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Tips
Action Photography
How to keep photos from blurring
Blurring is one of the biggest problems people have with their photos. There are two reasons blurring can occur.
1. The subject is moving.
2. The camera is moving.
Problem one. The Subject is moving.
If the subject is moving there are a number of things you can do to make it "stop" for the camera.
- Use a flash. If a subject is moving and is close enough for a flash to be effective, it is one of the easiest ways to "freeze" action.
- Track the subject with your camera. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I started taking photos was to put my camera on a very large, very sturdy, very expensive tripod. That's fine for landscapes and weather photography, but it just doesn't work the same with a horse or a deer.
Use your camera to "track" the subject. It may take some practice, but if you snap your shot while your camera is moving the same speed as your subject, it becomes crystal clear. (The background will be blurred but who cares, its the movement of the subject that you want to capture anyway.)
Don't make the mistake of buying faster film. The faster the film, the grainier the picture and it still won't improve the blur enough to justify the loss of definition.
Problem two. The camera is moving.
There are a couple of ways to remedy this as well.
- If you are taking stills or close to stills... use a tripod. If one is not available, a bag of beans (dry beans) on a table works well. You can also prop yourself against a wall or lay down on the ground with your elbows propped up.
- If you are using a manual camera and have control over the settings, you can open your aperture (use a lower f stop) and increase the shutter speed. The slowest shutter speed the average human hand can use and still remain somewhat steady is 125 (some say 60 but I guess I drink too much coffee for that to work for me). Even aperture priority cameras give you this option and you don't have to think about the shutter speed at all unless it drops below 125.
The speed of the film should only be used to correct blur as a last resort. I would not recommend going over 400 speed film and strongly suggest you stick with 100 or 200 as they provide the best images. 800 film is something you should avoid unless you do a lot of dusk zoom photography (barbecues on summer evenings and such).
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