It is a moment that comes in every photography enthusiasts life. You just bought an expensive DSLR, you love photography, you've studied the work of other photographers, and you may have even glanced through your manual...but no matter what you did previously, some of the first pictures taken with that pretty new camera turn out blurry...even though the camera said they were in focus. Don't feel ashamed, it is natural. It is something we all go through. There is hope.
The enemy? Movement
The enemy? Movement
Either...
1.) Your subject is moving
2.) You move the camera when you push the shutter button
How do you get around this? Speed. Shutter speed, to be exact. You have to be able to stop movement. If the shutter is moving fast enough, you can freeze the movement of laughing people, running squirrels, the wiggliest baby, or a messy sneeze.
2.) You move the camera when you push the shutter button
How do you get around this? Speed. Shutter speed, to be exact. You have to be able to stop movement. If the shutter is moving fast enough, you can freeze the movement of laughing people, running squirrels, the wiggliest baby, or a messy sneeze.
In order to get fast shutter speed, you need adequate light. It is easy to get fast shutter speed in the sunlight or with a flash...but what if you are shooting inside with "less than spiffy" light and you don't want to (or don't have) a flash? Two things.....aperture and ISO.
The nice thing about DSLRs is a lot of them perform really well in high ISO. (ISO is the light sensitivity of the camera) So, if you can, crank up your ISO. My camera can still get pretty good shots up to 1500 ISO. After that, it gets a little too grainy for me.
Your aperture (or f-stop) is also important. If you take a lot of pictures in low light situations, you should really get a fast lens. When people say "fast", that means the lens can open up to a really wide aperture.
Q: What is aperture?
A: Aperture is how much light your lens is letting in.
Q: Okay...so what makes it a wide aperture?
A: The lower the number, the wider. So, an aperture of 2 is better for low light than a aperture of 8. Imagine the lens is an eye. You open your eyes wider, you see more.
The nice thing about DSLRs is a lot of them perform really well in high ISO. (ISO is the light sensitivity of the camera) So, if you can, crank up your ISO. My camera can still get pretty good shots up to 1500 ISO. After that, it gets a little too grainy for me.
Your aperture (or f-stop) is also important. If you take a lot of pictures in low light situations, you should really get a fast lens. When people say "fast", that means the lens can open up to a really wide aperture.
Q: What is aperture?
A: Aperture is how much light your lens is letting in.
Q: Okay...so what makes it a wide aperture?
A: The lower the number, the wider. So, an aperture of 2 is better for low light than a aperture of 8. Imagine the lens is an eye. You open your eyes wider, you see more.
Side note: The fastest lenses are the standard ones (fixed...not zooms). You can get fairly fast zooms, but you pay for it.
Here is a visual aid for aperture. As you can see..the higher the number, the less light the lens is letting in.
***Disclaimer***
I a not a photography expert. These tidbits are just things I wish someone would have told me when I was starting. If you are a beginner, hopefully this will help you spend less time figuring out your camera, and more time taking pictures.
