Digital Cameras for Teachers
Taking Photos - Keeping Your Pictures Sharp
Keeping Your Pictures Sharp: Causes of Blurriness
Autofocus point-and-shoot cameras are capable of razor-sharp pictures when they focus properly. But sometimes they must be told where to focus, for example, if you're following the Rule of Thirds and placing your subject off-center, so the camera naturally focuses on the center background of the shot rather than on your subject, making your Aunt Martha turn out blurry while the willow tree behind her looks great.
Unintentional focusing on the background, along with unwanted camera movement, are the main causes of blurriness in point-and-shoot pictures. One way to avoid blurriness is to lock the focus on your subject before you snap the picture.
1. Locking the focus
Lock the focus any time your the subject of your shot is not within the viewfinder's central focus point. Locking the focus means that you deliberately make your camera focus on some other object than the camera's central focus point, and keep the focus locked on that particular object until you take the picture. Locking the focus follows the same sort of multi-step process as handling autoexposure and shutter lag.
a. Look through the viewfinder and center its focus point on the most important part of the scene — your main subject. In effect, you center your camera focus on that subject.
b. Press the shutter button halfway down, until the green light or beep lets you know the autofocus is on the job.
c. Continue holding the shutter button halfway down, while you recompose your picture in the camera's viewfinder or LCD.
d. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
You may need to use this technique with vertical composition, too, especially if your subjects fill up only a part of the picture and the background is back in the distance, for example your family picnic with Mount Hood in the background. First focus on your family group, then re-point your camera so that it includes the mountain in the background, and then snap your picture. You will find that it is the objects closer to your camera that tend to be blurry, while far away objects are not as likely to appear blurred.
Always keep your eye on where the focus point appears, no matter where your subject is. This is even more important when there is more than one subject--you may want to lock the focus on one of the subjects, then reorient the picture in the middle of the group.
2. The Focus-OK Lamp
So, how do you know when your focus is locked? You may see your subject going in and out of focus in the viewfinder. You camera lets you know that the autofocus is on the job with is focus-OK lamp, which lights up when you press the shutter button half way. If it is blinking, it cannot capture a lock on the focus, which may be because you are too close to the subject. Ease up on the shutter button, step back, and try it again.
If you move, the focus stays the same
Locking the focus is an important part of getting consistently sharp pictures. But remember that when the shutter button is pressed halfway, the focus is locked. Any movement after the focus is locked can put you closer or farther from your subject, resulting in blurriness. This change in distance means you may have to repeat the focus-locking procedure
Zoom before you lock the focus. With most point-and-shoot cameras, locking the focus also prevents you from adjusting the zoom, since any change in distance will also change where the subject focus should be locked.
Digital Cameras for Teachers
EOU Malheur County Center (541) 889-7468 or (541) 889-6222
