Blurred photos
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Damn right sonny jim. And mind you wait till you ken see the whites of his eyes before shooting. You wanna be sure you treat your weapon like yo lova, tender like ya hear? Don't go being a damned young fool and popping off shot after shot willy nilly. You make each shot count. We are still talking about photography, aren't we?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaCrikey! ain't life grand?
:laugh::laugh::laugh:
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Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do to try to stop shaky hands from ruining my pictures? A couple of weeks ago I made various attempts at a concert to try to get better pictures, but none of the 53 photos turned out anywhere close. I've tried: keeping my arms tight to my body, keeping them loose, putting my arms on a table, holding the camera straight up above my head, etc. TIA, James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
My 2c: 1600ASA film. Hold your breath. Don't bother with anything under 1/15th of a second. Use a lightweight camera. Check the quality of your lens and observe how zooming affects the perceived f-stop. For example, at 35mm, you might be at f2.8, but zoomed to 80mm, the lens might be at f4.5. Practice. I used to be able to take pictures at 1/4 second shutter speed without movement. Marc Latest AAL Article My blog Join my forum!
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Faster film and faster shutter speed. a shutter speed of 1/1000th coupled with a 400asa or faster film should do the trick. Best, Jerry Democracy does not guarantee equality, only equality of opportunity.--Irving Kristol Toasty0.com PLACE SUPER SECRET IMG TAGS HERE! ;P
Oops! I think I should mention that as your shutter speed increases your DoF will become smaller (read: your area of "in-focus" will be shallower). One way to compensate for this is to know the distance to your subject and set your focus ring for 1 foot in front of your subject(s)--this is a trick many sports shooters used back in the day. Damn, all this talk about photography makes me want to drag my old RB67 out of storage... Best, Jerry Democracy does not guarantee equality, only equality of opportunity.--Irving Kristol Toasty0.com
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Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do to try to stop shaky hands from ruining my pictures? A couple of weeks ago I made various attempts at a concert to try to get better pictures, but none of the 53 photos turned out anywhere close. I've tried: keeping my arms tight to my body, keeping them loose, putting my arms on a table, holding the camera straight up above my head, etc. TIA, James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
Thanks for all the comments, I'll see what I can do. I mentioned the concert only as a point of reference, but I've had the same problem with all the photos I've taken between 2 or 3 different cameras. I'm going to be looking at apartments in Toronto over the next couple of days, and since its about a 6 hour drive (and a border crossing) away I want to take pictures so I can compare each apartment later. James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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The best thing is a tripod, but that's not an option at a concert. Use the fastest shutter speed [edit](and a small f-stop)if [/edit] you can, and use film with a higher ISO rating.
"Pretending to guide me, you led me astray, And I don't want to fall into your kind of ways." "Melt" by Front 242
I'll be using a digital camera, but I just checked the manual settings and it looks like I can change the exposure time. A few test shots shows me that it does indeed make them much clearer than with the default settings. I'll be taking pictures indoors so my test shots should be close to when I take them. Thanks, James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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Cut down the coffee and Jolt Cola intake. Or try a tripod.:-D Those events are usually so dark that the camera has to operate at 1/30 second or lower - too slow to freeze motion properly, so it could well be movement in your field of fire rather than your own hands causing the problem. I have a similar problem indoors with my digi. The tiny flash is inadequate for wide spaces, so I have to open up the lens and speed up the shutter manually - it should be at least 1/60 second to get decent clarity. You'll lose some depth of field this way, but it's usually the foreground you're interested in. Some models (if it's a digi) can be set to a higher effective film speed equivalent - 800ASA is good for such scenes, but you're likely to get strange artifacts in the images. If it's a film camera, try 400ASA, or even 1000 (if they still make that stuff). "Nobody is Ugly at 2AM"
Roger Wright wrote: Those events are usually so dark that the camera has to operate at 1/30 second or lower - too slow to freeze motion properly, so it could well be movement in your field of fire rather than your own hands causing the problem. I thought it might have been the band moving, but their moving shouldn't cause a motion blur on the stage lights, should it? Roger Wright wrote: Some models (if it's a digi) can be set to a higher effective film speed equivalent It is a digi, but unfortunately it is about 5 years old and was an older model even when we bought it. I found what I think is the exposure setting, which is about all I could change. My test shots show that by setting it to its lowest setting I was able to get clearer shots. The concert was just a point of reference, but blurry photos are a problem I've had for a long time spanning several different cameras. Maybe after I get a few paychecks under my belt I'll go buy a better camera :D James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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Try a tripod, or a monopod stabilizer that leans against your chest.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." - Jesus
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhijdunlap wrote: monopod stabilizer that leans against your chest I'll have to see if I can find one in the next day or so. Thanks, James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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If it is a night concert then the first thing you want to do is use faster film (or higher ISO on your digi) so that you can work with a higher shutter speed. ISO400 at least. If your hands are not the steadiest then keep above the normal 1/90s. A lot of cameras' flashes can only sync up to 1/90s which can be a pain, but you shouldn't need a flash with night concert photography unless you are trying to fill in some people near you. If it is in the day and you are still getting camera shake then open your aperture up and get a good few stops above 1/90s on the shutter speed. Another thing you can try is to get a monopod. It looks like a walking stick and is great for crowded areas where a tripod will just get in the way. Lastly... don't press the shutter release, squeeze it. Sounds like a bloody NRA advert but it really helps. Lay your trigger finger over the trigger and push down until half way. Then slowly apply mounting pressure until it triggers. Don't then rip your finger away, roll it off. Now I sound like a tennis coach. "Follow through James, follow through!" :-D What speed are you normally getting and yet still getting blurred shots? Also, when you say blurred do you mean motion blurred or out of focus? If the later then either your camera is a bit futzed or you need to work on your focus :)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaCrikey! ain't life grand?
