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blurry photos aperture priority and fill flash in relatively low light


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8 replies to this topic

#1
Anna37

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I am new to the forum, and this could have easily been asked before.... but I am a new mom without the time to dig through a lot of posts. I have been taking portraits of my daughter each month. I have noticed that in lower light (like indoors near a window or in heavily shaded areas), my camera has trouble focusing while shooting in aperture priority mode with fill flash. I don't know if it is camera shake or if it is just a focusing issue. Sometimes the camera won't take a photo at all until I switch either what I am taking a picture of or turn off the flash. I don't understand what is going on, so I don't know how to fix it. Here is an example of an almost usable image with the problem. (It has been uploaded to Facebook and then saved to my phone, so image quality has diminished.) If I have the chance while I am not putting my daughter down to sleep,I may try to add pictures with the issue exaggerated. Thanks!

Attached Thumbnails

  • IMG_9845056494941.jpeg
  • IMG_9852016971058.jpeg


#2
Adam

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I don't think the shooting mode or the flash have anything to do with the focusing issue.  Do you have the AF assist light enabled?  That might help the camera focus more accurately.



#3
yauman

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3 things to look out for:

1. What Adam said - in low light, the AF assist light will help with the autofocus.

2. For people (babies are people!) set AF mode to Spot (AF-S) and put the focus spot on the eye nearest to you - always - if it's possible.

3. For babies, always shoot at baby's level. ie, your camera should be held at the baby's face level - it makes for a much more interesting and better composed picture instead of shooting down. What it means is that you may have to be sprawled on the ground to do that.

 

Here's a picture I took last week at a meeting - I was the event photographer and wanted to document the "youngest attendee" - so I sprawled on aisle to take this!

 

As for using speedlight as a fill-in, that's a whole different thing - I suggest shooting Manual on the camera and letting your Speedlight do the "auto" part (I'm assuming you are using a Nikon SB series speedlight or one that uses the Nikon CLS system.)



#4
Anna37

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Thanks! I will try these suggestions out. I definitely took shots at my daughter's level as well. I had several that turned out significantly better, but these were two that showed a small degree of the issue I am having.

I own a speedlight, but I am not comfortable with it or ready to shoot in manual. I am still trying to wrap my head around the basics. If you have any favorite literature, I am always up for a good read. I don't have the time to learn as much by trial and error as I would like, so reading up between chances to get out with my camera would always help.

#5
Merco_61

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It looks like you have one of the multi-point or area automatic AF modes set. This lets the camera choose the nearest contrasty part as a focus target instead of the eye where you want it. Set it to single-point instead for portraits.

If you are in single-shot AF mode on the AF-C, S, M toggle the trigger will lock up if there is not enough light to aquire focus. This is as it should be as you want focus-priority to minimize unsharp images. If you get the focus on an eye, you are guaranteed a good, contrasty target for the AF.

 

A surefire setting for acceptable flash portraits is :

  • Use your speedlite
  • Set the camera manually to 1/60, f/8 and ISO 400
  • AF-S mode
  • Single-point autofocus
  • Assist light on
  • Focus on the eye
  • If you are indoors with a white ceiling, bounce the flash off the ceiling, otherwise use it straight ahead to start out.

The reason for the relatively high ISO is to get a shorter recharge time for the flash.

 

As you get more experienced you will want to experiment, but these settings should put you in the ballpark.



#6
Anna37

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Thanks so much! That explanation of why makes a lot of sense. :)
Would a multi-point focus be more appropriate for a group shot?

#7
Merco_61

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If I remember correctly, the D90 manual has a good section on when to use which AF setting. It is some years since I had to familiarize myself with that camera to help a friend, I have never owned one.

David Busch's guide to the D90 is a good resource to get the most out of your camera.

 

I tend to use single-point for static shots and avoid multipoint unless I have to. This could be because of using the F4 with it's single, centered focus point for so long.



#8
yauman

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Thanks! I will try these suggestions out. I definitely took shots at my daughter's level as well. I had several that turned out significantly better, but these were two that showed a small degree of the issue I am having.

I own a speedlight, but I am not comfortable with it or ready to shoot in manual. I am still trying to wrap my head around the basics. If you have any favorite literature, I am always up for a good read. I don't have the time to learn as much by trial and error as I would like, so reading up between chances to get out with my camera would always help.

 

Just to clarify, when you use your speedlight, and you set your camera to manual, you are NOT shooting in manual mode - you have transferred the auto function to your speedlight. When you press the shutter, your speedlight sends out a series of "pre-flashes" which your camera reads and give the light reading to your speedlight (look at the hot shoe - there are 5 contacts - it's a data transfer port!) and by that light reading data, your speedlight puts out just enough power to light the subject properly. So, don't be afraid to use your camera in manual mode when you shoot with your speedlight.

Here's the starting point:

1. Set shutter to 1/200 sec- that's high enough sync speed for your speedlight and you won't get blurr from camera shake. Because your speedlight flash duration is from 1/1000 to 1/40,000 sec, shutter speed has have little to do with the exposure.

2. Set ISO to 200 (The higher the faster the speedlite flashes and less power it uses. Higher ISO == shorter recycle time.)

3. Set aperture to your liking - base on depth of field you want. Again, remember your speedlight control the exposure of the image - aperture is for DOF

Now just shoot - the camera will tell your speed light how much power to put out.  Ok - up to a certain point as there's only so much power it can put out - so if your subject is too far or if your aperture is too small (large F-number because your want large DOF) even at full power your speedlight may not light up the subject properly. If so, up the EV compensation or up the ISO setting.  Remember, it doesn't matter how your point your speedlight - up the ceiling, bounce off a wall behind you, put a soft box over it etc - that' the beauty of using TTL (through the lens) monitoring of the light aka the Nikon CLS system. 

 

Finally, for good images of people, don't point your speedlight directly at them - always bounce off ceiling, walls or some bounce cards. Direct flash is very harsh.

 

Enjoy!



#9
Anna37

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Thanks for the info! I had purchased a speedlight because I knew I would need one, but I hadn't had time to learn much about it. I read a lot before my camera purchase about the basics so that I could do more than shoot in auto straight out of the box, but I have so much left to learn.