Why is this blurry??

Rebekah5280 · May 31, 2011

I took a friend out who wanted me to take a few maternity pictures for her.
My pictures are not sharp! I shot at a high shutter speed, my lighting was good and diffuse. I'm bummed. I thought my settings were good, my exposures seemed fine. Normally I'd shoot people at more of a 40-55mm focal length, but I was just trying this shot out and I couldn't get any higher and there was a cliff behind me so I couldn't back up either.
Could it be my Aperture, should I try letting in less light and lowering my shutter speed?
I was handheld, but I'm usually good at 1/80th, and I was using VR.

Nikon 3100
F/4.2
1/320
ISO 160
Focal Length 26mm
Max Aperture 4.09
Metering Spot

252969_204792692889413_194246530610696_458554_2173057_n.jpg

As always, any advise will be appreciated.

Big Mike · May 31, 2011

Hard to judge how blurry is it or isn't, with such a small image.

hammondfra · May 31, 2011

looks like you ran into the same issues I have with spot metering with the 3100, you need to set it to center weighted metering so it focuses on more than 1 spot...or just go to manual focusing all together...

and I noticed you have the dark sunken eyes on your subjects, try diffusuing your flash (I used white tissue paper) and use that in the not so well lit photos as an alternative...I practiced this yesterday and they turned out 100% better...

other than that, I love the perspective you took with them.

Robin Usagani · May 31, 2011

It sounds like you need to learn how to meter. What does metering have anything to do with his/her problem?

hammondfra said:
looks like you ran into the same issues I have with spot metering with the 3100, you need to set it to center weighted metering so it focuses on more than 1 spot...or just go to manual focusing all together...

and I noticed you have the dark sunken eyes on your subjects, try diffusuing your flash (I used white tissue paper) and use that in the not so well lit photos as an alternative...I practiced this yesterday and they turned out 100% better...

other than that, I love the perspective you took with them.

OP, it might just be the IQ of your lens isnt that good. What lens do you use?

Big Mike · May 31, 2011

looks like you ran into the same issues I have with spot metering with the 3100, you need to set it to center weighted metering so it focuses on more than 1 spot...or just go to manual focusing all together...

Metering is not focusing...focusing is not metering. :scratch:

hammondfra · May 31, 2011

my bad had the terminology mixed up. ***Slowly steps out of the thread***

Derrel · May 31, 2011

When you shoot at a steep, downward angle like that, at a close distance, the depth of field zone does NOT "get applied to" a standing couple in a very appropriate manner. Their heads are very likely to be forward of the zone of best focus, but their torsos will be within the DOF band.

At f/4.2 and at such a close distance, the depth of field band is not excessively deep...it looks to me as if both his head and her head are just slightly out of focus, but the depth of field is adequate on their torsos.

Rebekah5280 · May 31, 2011

Derrel ~ I'm pretty new to photography. I read you statement and I think there is good information in there, but I'm not quite grasping it. This is what I got:

I need to bring my aperture to something more like F/10 + in order to get the picture in focus?

Derrel · May 31, 2011

I did a quick sketch, using the tall cylinder to represent a tall person, or a bottle, or a pole. as you can see, the Depth of Field band can easily miss a person or object that is standing. This same exact issue often occurs when people point a camera downward at a tall-ish, upright subject like a wine bottle. And yes, stopping the lens down to a smaller aperture, like f/8 to f/11, will ensure more Depth Of Field, and will much more likely get all of the people into good focus.

Rebekah5280 · May 31, 2011

Ok, yes, I think I have it.

Thank you so much. I really do appreciate the feedback.

~Rebekah

EPPhoto · May 31, 2011

Or just lock focus on her eyes and then recompose and then fully depress the shutter.

Sent from Erics iPhone www.ericporado.com

Rebekah5280 · May 31, 2011

Oh, and I didn't use a flash, the dark under the eyes was my bad for not paying attention to the shadows. There is sooooo much to have to keep in mind when taking pictures (exposure, aperture, ss, white balance, backgrounds, lighting ect..)! Thats why the professionals make the big money!

SwiftTone · May 31, 2011

Correct me if I'm wrong. But even if the focus was correctly set to one person's eyes/face, the other person's eyes/face would not be in focus because they are different in height, and the DOF for f/4.2 would be too shallow to get both in focus. So the solution would be to stop down the lens a bit. If this makes sense...

Rebekah5280 · May 31, 2011

Yes, I think you are correct SwiftTone, at least, that is what I have been thinking to be true. I'm pretty sure fixing my aperture would be the way to correct the blurring problem in this picture.

Ad someone can correct me if I am wrong too.

EPPhoto · May 31, 2011

lol 4.2 isn't THAT shallow...it's not like we're talking 1.4 here. The subject is far enough away that 4.2 should cover both faces.

Sent from Erics iPhone www.ericporado.com