Im really struggling with my shots

M

mysterio84

Messages
171
Edit My Images
No
Guys i need some guidance!!

Im really struggling with my shots at the moment!

I went out for the first time in ages on sunday with the camera and decided to take some shots of some squirrels and a few other things, whilst looking through the camera and focussing everything looks great, it even looks decent on the screen but when i get home i load the images up on the computer they are all blurry and out of focus!

It really gets on my nerves because one day the photos may be of something important and the moment will be lost.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Can you post a couple of images and tell us what shutter speed, aperture and ISO you were using. What lens were you using.
 
mini_mad216 said:
Can you post a couple of images and tell us what shutter speed, aperture and ISO you were using. What lens were you using.
Click to expand...

Agree with that,post some pics with the exif intact and we cann help you along.......:thumbs:
 
ok this is the first shot and the details are

DSC01105.jpg


f-stop-f/5.6
exposure 1/20 sec
iso 100
focal length 70mm
max aperture 4.97

That info was from the details of the photo in windows when you click on the thumbnail.

This next one is
DSC01107.jpg


f-stop- /5.6
1/5 sec
iso-100
focal length 70mm
max aperture 4.97

I use a sony a200 with the 18-70 lens.


aggghhhh!!!!
 
If your handheld your shutter speed is the cause. If your losing the light in the evenings you need need to use a higher iso to give you more available shutter speed for your chosen aperture.
 
so are you saying a faster shutter speed would be better? can i change the shutter speed if i am on the aperture setting?
 
your shutter is too low, the blurryness is camera shake

increase the iso (or open the aperture if you can) to bring up the shutter speed to at least 1/100
 
As a general rule of thumb your shutter speed needs to match the focal length of your lens. So a 70mm lens would need at least 1/70th of a second - probably faster if you are not experienced. I'd try 1/125th as a minimum until you get consistent sharp results. As your lens has a max aperture of f/5.6 you will need to increase the ISO to 400 or even 800 ISO or wait until the light is better!
 
Yep, there in lies the problem with the A setting. You can switch to shutter priority and adjust it from there, but you lose depth of field control. And with limited available light in wooded area it always going to be tricky.

Get yourself a copy of 'Understanding Exposure' it’s really good, I just finished it and learned loads. Also if you feel ready dive into fully manual... You'll never turn back
 
im in my room at the moment and just got the camera out to have a play around with and changed the camera setting to S where i was able to change the shutter speed to 1/100. i took the shot and it was completely dark. Took a photo out of the window and it seemed ok.

why is this?
 
Ahh this is where everybody should start with a good manual camera, i will stand to be corrected on my figures here.

There 3 things to balance.

ISO: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 etc
Shutter speed: 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/200 etc etc etc
Aperture: (f) 1.4, 2.8, 3.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, etc.

Every time you go up on the ISO you increase the shutter speed for any given aperture.

Fot the shots you are taking there you should be looking at about 1/100 sec given the lens focal length. Have a play with your ISO and apeture until you can get that sort of shutter speed.

Remeber though, the higher you take the ISO the more noise you will get in the image.
 
i think il use the S setting from now on if it means that i can control my shots a lot better.
 
myserio, your data doesnt say where you are, sometimes the chance to get out with other members can help a lot.
 
You need to understand the relationship between the 2. A correct exposure is a constant, regardless of the available light. The same amount of light need to hit the sensor. The aperture is the hole that the light enters the camera through. The bigger aperture number is, the smaller the hole. The smaller the hole is, the longer it takes for the correct amount of light to hit the sensor to achieve a correct exposure.
 
mysterio84 said:
im in my room at the moment and just got the camera out to have a play around with and changed the camera setting to S where i was able to change the shutter speed to 1/100. i took the shot and it was completely dark. Took a photo out of the window and it seemed ok.

why is this?
Click to expand...

I'm by no means the expert but in answer to your question:

It's all about light. If you are in a bright sunny environment with a long shutter speed there will be plenty of light available and plenty of time while the shutter is open for that light to be absorbed (for want of a better word!). However, if you are in a darker environment there is not much available light to start with so the camera needs a longer shutter speed to capture enough of the light.

So, when you make the shutter speed faster in a dark environmet there is just not enough time for the small amount of light there is to be captured and your pictures will turn out too dark.

I can heartily recomend the book "Understanding Exposure" to help you get a handle on Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO. When you understand these it will all become clear (hopefully!).
 
seriously, I am new to this as well, but you should persevere with the manual setting. be in control of the aperture/iso/shutter.

just think about what you are trying to achieve, and then the best way to achieve it - fast shutter speed, or open aperture, and then make the other settings compensate for it to get a proper exposure.
 
mysterio84 said:
i think il use the S setting from now on if it means that i can control my shots a lot better.
Click to expand...

I take it S is shutter priority. While in this mode watch out just in case the aperture goes out of range, it will probably flash at you when you are trying to take a shot, if it does then again you will need to bring the ISO up.
 
no expert here but if you upped your ISO one stop to 200 or maybe even 400, your camera will be much more sensitive to light. That would probably allow you to stay in A mode and the camera would adjust the shutter speed to a much fater shutter. Same really goes for putting the camera in S (shutter priority) and seeing dark when you set it 1/100th.

ISO is sensitivity to light
Shutter is length of time the light is allowed to 'pour' on to the sensor/film
Aperture controls the amount of light passing through the lens.

Honestly buy a book called 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson (other books are available) it will explain it all so simply even I can understand it
 
Ha you posted as I did but at least I answered the question.

edit: that was aimed at mysterio84 not D.S. ;-)
 
Another vote for Understanding Exposure - you will quickly begin to understand the relationships between the 'holy trinity', and it's a nice easy read, unlike the CS3 book I'm reading at the moment..... :D :(
 
mysterio84 said:
im in my room at the moment and just got the camera out to have a play around with and changed the camera setting to S where i was able to change the shutter speed to 1/100. i took the shot and it was completely dark. Took a photo out of the window and it seemed ok.

why is this?
Click to expand...

This is the root cause of your blurry problems. In 'A' the camera would have held the shutter open for longer making the picture lighter but introducing blur.
In the 'S' mode the camera was forced to close the shutter early, it would have shot at max aperture but that wasn't enough for your dark room.

One of the problems you get with wildlife, especially small wildlife like squirrels and birds is they hang around in the shadows which always makes life difficult. You need longer faster (f/small number) lenses which are expensive, so that you can be sneaky and also shoot into the shadows.

I learned to understand the shutter/aperture/ISO relationship by shooting manual in the garden and watching the light meter move about in the viewfinder. I don't know if your Sony has one, but I expect it does, if you learn to check it while shooting in 'S' it'll help a lot (I still forget so not coming down on you).

As somebody else said, get out and shoot with other people. Don't get frustrated, shoot all the time and you'll learn your kit better and suddenly understand things. It's easy to get disheartened but in every mistake is a learning opportunity so don't be gutted you missed the shot, be glad you're about to learn something :thumbs:
 
mysterio84 said:
i think il use the S setting from now on if it means that i can control my shots a lot better.
Click to expand...

Shooting in one mode all of the time isn't going to answer your problems - you really need to understand the relationship between all of the factors and then choose which setting is most appropriate.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Shooting in one mode all of the time isn't going to answer your problems - you really need to understand the relationship between all of the factors and then choose which setting is most appropriate.
Click to expand...

well technically once you have mastered the relationships between iso, aperture and shutter speed you can stick with manual mode all of the time ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top