3 Causes of Blurry Photos and How to Avoid Them

 

DevonBerry is a nursing professional living in the Pacific Northwest. He most recently served as executive associate dean at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing after holding executive leadership roles at University of Cincinnati, Wright State University, and Cedarville University. In his spare time, Devon Berry likes to practice photography.

 

While a fun and joyful hobby, photography can lead to a few frustrations, such as blurry photos. The reason for blurry photos are typically the same—the camera is out of focus—but many things can cause that to happen. What’s more, once you do have a blurry photo, there is little you can do to fix it apart from spending hours on Photoshop. Fortunately, there are preventative ways to stop the shake. Below are three causes of blurry photos and how to avoid them.

 

Shaky Hands

Whether you have the jitters or your arms are getting tired from holding the camera, you can choose a high shutter speed, such as 1/125^th, to reduce motion blur. If you prefer to take your hands out of the equation, affix your camera to a tripod and activate the shutter via remote or timer.

 

Moving Subject

If you’re taking pictures of a moving subject such as athletes at a basketball game or a car speeding past, try setting your autofocus to continuous so the camera maintains focus as you press the shutter. You can also try burst mode on the camera so the speed of the shutter matches the speed of your subject.

 

Insufficient Light

Sometimes when there is not enough light, the camera’s autofocus system won’t work properly. Add light to continue using autofocus. Alternatively, if you are focusing manually through a viewfinder, check the dioptric adjustment wheel to make sure you’re accurately seeing a clear image through the viewfinder.