Paul Watson wrote: Lastly... don't press the shutter release, squeeze it. Sounds like a bloody NRA advert but it really helps. Lay your trigger finger over the trigger and push down until half way. Then slowly apply mounting pressure until it triggers. Don't then rip your finger away, roll it off. Now I sound like a tennis coach. "Follow through James, follow through!" I'll try to remember that, I think it may be a large part of my problem. Paul Watson wrote: Also, when you say blurred do you mean motion blurred or out of focus? Motion blurred, it was hard to see in my regular shots but in the ones from the concert there is a large motion blur coming from the lights above the stage. I think what would help most is if I had a decent camera. If I remember correctly, this camera was purchased in the Summer of '98 and at the time it was on sale because the 2 megapixel cameras had just come out. Or it could be the Jolt Cola ;P James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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Damn right sonny jim. And mind you wait till you ken see the whites of his eyes before shooting. You wanna be sure you treat your weapon like yo lova, tender like ya hear? Don't go being a damned young fool and popping off shot after shot willy nilly. You make each shot count. We are still talking about photography, aren't we?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaCrikey! ain't life grand?
Paul Watson wrote: sonny jim What does this mean? I ask because there is a 'Tull concert where some guy decided to shout from the back of the auditorium (or wherever it was) and Ian replied "No objections from the back, sonny jim". That phrase became the title for the bootleg, but I still have no idea where it comes from or what 'sonny jim' means. James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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My 2c: 1600ASA film. Hold your breath. Don't bother with anything under 1/15th of a second. Use a lightweight camera. Check the quality of your lens and observe how zooming affects the perceived f-stop. For example, at 35mm, you might be at f2.8, but zoomed to 80mm, the lens might be at f4.5. Practice. I used to be able to take pictures at 1/4 second shutter speed without movement. Marc Latest AAL Article My blog Join my forum!
Marc Clifton wrote: Don't bother with anything under 1/15th of a second. Use a lightweight camera. Check the quality of your lens and observe how zooming affects the perceived f-stop. For example, at 35mm, you might be at f2.8, but zoomed to 80mm, the lens might be at f4.5. In other words, ditch that PoS you have and buy a real camera :laugh: Hopefully between changing the exposure time and holding my breath I can get by the next couple of days. James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
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Roger Wright wrote: Those events are usually so dark that the camera has to operate at 1/30 second or lower - too slow to freeze motion properly, so it could well be movement in your field of fire rather than your own hands causing the problem. I thought it might have been the band moving, but their moving shouldn't cause a motion blur on the stage lights, should it? Roger Wright wrote: Some models (if it's a digi) can be set to a higher effective film speed equivalent It is a digi, but unfortunately it is about 5 years old and was an older model even when we bought it. I found what I think is the exposure setting, which is about all I could change. My test shots show that by setting it to its lowest setting I was able to get clearer shots. The concert was just a point of reference, but blurry photos are a problem I've had for a long time spanning several different cameras. Maybe after I get a few paychecks under my belt I'll go buy a better camera :D James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
James T. Johnson wrote: My test shots show that by setting it to its lowest setting I was able to get clearer shots. When you did this, it probably automatically selected a bit higher shutter speed, accomplishing essentially what I was suggesting. My Nikon lets me adjust both manually, but it's a royal PITA to do so, requiring multiple menu selections. "Nobody is Ugly at 2AM"
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Paul Watson wrote: sonny jim What does this mean? I ask because there is a 'Tull concert where some guy decided to shout from the back of the auditorium (or wherever it was) and Ian replied "No objections from the back, sonny jim". That phrase became the title for the bootleg, but I still have no idea where it comes from or what 'sonny jim' means. James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
Bit hard to explain much like most sayings which you use because you always have used them. People around you inherently know what you mean even if it is hard to put it into words. Generally one would say "sonny jim" from a father to a son or a general to a private or any higher figure to a lower figure. It is supposed to put the person in his place, just like your example above. It is not always derogatory, often it is "I know my stuff, I want to teach you it, so listen up" but often it is derogatory or sparing , like your example; Tease the guy a bit, see if the heckler has balls. Like if someone made a less than salient objection here on CP, Chris could write back "Listen up sonny jim, play nice or ship out." Not sure where the term came from. I imagine from America between the whites and working blacks. And that was my poor explanation, ya get it sonny jim?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaCrikey! ain't life grand?
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jdunlap wrote: monopod stabilizer that leans against your chest I'll have to see if I can find one in the next day or so. Thanks, James At Jethro Tull's August 28, 2003 concert Ian Anderson mentioned that the group would be performing a medley of title tracks. The songs were "Songs from the Wood", "Too Old to Rock and Roll; Too Young to Die"; and from the Heavy Horses album, "Stairway to Heaven".
You can use a mini-table tripod as a monopod. I used to use one ages ago (dirt cheap too!) and combined with a shutter release cable was usually able to take clear shots freehand at 1/30 sec with a 250mm zoom lens. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of ingenuity. :) Anna :rose: Homepage | Tears and Laughter "Be yourself - not what others think you should be" - Marcia Graesch "Anna's just a sexy-looking lesbian tart" - A friend, trying to wind me up. It didn't work. Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Visual C++ Add-In