Elizabeth23 Loc: Kentucky

I am adjusting the setting on the pictures, I am getting great shots but some are blurred. No one can say they have NEVER had a blurred shot before and if they do they are lying. I don't mean to sound harsh either just asked for a little advice on the few that I had that were blurred. I take everyones advice into account but this is something you have to learn on your own, but why not ask the help of others around. I took over 400 pictures of this family so charging them would be fair and if all were terrible then I would not have charged them.


I do want to say thanks for the advice from everyone!

David707 Loc: Medford OR

Your edit definitely helped, Photogrl..very good.

PODM Loc: Central Coast of California

I agree the blurry shots are due to your camera focusing on objects behind the subject you want. Before shooting the photo, you need to make sure your camera has the focal points on the subject you want. Otherwise, you may do better to manually focus, or figure out how to set the focal points to where you want them.

I do agree the photo was much sharper, but that image was not the problem, the second one you posted was a good example of the problem you are experiencing and yes, that is your camera's focal points.

What type of camera are you using?

arthur Baum

===
you might try a faster shutter speed.

BBNC

I have the same problem with my adopted granddaughter. She either has to be held or engrossed in something to get her picture. I set up on "Sports" mode and fire away.

Katie Karina with grandma

raghavnk

In this forum itself someone had suggested an add-on for PS5 which takes care of even badly o of f pics. It is supposed to cost about 100 bucks.

Dria Loc: Ohio

My advice:
take the camera off "AUTO" and learn how to use the individual focusing and metering mode.
I never get any portrait type photos I am happy with on any of the "auto" settings- Auto activates all 9 f my cameras focus points- I actually prefer manual focus- or if using auto focus- focus on eyes then (while keeping your focus intact) recompose the shot.
Does this make sense?
Are you charging for pics or just doing them for fun?

Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA

Elizabeth 23, the image of the child alone is simply out of focus, not blurred from camera shake. We all get blurred images and all have some we can't show. Several ways to fix that problem, and like someone said, make sure the main subject is what the camera is focusing on before the image is taken.........with people it's common to do spot focus, keeping the sharpest focus point on the eye nearest the camera. Out of focus shots are not fixable.

To prevent movement with-in the pictures you need to increase the shutter speed, like movement of the child's hand in the image of the three of them. I would be inclined to try the 'sports' setting on your camera, and if you can manually increase the ISO, do so.

About the only program I have found that only sometimes works to fix an image that is not as sharp as I'd like, or where some parts in it are a little blurred is a photoshop filter called poster edges. It doesn't fix the problem in a photo, but it does outline the edges just a little sort of like your topaz filter did. I'd say your fix is just as good as the ps filter.

My advice about the shoot would be if you are ever in the situation of getting no good shots, or if you're not pleased with most of them, offer to re-shoot for no extra charge. That way you can plan ahead to a spot or time when you have adequate lighting, thereby eliminating the need for a slow shutter speed.

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

It's really hard to work with photos that are slightly blurred (I know, I am very shaky). In the future, I would consider using a tri-pod for anything slower than 1/60 sec. In your photo, you may be able to increase your clarity by bumping up your contrast, vibrance, saturation, & clarity. This sometimes works. You may be able to use a high-pass filter with an overlay layer-mode to increase sharpness.

You can save this photo by applying an artistic filter on it (what I usually do when I get what you got).

In general, as a rule, I shoot at the lowest ISO possible. 100, no higher than 800. It depends on your individual camera. You have to get to know it's limitations.

If you shoot in this scene-type often, it may benefit you to experiment with you camera exposure, settings and noting them. When you come to a group of settings that please you the best, and set one of your scene-presets with the particular group of settings.

It's my personal preference not to use any type of flash or false lighting. I prefer using natural light. I am not saying that using a flash is bad, it's just that I don't personally use my flash. It's always turned off on my camera.

Best of luck!

PicturePrfct

Hey, this doesn't look bad - the faces are in better focus now. What did you do?

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

I use Alien Skin 2. It has lots of sharpness adjustments that do not increase noise.

http://www.alienskin.com/imagedoctor/index.aspx

jjestar Loc: Savannah GA

Nothing is going to fix that hand. I would learn your camera a little better and get off auto for this kind of shooting and work on composition also. Not trying to be mean, but you did say you were charging the client. 400 pics how many are you giving them I am sure you have enough good ones to make them happy. You could shoot small burst this may help with children moving. Always check to see which focal point your camera is on as it is easy to hit that wheel while shooting to unknowingly changing the focal point.

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

I agree.

MyronT Loc: I live on my old wood sailboat

quit using the wall in the background to focus on.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

I'd have to agree. I looked at the first one to see where the focus point was but I really couldn't find one. In the second one (kid alone) clearly the wall behind him in more in focus than he is.
Fidgety or not, you should have been able to get them all in focus. I'd say change to single-point focus.