Beginner Take Better Pictures

morty1884

morty1884

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24
Name
David
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all im new to all this and got myself a Panisonic lumix FZ72. When i take pictures i cant seem to get good decent crisp shot always seems to be little blury any tips would be great. I did have some pictures to upload but cant seem to do that.
 
Practice,practice,Practice it does not happen over night, effort needed, read some books, search online for tutorials there is no quick fix.
Also you don't say what it is you are photographing so advice is not so easy to give.
Russ
 
1. Read the manual or at least the quick start guide to your camera.
2. Take photos
3. Look at photos and decide what you don't like
4. Google and post images here and ask for help
5. Take more photos
6. Are the photos improving?
Goto 1

Blurriness is usually caused by camera shake (too slow a shutter speed), subject movement (too slow a shutter speed) or missed focus (camera focusing on the wrong thing, or you focusing on the wrong thing if you're choosing the focus point yourself).

If you can say what you're photographing with what settings we might be able to point you in the right direction...
 
The blurring could be down to camera movement. First try using a support to take a photo from. Use a tree or post or wall which will help keeping a camera still and see if that helps. Distance makes a difference as well but you don't say what you want to take pictures of
 
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Just had a look and the FZ72 has a big zoom capability so remember that the more you zoom in the more the shake will be exaggerated so use faster shutter speeds as you zoom in.
 
Hello and a very warm welcome to you.

Useful Sections for New Members (click links)

> The Help section contains some good general information about how we do things around here and how the forum works.
> FAQs and Guides can be found here.
> Forum Help and Support is there for you to ask questions and get one to one support if you're having problems finding your way around or working out how to do things.
> Link up with other photographers in your area for local events and days out in Meeting Place.
> Or maybe you fancy a challenge . . . Take a look at some of the organised TP challenges and competitions here.
 
russellsnr said:
Practice,practice,Practice it does not happen over night, effort needed, read some books, search online for tutorials there is no quick fix.
Also you don't say what it is you are photographing so advice is not so easy to give.
Russ
Click to expand...
I started trying to picture when out with 1/5 scale Rc cars racing and jumping but find myself just shooting anything to try improve and learn my camera.
 
Thanks guys. ive got cheap tripod will take out next time and try that but think its just learning the camera more as i had it set to a.i and took ok pictures, but a mate told me i need to set it to manual to get better ones but at the min not so good lol.
 
Too slow a shutter speed for what you're trying to photograph. It also looks like you have some camera movement in there too. Try upping your shutter speed to 1/500 and see whether that nails it.

Edited to add: you're also missing focus I think, but that's harder to tell given the movement blur on the car. Definitely try to fix one thing at a time - if 1/500 doesn't fix it then I'd suspect your camera is still missing focus on the car itself. This is where photography becomes more about skill because you will want a high shutter speed and ideally a wider aperture both to let in more light and blur the background... which makes nailing focus exactly all the more important (and difficult)!
 
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To add to what Paul said above, the usual technique with a moving subject would be to follow the subject, that way any movement keeps the subject sharp against a blurry background. This is called panning, and with a lot of practice can be used with really slow shutter speeds.
 
morty1884 said:
i had it set to a.i and took ok pictures, but a mate told me i need to set it to manual to get better ones
Click to expand...

Your mate is an idiot.

If you know what the settings mean and how they interact, manual mode will give you more control over the image, but that's only a good thing if you know how to use it. If you're starting out then take all the help the camera gives you. Stick with auto mode and spend some time learning and reading, and then introduce these manual controls as you gain the knowledge and confidence to know what they mean. :)
 
I'd also add, RC cars are a ridiculously difficult subject to start with. The scale speeds are ridiculous, and as above, AI servo for moving subjects.
 
morty1884 said:
Thanks guys. ive got cheap tripod will take out next time and try that but think its just learning the camera more as i had it set to a.i and took ok pictures, but a mate told me i need to set it to manual to get better ones but at the min not so good lol.
Click to expand...

A tripod won't help, and neither will simply switching to manual control unless you know more than the camera and are able to make better settings.

Panning is the answer, see Phil's reply. Panning is a very simple technique but takes a lot of practise to do well and meanwhile your hit rate will be low, so shoot plenty. Read up on it.

Welcome to TP :)

Edit: you also need to get a much bigger image of the car and that will make accurate panning more difficult. Also see Phil's comment about scale speed - not an easy subject at all! Try panning from distance first, then move/zoom closer as your skill and confidence builds.

Edit2: the last image is underexposed, though it's not clear exactly why and there could be several reasons. Either way, that's easily fixed with a bit more basic knowledge. Meanwhile, avoid shooting into the light and keep the sun behind you - the camera shouldn't have any problem getting that right.
 
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Thanks for all help guys i will look into everything you guys have said and hopefully get better and will post updates soon.
 
morty1884 said:
Here few blury pictures i was taking about.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143698384@N08/27345076094/in/album-72157670251605996/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143698384@N08/27345067974/in/album-72157670251605996/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143698384@N08/27957099735/in/album-72157670251605996/
Click to expand...
The first one is too slow shutter for the subject movement - the rest of the shot doesn't look too bad; you need shutter priority for this kind of thing and choose a fast speed.
The second one ... either camera shake or else the camera hasn't yet focused when you pressed the shutter.
The third one is weird - it's blurry but the moving subject appears to be sharper than the rest - do you think you unconsciously panned a tiny bit when you actually took the shot?

Generally, for fast moving subjects, choose a high shutter speed and if necessary as high an ISO as you can get away with; for FZ cameras that used to be 800 only but things may have improved a bit?
 
OK, in some of the above the subject it too far away(at an air show if it doesn't come close enough there is probably nothing you can do about it), you missed the tail on the last one(we've all done it; its all down to practice), the day really wasn't doing you any favours at all(in this situation not a thing you can do about that) and I think you could have used a bit of exposure compensation to brighten the subject without blowing the sky(again practice and learning), but they are much improved compared to the shots of the RC cars.

Dave
 
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