C, it would help a lot if the EXIF was intact. I could not view the EXIF on these, so then we have to guess the shutter speed, ask what was your aperture, did the flash actually fire, etc., and all that takes time away from the actual critique.

Some hosting sites automatically strip the EXIF, and if that is the case here, you can copy and paste it from your editing program. Saves all that tedious typing.

Thanks.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

I think the first one is very well composed and you caught a great moment. You've got a good eye!!

 

[sashbar]

If you are shooting in aperture priority and want to avoid that can of blur, you may check if your camera can be programmed to set a minimum shutter speed in aperture priority mode. Most modern cameras have this option - you can set the min shutter speed and max ISO. The camera then will not go slower than, let us say 1/250 that is a good speed for shooting kids, it will pump up the ISO instead. Only after it reaches your max ISO it will get slower than your shutter speed limit.
So you can control your aperture and let the camera do the rest. Modern in camera algorythms are quite clever in that respect, it works well in most more or less decent lighting conditions.

 

[lisameowrie]

Thanks everyone. I hadn't cropped or edited these, yet. I will definitely post info on these next time.