Please save me.

[W&J]

Everything I shoot ends up blurry! Do I just have shaky hands or what! It is very discouraging. I do everything I can to be stable but maybe 1 out of every 5 shots is clear. Please help me! I dont want to revert back to a p&s but I am feeling bad.

[Robert_Lay]

Just post an example, making sure that you include the EXIF data. (Prepare it for posting without using the "Save for Web" feature).

[W&J]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f380/JasonLombard/_MG_0621.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f380/JasonLombard/_MG_0618.jpg

I love the hobby but I keep getting upset and I have nobody here to physically go over the camera with.

[SkipD]

I checked the data on the first shot, and you used a shutter speed of 1/10 second. That is WAY too slow for handheld shots. You need to get a good tripod and use it for the long-exposure shots.

The shots are also underexposed. You could have upped your ISO setting to gain a little more ability to have a useable shutter speed along with stopping down the aperture (for better depth-of-field).

[eastcoast909]

Skip's right. Assuming that these were handheld your actually pretty steady!

These need a much faster shutter speed, remember the rule of thumb that the shutter speed should be 1/focal length.

If you can't achieve that then you must steady the lens somehow while having a long exposure, thus the tripod.

The other option for those darker shots is to use a flash. It will allow you to expose the subject but there is a another whole world of photography involved with using a flash well.

Keep shooting and posting.

[RedWingNut]

From the EXIF data, it says you used Manual mode, whcih did not have the right settings to make the exposure long enough. You needed more light in there...

[Robert_Lay]

Dear W&J,

The two shots that you posted have explained the bulk of the problems.

By shooting manual, your shots were underexposed. Shooting in one of the Auto or Program modes would give your camera's controls a chance to get the exposure more in the ballpark.

By setting the shutter speed at 1/10", you have left the shutter open too long for a hand held shot, so camera motion is the reason for lack of sharpness.

My suggestion for learning exposure techniques the easiest way is to use full Auto mode and keep a notebook of what conditions were for each scene. Then, when you play back your images, you can read the actual exposure info (f-stop and shutter speeds) and log those into the notebook for each image. Soon, you will begin to learn what combinations of shutter speed and f-stop are needed for different lighting conditions.

Generally speaking, the brighter the lighting, larger the f-stop number and the larger the denominator of the shutter speed (examples - apertures of f/11 or f/16 with shutter speeds of 1/250 to 1/1000 in very bright lighting).

Conversely, the darker the scene, the smaller the f-stop number and the smaller the denominator of the shutter speed (examples - apertures of f/2 to f/5.6 and shutter speeds of 1/2" to 1/30" [tripod required])

[W&J]

Wow, thanks alot for the reponses! It means alot to have people to talk to without judgement being passed. This weekend will be a very "photo filled" weekend so be sure to see more of my trial an error brand of photography. Thanks again,
Jason

[firef0x]

Dear W&J,

The two shots that you posted have explained the bulk of the problems.

By shooting manual, your shots were underexposed. Shooting in one of the Auto or Program modes would give your camera's controls a chance to get the exposure more in the ballpark.

By setting the shutter speed at 1/10", you have left the shutter open too long for a hand held shot, so camera motion is the reason for lack of sharpness.

My suggestion for learning exposure techniques the easiest way is to use full Auto mode and keep a notebook of what conditions were for each scene. Then, when you play back your images, you can read the actual exposure info (f-stop and shutter speeds) and log those into the notebook for each image. Soon, you will begin to learn what combinations of shutter speed and f-stop are needed for different lighting conditions.

Generally speaking, the brighter the lighting, larger the f-stop number and the larger the denominator of the shutter speed (examples - apertures of f/11 or f/16 with shutter speeds of 1/250 to 1/1000 in very bright lighting).

Conversely, the darker the scene, the smaller the f-stop number and the smaller the denominator of the shutter speed (examples - apertures of f/2 to f/5.6 and shutter speeds of 1/2" to 1/30" [tripod required])

Excellent explanation and keeping a notebook is very helpful. I bought a book called Understanding Exposure (How to shoot great photographs with a digital camera) by
Bryan Peterson. It is worth buying.