Since I know I'm not the greatest photographer out there and I still have A LOT to learn, I figured I'd at least help out the others who would probably appreciate some tidbits that I've learned along the way. At the very least, someone could correct me if I'm wrong or add cents to the mix and we could all learn more :)
This may seem like basic stuff, for all the high falootin' photographers already out there, lol, but I learned this only my past couple shoots and thought I'd share.
Fuzziness! Motion blur was downright annoying when I viewed my first day's shots from The Accident shoot. So many "moments" were lost by the BARELY-fluffy clarity that I was lamenting to my boss at the photo lab.
The conditions were cloudy and almost stormy so I had to open up aperture as wide as possible, which wasn't a lot, with the 70-300 lens I was using. I remember in intro to photography, we were told to shoot at 1/60th at least...1/30th would tend to allow for motion blur. Of course, I must mention that we were using the basic 50 mm lens. So I proceeded to shoot the Accident with at least 1/120th, thinking that was alright. When I told him this, he said, Well there's the hitch right there...here's a rule to remember:
Whatever focal length you're shooting at, always shoot at LEAST 1/100th of it.
For example, if you've zoomed in your magnificent lens to it's max, for mine it would've been 300 mm, then I must always shoot at least 1/300th of a second.
And voila! Crispy photos.
Here are a couple other crispy tips I learned from one of my mentors in film school:
- Brace your arms/elbows against your body or resting on a stable surface when releasing the shutter.
- Hold the shutter release half way down before you push all the way. Less movement, less chances of camera shake.
- And this may seem redundant, but hold your breath. This actually pertains to film, and camera operating, but I've found it works for those slower shutter speeds. You'd be surprised how much movement your breathing causes. So breathe in, hold, *click*
And shoot 'em up! Your own ticket to the gun show :)
This may seem like basic stuff, for all the high falootin' photographers already out there, lol, but I learned this only my past couple shoots and thought I'd share.
Fuzziness! Motion blur was downright annoying when I viewed my first day's shots from The Accident shoot. So many "moments" were lost by the BARELY-fluffy clarity that I was lamenting to my boss at the photo lab.
The conditions were cloudy and almost stormy so I had to open up aperture as wide as possible, which wasn't a lot, with the 70-300 lens I was using. I remember in intro to photography, we were told to shoot at 1/60th at least...1/30th would tend to allow for motion blur. Of course, I must mention that we were using the basic 50 mm lens. So I proceeded to shoot the Accident with at least 1/120th, thinking that was alright. When I told him this, he said, Well there's the hitch right there...here's a rule to remember:
Whatever focal length you're shooting at, always shoot at LEAST 1/100th of it.
For example, if you've zoomed in your magnificent lens to it's max, for mine it would've been 300 mm, then I must always shoot at least 1/300th of a second.
And voila! Crispy photos.
Here are a couple other crispy tips I learned from one of my mentors in film school:
- Brace your arms/elbows against your body or resting on a stable surface when releasing the shutter.
- Hold the shutter release half way down before you push all the way. Less movement, less chances of camera shake.
- And this may seem redundant, but hold your breath. This actually pertains to film, and camera operating, but I've found it works for those slower shutter speeds. You'd be surprised how much movement your breathing causes. So breathe in, hold, *click*
And shoot 'em up! Your own ticket to the gun show :)