photography question

[Guest nazcaLine]

i just bought a digital camera, and i,m very happy with it, but i have a problem: when i take a picture without flash, the photograph gets really blurry and shaky,as if i was moving (and i was perfectly still). but when i turn on the flash, everything's perfect: crisp and neat image. there are times when you want to take a picture with a natural feel, but you can't get it with the flash on, you know. it's a very irreal and flat illumination, i don´t like it.

what could i do? any photographer around to give me an advice, please?

[CHE]

Hi Eduardo,

 

Try using a tripod, a shutter release cable/remote and the biggest aperture for your lens.

 

Ernesto

[Iain Denby]

The reason your pictures are blurry is because the light is low, so your camera has to keep the shutter open longer...this in turn means you will get camera shake when hand held.

 

Option 1. Use a tripod

Option 2. Alter the cameras ISO from 100 to 400. This makes your camera more sensitive to light and therefore a shorter shutter time (the image will be slightly more grainier as a result).

Option 3. Use a wider aperture (this let more light in and so gives you a faster shutter speed.

 

Depending on your camera and the situation you are in, you may need to do one or all these things.

[Devin Johnston]

I've owned several digital cameras over the past 5 years and I've never had one that took spectacular night time pictures but they all took great daytime images. The only realistic way to not get blurry images in low light conditions without having to mess with a lot of settings or a tripod is to use the flash.

[IC]

My Canon Ixus has a 'low light' setting for just such cases and it actually works. It basically combines Dibbers' points 2 and 3.

[Devin Johnston]

But do you have to have it on a tripod to be able to take pictures with that setting? My Sony also has a night setting but unless the camera is setting on a stable platform you can't use it.

[ShaunDon]

I shot these with a Canon EOS 10D a few years back in Poland. I've always been impressed with how it handled low light, but for actual night photos there's no getting around needing a tripod.

 

We did do a bunch of walking tours of cathedral interiors, which in many cases were lit only by stained glass windows. We were permitted to take photos so long as we didn't use any flash, and of all the photographers on the trip (we were all art students), my Canon with a USM lens was able to compensate for 1/6th second exposures. Granted I was always on ISO800 or even 1600, but there are plenty of apps out there that will compensate for grain if it's a problem.

 

Just as an example, the night exterior is a tripod long exposure, probably 10-12 seconds, and the interior is a handheld shot without a flash.

 

Shaun

[Tommy L]

Hand held shooting:

1/60 is the slowest you can shoot hand-held. Put the camera on 'A' (aperture priority) Change the aperture to the lowest number (widest aperture) until your shutter speed reaches 1/60 (one sixtieth of a second) and set the iso to 400. If you set it to the widest aperture (which depending on the lens will be probably be something between f1.4 and f5) and you cant get a shot at 1/60, then you need a faster lens (wider aperture).

 

You can up the iso further, but the image gets grainier.

[Guest nazcaLine]

thank you guys for all your responses...i'm a little dizzy now with all that information, and even more since i'm a rookie in photography...i know all these terms but i always get messesd up with them...need practice...i'll try your advice dibbers, sounds very logical...thank you!!!

[Jeff Mottle]

While 1/60s is generally accepted, a more practical rule of thumb for handholding is twice the focal length. So 50mm = 1/100s 200mm = 1/400s 400mm = 1/800s etc. There was actually a really interesting article in Digital Photography magazine about 3 months ago that even put this rule to bed.

 

Even at relatively short focal lengths you'd think that 1/250s would be plenty to avoid uncrisp photos as a result of camera shake. They did a series of shots at high shutter speeds both with and without a tripod and the different in sharpness were astrounding. Bottom line, if you can use a tripod use one, even where you have lots of light.

 

Something else to consider that was not mentioned is that wide open aperature (f1.4, f4 etc) = really shallow depth of field.

[Koper]

Here's a tip for using a pop-up flash at parT's and not getting the flat illumination.

 

Hold a piece of white cardboard at an angle right in front of your pop-up flash so that it bounces upwards into the ceiling and not shooting past onto the object. When the flash goes off it will bounce onto the ceiling and then illuminate the whole area and your subject will get light from all around. Use different colours of cardboard to achieve different illumination colours.

 

This only works with interior shots and not exterior as you need to bounce light. Also, paper don't work as the flash will shoot through it!

Enjoy!

 

Adriaan