Help Me Take Better Photos

One person mentioned checking your ISO. An ISO is the film speed. Even though digital cameras don't use film, they still use the same principle. Get out your manual and see if you can change the film speed. The lower the number, the more light you need. So a film speed of 200 is usually for outdoors in bright light, 400 can be for cloudy days or at dusk, 800 can be used when there's even less light, etc. (Photographs taken indoors need more light or a flash even if overhead lights and lamps are on). When you don't need as much light, your shutter speed will be faster. A faster shutter speed would be good for you since you have shaking hands. When the shutter moves very quickly, you don't have to hold the camera still for long. Experiment and see what you can handle and then stick with that speed - always remembering you'll get brighter photos during the day than in the evening or indoors. If your camera doesn't allow you to change your speed, look for a symbol. For instance, a symbol of a sun usually means a bright sunny day. Just play around with your camera, shooting the same scene with different settings. Make notes as you make changes with your settings. Another problem might be with your focus. If you're taking a picture of someone standing in front of a house, you need to focus on the person. If you just point your camera and shoot, your focus may be on the house in the background and not on the person. Then the person will be blurry and out of focus. Even if your camera makes a beeping sound or gives a green light when it's in focus, it only means the camera focused on something, not necessarily what YOU want to be in focus. So look through your viewfinder or screen and focus on the subject. If you don't want your subject exactly in the middle of the scene, you can usually keep your finger pressed on the button and move your camera over a little until you're happy with the scene. Then press a little harder to make the picture. Try not to jerk - just use a soft press. Another suggestion given was to lean against a building, keep your elbows tucked in, and don't breath while you're pressing the shutter. These are good suggestions for any photographer, not just for someone who shakes. A tripod is the best support, but then you can't take spontaneous pictures. If you can't find a support for your body, spread you legs as you stand and you'll center your weight. Hold your elbows in, breath in and shoot the picture. You don't want to hold your breath, but just slow down your breathing. If you take a photo from a kneeling position, lean on both knees. You're off balance when you have one knee on the groand and baland on the ball of the other foot. Other options are to place your camera on the roof of your car (not while it's running), or on a ledge (perhaps laying it on a jacket or cloth). You can lean against a tree or pole or anything else that gives you a rigid, non-moving surface. I hope these suggestions help. I love photograpy (I'm in my mid-50s) and have a couple of friends who are in their 80s who still take photographs (they just don't kneel on the ground anymore).

I'm not sure what type of digital camera you have, but you might want to invest in a DSLR, with motion reduction built in. Here is a link to information, this is the Nikon D40. I own this camera and absolutely love the pictures you can capture with it. I have taken many action shots and it captures it great, with no blurring. I have also taken pictures from moving vehicles, and they have also come out wonderfully. http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/ProductDetail.page?pid=25420 I have some pics posted on my profile if you want to take a look.

well i love to take pictures when i travel. i take pictures while i travel... even if i travel 100 kph i still have clean photos... well i guess you are always out doors right and the sun is bright? well in that case try a faster shutter speed... it work every time for me... here is a link http://roommyt.deviantart.com/art/kamalig-120604048 the details of the shot is at the lower right side of the artistic comments. you could also use the sports mode it works well in moving subjects. i just hope that i make a sense to you and some how help you out...

well. the easiest thing to do would be stop playing behind the camera... instead be the one who gets to be in front of the camera.. let someone else do all the dirty work.. :) .. just kidding.. you could set the timer and place it exactly where you want.. that way you won't be able to spoil it ..;)

I think you should have a digital camera with a very high ISO. so even when you take pictures with your shaky hands it will still be clear and not fuzzy. Or maybe you could cure your shaky hands, maybe take a medical therapy which could stabilize your shaky hands.

Webmann, one thing that noticed no one else asked is what type of equipment are you using? If its a point and shoot the solutions to this problem are limited but not totally. Camera shaking is common issue and will result in blurred photos. The solution is to use a higher shutter speed when taking photos. Typically camera shake is not noticable at speeds of 1/125 of a second or faster. With a DSLR, shuter speeds are selectable. Most point and shoot cameras have a variety of "modes". Portrait, close-up etc. You need to use the "sports" mode. This mode switches the camera to the fastest allowable shutter speed for the available light.

You may need a camera with Steady Shot image stabilization. It will control all of your shaking shots. Sony has it on all cameras. Nikon has it on CoolPix cmara.

This may sound a little odd but I was having the same problem. Our digital camera uses the rechargeable batteries. If the batteries are running low on juice the pictures look really bad. Sometimes they are fuzzy or sometimes it looks like they aren't in focus. Even if the low battery light doesn't come on on the camera itself, you still may want to put the batteries to recharge. The other problem with the digital camera, you may want to try zooming in. Don't ask me why but sometimes the picture is just fuzzy and if you retake the picture zoom in to see if it looks any better. There is also all kinds of auto buttons that adjusting might help. AHHH the technology! Good luck I hope your pictures turn out.

Use a cam that have a high frame rate, some cam offers the feature to reduce blurness, i have never really pay much attention to featured cam but its also advisable to use a cam with optical zoom rather than digital zoom, with the use of the optical zoom tyou can stand close to the object you want to photographed and take the zoom futher away this would reduce the shakyness, zooming in increase the probability of blurrness. so good luck on the picture moments.