How to Stop Taking Blurry Pictures

Sometimes Blur Can Be Good

Contributor

By Richard Burke
eHow Contributing Writer

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(15 Ratings)

There may be times that you want an image to be blurry. The pictured image of a running doe and fawn was taken on a tripod and the tripod was panned during exposure to add a sense of movement to the image. In most cases though, you want to freeze the action of an image to define the ultimate moment of the scene. There are a number of reasons that images are blurry, but the most important factor is the movement of the camera during exposure. If the camera moves, the image will blur. I know that most of us like to think we are as steady as a rock, but we aren’t. The place to start, however, is with the equipment. Make sure the front and back elements of the lens are clean. Dirty lens elements can be a major contributor to image degradation. Follow the tips in my article, “How to Clean a Digital Camera” and then read this article to discover the road to sharper pictures.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Camera
Tripod
Patience

Step 1

Know The Equipment

When shooting with a hand-held camera, try leaning against a rail, building or tree to steady your body during exposure. It is actually more difficult to steady the camera when holding it at arms length and using the screen of a digital camera. It is easier to steady yourself while looking through the viewfinder during exposure. The exposure of an image is caused by light, shutter speed and aperture. Aperture is controlled through the iris, the smaller the iris, the less light strikes the sensor. However, smaller apertures improve depth of field. Make your decision about aperture first. Shutter speed controls the amount of time the shutter is open and letting light strike the sensor. The faster the shutter speeds, the faster the action you can freeze. When photographing sports you should have a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second minimum. Faster is better for freezing action. Adjust the ISO sensitivity so that you can achieve faster shutter speeds.
Step 2

Mini Tripod

Use a tripod whenever you can. Get to know your tripod; have a relationship with it. I believe a serious photographer needs two tripods: a large sturdy tripod used for scenic views and portraits at the best ISO sensitivity to capture the detail. This may require slow shutter speeds and small apertures and even the use of a cable release to make sure you have no camera movement. The second should be a mini tripod that you can pack up in your camera bag. Sometimes I just can’t carry a big tripod with me.
Step 3

Know Your Lens

Take the time to know your lenses. Longer focal length lenses are great for sports but very heavy. I can steady a 200mm lens at a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second. The more zoomed in you are to your subject, the more difficult it is to steady the camera. Larger lenses have image stabilization systems but they can be very expensive.
Step 4

Test your Steadiness

Test your own ability at each different shutter speed. Take hand-held pictures of an object that doesn’t move. Take a picture at each shutter speed with each lens. Review the images and see which ones are blurry. This will give you a personal guideline as to when you need to get out the tripod. Blurred motion can be great way to photograph moving objects but only if you can control it. Take the time to learn your own limitations so you can make creative decisions about when to use slow shutter speeds with bodies in motion.

Comments

imagery said

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on 3/29/2009 Interesting question. The northern lights are something, I have seen them in Nova Scotia. Try putting your camera on a tripod, set your ISO setting to 800 or higher if you have to. Use a wide open aperture (f 4.5 or wider) and starting taking time exposures at 1 sec, 2, sec, 3 sec until you have a good exposure. If you are shooting analog, I would start at 1/2 second and make time exposures in one second increments up to 10 seconds. This should yield at least one good shot.Good question, hope this helps!

ggrissom said

on 3/27/2009 I LIVE IN ALASKA. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS? i HAVE A CANON EOS REBEL XTI CAMERA AND WAS TOLD I COULD TAKE PHOTOS OF THE LIGHTS, BUT SO FAR I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET THEM. NEED ANY HELP I CAN GET.THANKS GENE

sonni57 said

on 2/28/2009 Thanks for the tips

theperfectfit said

on 2/28/2009 Some of the new cameras have an anti-shake feature. The thing that I have the most trouble with is the person taking my picture that says "Hold it," and then takes three seconds to push the button. I like your knowledge of photography - you are truly a professional.