Thursday, December 25, 2008

Blurred Frustrationsss!!


Grrrrr.


Ok I feel better. I guess I'm just thinking that because I haven't taken any formal camera classes that I'm Just missing out on something; ie not understanding it. I Thought I had a handle on this but last night Just proved me wrong..again.


I can't seem to get good Unblurred photo's of people when they're moving. Last night. Christmas Eve. Kids moving!! Blurred photo's =(


Get the image? I also find myself in low light conditions alot and can't seem to work out the settings either. Last night was in a low light living room and just could Not get the settings to work. When I thought I had it....I'd click and the time would just dragggg until the shutter clicked.


Delete. Try again.


So I don't know exactly what advise you can give me; but I'm feeling very discouraged about it today. This is what I know. Low light, open your aperture and bump up your ISO. Shutter speed. Well that still sort of baffles me at times. When I set the shutter speed faster; I end up with a black photo lol.


Grrrrrrrr.


Ok I swear I'm done grrr'ing. But I still don't understand. So can anyone help a sista out here?

Or tell me where to look it up lol.


Oh and Merry Christmas =)
I'm back to work at midnight so I'll check back in.


Here is a sample of what happens to me in low light. I think its a fun photo; because this little girl cousin was really putting a show on for my camera. But it's a blur.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Option A) Say it is artistic blur. I'd believe it.

Option B) Check out the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It's absolutely fabulous. It's probably in libraries since it's a few years old now. It explain really well the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed.

My hunch is that the light is low enough that even with the widest aperture setting and highest ISO not enough light is getting in within the time allowed (the time that your shutter is open), hence the black images. Depends what camera you are using and what setting you are on but sometimes there is an auto-correct sort of setting where it senses that the photo will be waaaay underexposed so it keeps the shutter open longer.

So quick ways to fix it... add light to the situation by either using flash or adding ambient light. You could get a faster lens (smaller F/ number) but even at f1.8 it's sometimes not enough. Using a tripod, self timer or shake reduction can help if it is YOU not the subject that is moving, or if you are really desperate you can try out a camera with higher ISO sensitivity. Just be very careful about getting an image that is too noisy... check some online reviews. You also can usually underexpose a bit and rescue in post-processing if you camera offers RAW format (versus JPEG).

That ended up being pretty long winded. Sorry. But seriously I love the blur in your sample photo because it shows the activity inherent in children! Defiantly try and get your hands on a copy of Understanding Exposure. I can tell in my photos exactly where I stared reading the book! It explains everything simply but thoroughly.

Anonymous said...

You got it...bump the ISO, open the aperture. Did you use a tripod? That really helps in low light...I read something about the relationship between the focal length and hand holding the lens that really helped me...basically the focal length should equal the shutter speed, i.e. if you are shooting at 50mm the shutter should be at least 50 for the motion of your hands to not blur the photo.
But even with an ISO of 2000 and aperture of 2...I still get blurry photos in low light. Frustrating!!! I really need to invest in an off camera flash.
You still got a great shot though!
Merry Christmas!!
-Kirsten

Jody said...

Hmm ok interesting. Yes the light in that room was a lamp and some candles. Period.
I tried taking some photo's on complete manuel and ended up switching and getting some SURE shots on auto because I was upset that I was missing cute shots lol. I am afraid of total manuel tho I admit. The whole relational thing of ISO, shutter speed and aperature just makes me shudder. BUT I won't give up. Hubby bought me some great photo books for Christmas and I will be reading away.
And he bought me a kickbutt tripod. But I was taking spontaneus photos and wouldn't probably use a tripod in those conditions. Thanks guys and Merry Christmas to you too! =)

Morgan said...

What type of camera do you have?

Jody said...

Canon 40D =)

daiseedeb said...

Ok Jody....this is amateur daiseedeb with absolutely no experience other than messing around with my high tech camera that I don't totally understand and the PICNIK internet phtotoshop type stuff...and a MacBook iphoto program. You left a comment on my pic today stating "I wish I could do that" on my flower pic. Well...if I can you can!!!!! That picture inolved the following:

My camera has a micro setting. I put it on the setting, put the flowers on my kitchen table with the light coming from behind, and snapped. No flash. Then uploaded it onto my macbook into iphoto. I adjusted the exposure and contrast to make it lighter. I uploaded it onto picnik (which I pay to be a member...$ 24.95 for an annual membership). I boosted the color just a touch...then did the focal soft application with the effect of carrying the colors towards the edge. Added backframing and saved it to my flickr
account.

Trust me...if technically challenged moi can do it...so can you!!!!! I admire your attempting the manual settings. I bought a book to teach myself...I am more a hands on learner and totally got confused with the terminology. Yikes!

Good luck jody! You are doing awesome!!!!
dd

daiseedeb said...

oh ya...I always use the automatic sport setting for my running grandchild. This works for me!!!! ; )

Jody said...

lol well thanks guys. Ohh I'm not giving up. Hubby bought me 2 great photo technique books for christmas and I'm just reading away =)

Anonymous said...

Here you go:

http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/50/freezing-the-action/

He explains it much better then I ever could.

Wayfaring Wanderer said...

I'm with the top commenter PM....Understanding Exposure will open up your photographic world in ways that you would never imagine! I think I've told you about it before?!?!

Jody said...

Hubby bought me a few awesome digi photo books for christmas..but I will buy this one and add it to my library =)

Thanks Jess..you may of mentioned it before. But with the blur of christmas I don't remember lol.

Stacy said...

Well, you mentioned that you upped the shutterspeed and got black pictures. That is because in a dark room you need to lower it. Even bumping your ISO up to the highest it can go and opening up the aperture, you will still need a low shutterspeed. This could mean it is too low for action shots. The tripod is a good idea if YOU are the one that is moving, but if it was the kids moving then it doesn't matter. This is the reason why I bought a flash to bounce off the ceiling. Sometimes...it is just too dark unless you have a very expensive camera with low light captabilities (aka they can go very high with their ISO).

So...get Understanding Exposure - it is a great book, and hopefully it will help you understand it better.

Hope that helps!

Jody said...

I ordered it! Thanks guys for All your input =)

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