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Photography Question 

Angie Birmingham
 

Why are my fox pictures blurry


 
  Red fox
Red fox
f2.8 , 1/80, 70mm, Grand Teton national park approx 5pm ISo 1000

Angie Birmingham

 
  Red fox
Red fox
f 2.8, 1/60,70mm ISO 1000 approx 5 pm

Angie Birmingham

 
  Red fox
Red fox
f 4.5, 1/40, 70mm,ISO 800 lapprox 5pm

Angie Birmingham

 
 
I had a red fox come out tonight and my shots are blurry can you help me? I do not shot in the late evening hours but want to learn how to take pictures in low lights.


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December 29, 2015

 
- Ken Smith

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  Angie, were you hand holding? If so, I'd recommend striving for a shutter speed that's faster than 1/60th of a sec which means you would have to bump your ISO because you are already at aperture f2.8 (unless your lens allows aperture 2.0 or less)

One rule of thumb is to ensure your shutter speed (if hand holding), is faster than the inverse of the focal length. In your examples, your focal length is 70mm. Your shutter speed was 1/60th and 1/70th. Next time, try to get a shutter speed of 1/100th (if focal length 70mm). Or, let's assume your focal length is 100mm. You'd need a shutter speed faster than 1/100th sec. So, strive for 1/200th sec. That means a more wide-open aperture, or bump your ISO which means more digital noise...but most newer cameras are more sensitive and less noise at high ISOs.

Also, do a google on a camera lens' sweet spot. When it's wide open, there's more chance of not being super sharp for focus, as compared to an aperture like F8. So, you're really stuck. It's twilight, not enough light. You could get a faster lens (and more $$s)....or place camera on monopod for stability, or bump the ISO.

One last thought...be in manual focus (assuming you were in auto focus). At low light, your camera's auto-focusing system may have focused on something besides the fox. In fact, you might wish to consider manual focus anytime you're trying to isolate on a small section of the composition.


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December 30, 2015

 
- Ken Smith

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  Also, you can sharpen the image which could help. It's hard to say, without seeing a high-res image. If you like, you can send me your higher-res shot and I can take a look. My e-mail is kensmith_tennis@yahoo.com.


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December 30, 2015

 
- Gregory LaGrange

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  You're also expecting too much sharpness for an image that is that small. You may not have been steady and the fox may have moved. But even without those two things happening, you weren't going to get too much detail with that sized image.
It's a underexposed some also. That can ruin a digital shot. ISO 1000 may not be that high for a Canon 7D, but you don't want to underexpose with higher iso's.


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December 31, 2015

 

Joepet A. Macariola
  The subject that you captured was very far.. and it was moving that's why it is blurry. But you can fix that one.


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September 04, 2016

 
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