Avoiding blurry photos

Photographer: Al Jurina

The issue of blurry photos in photography could go down so many paths. Because of this, I am going to attempt to address some common factors that make photos blurry. It will be up to you to figure out which of these might be affecting you, if this is your problem:

1. Camera Shake:  this is the most common one. Camera shake results when the shutter speed of your camera is too slow to compensate for the shaking of your hands when you hold the camera. The general rule of thumb is that you need a shutter speed number that matches the focal length of your lens (or faster). So if I have a lens zoomed out to 200mm, then my shutter speed is going to need to be 1/200th of a second or faster to compensate. If I have a focal length of 30mm, then 1/30th of a second is a good average shutter speed to hold the camera. This is a general guideline, and does not always take into account other factors. Your mileage with this will vary, but should get you in the ballpark.

2. Subject Movement: I have 3 little children who like to move...a LOT! Unless I anticipate their movement with faster shutter speeds, I will generally get blurry photos. The camera needs to be set to capture action. To do this, you need to figure out what shutter speeds will stop the action you want to capture. A good starting point for sports and children would be around 1/250th of a second or faster. Again, your mileage will vary, depending on your subject and conditions.

3. Bad Focus:  Some people seem to attribute blurriness to what is actually an out-of-focus shot. Sometimes our cameras can change focus at the last second and latch focus in front of or behind our subject. Understanding how your camera focuses, and how to pre-focus your shot can remedy this.

4. Bad lenses: This is very rarely the case, but every once in a while you can end up with a camera that has a lens that has been damaged. Perhaps it was bumped, dropped, etc? If this is the case, then it could be a mechanical problem with the lens being able to focus properly.

5. Bad Light:  This one is related to camera shake. If the light is too dim, then your camera will attempt to slow down your shutter speed to balance the exposure (unless you are in manual exposure mode). If this happens, then you are likely to end up with problem #1.


Well, those were a few things to help you avoid getting blurry photos. Remember that these are only a few factors, and there are unique variables in most situations that may not apply.

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