Why are my photos coming out blurry?

[Jean, Rylee and Cooper]

I have been having trouble with using my Macro lens and getting photos in focus.  I will attach a couple of photos.  I am using a tripod and I am manually focusing.  However, my tripod is not the best in the world.  It is my husband's that he uses for his video camera.  Any suggestions?  Maybe just lots more practice? Thanks for any help!

 

[Harper]

It seems like your camera is not focusing on the center point but on different points.  This is probably a camera setting issue.  It appears the lens is focusing correctly on something but not what you want.  (e.g. the dog's ears not the nose)

[GBK]

Yup, it looks like it is focusing to the left of center.  Not sure what your camera is, I would look up the focus options in your manual.

[Raymond, Ellie & Abby Doodle]

Why are you using a macro lens on such large subjects? If you are manually focusing your camera you should see what is in focus and what is not. If you want a better photo I think you should use a different lens if you are using a DSLR if not just don't choose macro for close ups.

 

[Linda and "Toby"]

Don't give up! The problem appears to be your Aperture setting, which is making your depth of field very narrow. Try setting it at f/8.0 or even f/11. This will require you to snap the shot at a slower shutter speed, so you may have to increase your ISO. Hope this helps!

[Jean, Rylee and Cooper]

Thanks Linda.  I will try that.  I appreciate the help from you and all.

[Jean, Rylee and Cooper]

Thanks all will try all of the suggestions.

[Richard Crowe]

Which lens and camera are you using? Additionally, at what f/stop are you shooting and what focus point are you using.

 

There is really absolutely nothing wrong with using a macro lens for other than macro photography.  A macro lens has the exact same depth of field (DOF = the distance between the closest point of acceptable focus and the furthest point of acceptable focus) as any other lens of the same focal length which is being used at the same f/stop and same distance focused on.

 

In other words, if I were using a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens on my Canon 1.6x crop camera (all Canon DSLR cameras except for the 1D-series and 5D-series are 1.6x crop cameras)and I was focused at 10 feet and using an f/4 aperture; the depth of field would be .45 feet; or .22 feet in front of the point focused on and .23 feet behind the point focused on.  If I were using my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens at 100mm, focused at 10 feet using f/4; my depth of field would be exactly the same....

 

I suspect that you were shooting at a wide aperture (small f/number) and that the camera selected the point of focus for you, which was at the far end of the rock.  Your depth of field was quite narrow and did not include the front of the rock or the shoe. 

 

The way to remedy this would be to use a smaller f/stop (higher f/number) and or shoot from a further distance. of course, using a smaller f/stop would decrease the amount of light falling on your sensor and your shutter speed would have to be longer and/or you could use a flash.

 

The way to tell the difference between a picture which is fuzzy because of incorrect focus and a picture which is fuzzy because the shutter speed was too slow and the camera moved during the exposure; is that when the focus is off, there is usually a portion of the image which is relatively sharp (in the case of the boot picture, it is the back end of the rock) and when the picture is fuzzy due to camera movement, no area of the image is sharp.

 

When you have an out of focus image; it can be operator error; in that the focus point was incorrectly chosen or the f/stop was to wide (or both).  However, it can also be equipment error in that either the lens or the camera (or both) is malfunctioning. 

 

 

 

 

[Jean, Rylee and Cooper]

Hi Richard, I think your suspicions are correct.  I was using a f2.8 and I don't think I had the point of focus correct.  Thanks for all your input.  Being a beginner it is hard to wrap your head around all of this but it is fun trying.  Thanks again and look forward to seeing more info from you on the site.