why are my photos blurry?

kitkatdubs · Nov 25, 2015

I'm trying to understand what Im doing wrong. Ive been practicing on friends and family lately using my 50mm lens. Yet, a lot of my group portrait shots are coming out blurry. When I take single photos of the kids, the photos come out crisp and clear. BUT all the photos of groups, came out blurry. I was shooting at ISO 400, f/5, 1/160 yet the photo is came out slightly blurry. On all my group shots, I used a high aperture to make sure everyone is in focus. SO my question is, am I standing TOO far back? Is there a point of being so far away that the subject becomes blurry? If I have all the right settings, shouldn't I be able to stand ANYWHERE and my photos should be tack sharp? TIA!!

tirediron · Nov 25, 2015

It's very difficult to offer any meaningful insight without some example images to analyze. Post two or three, along with full EXIF data, and I'm sure we can suss it out.

EIngerson · Nov 26, 2015

Yup, post a pic with your settings.

goodguy · Nov 26, 2015

From your description nothing pops out as you made a big mistake so only by analysing the picture we will be able to give you a better answer.

photoguy67 · Nov 26, 2015

Just a guess, but maybe you are actually focusing on the background instead of your subjects. As everyone else says, its hard to say without an example. Post one or two.

encom_ · Nov 26, 2015

Depending on the body you use and the distance of your subjects, your dof may be to narrow.

Peeb · Nov 26, 2015

Are you saying that f/5 is a high aperture setting?

PhotoriousMe · Nov 26, 2015

Are you focusing manually or in auto mode? If you are using AF are you using single point or more than a single point?

Dave

kitkatdubs · Nov 26, 2015

tirediron said:
It's very difficult to offer any meaningful insight without some example images to analyze. Post two or three, along with full EXIF data, and I'm sure we can suss it out.

ISO 320, f/5, 1/160 - i was probably standing 20 feet away. hard to remember exactly but i was far in order to get the sun coming thru the corner. I'm shooting on my canon 50D w/ a 50mm lens.

kitkatdubs · Nov 26, 2015

This photo was also taken at same settings as above, just different location.

tirediron · Nov 26, 2015

Maybe it's early, or maybe it's my eyes... either way, I'm not seeing the issue. The young girl's boots are sharp, Dad's sweater is sharp...

kitkatdubs · Nov 26, 2015

tirediron said:
Maybe it's early, or maybe it's my eyes... either way, I'm not seeing the issue. The young girl's boots are sharp, Dad's sweater is sharp...

Ok b/c when I zoom in 100% in photoshop, it looks grainy/blurry. But when I zoom in 100% on the photos of on kid by themselves, the child is tack sharp! I don't get it!

kitkatdubs · Nov 26, 2015

heres on of the little boys

tirediron · Nov 26, 2015

Looks sharp to me.

Solarflare · Nov 26, 2015

kitkatdubs said:
Ok b/c when I zoom in 100% in photoshop, it looks grainy/blurry. But when I zoom in 100% on the photos of on kid by themselves, the child is tack sharp! I don't get it!

Well if some things are sharp while others are not, then obviously its not enough depth of field.

If you photograph a group, you need to set the focus into about the middle of the group. That you focused on the kids was the first error.

The second error was only using f/5.0, because thats actually still quite wide open.