You take a shot of a subject, be it a person, cup, plant, or even a small object near a window, and the photo appears soft, despite everything looking sharp in your viewfinder. The background might appear sharper than your subject, your subject’s face could seem a bit unclear, or your image might appear generally unstable. There could be many reasons why your photo is blurry, so trying to diagnose why by guessing could be time-consuming. It can help to isolate why your shot is blurry by looking at one cause at a time.
First, make sure your camera focuses on the subject. When you take a photo, the camera sometimes struggles to focus on the subject of your photo, especially if there’s something behind your subject, your photo’s background has high contrast, or something moves in front of your subject. Before you take a photo, tap to focus on the subject or select that subject and wait for the focus to confirm. Once you take a photo, check if it’s in focus by zooming in enough to see the detail. Ensure that the photo is truly in focus on the subject, not on what’s behind the subject on a wall, on the edge of a table, or on a leaf behind your subject.
The next thing to inspect is movement. If a small part of the image is moving, or if you or something else is moving, the photo may not appear sharp. However, in low light situations, a small amount of movement is more likely to make a photo appear soft. If you are taking a photo of a person, you can ask them to remain still while you take a picture. If you are taking a photo of a non-moving object, you can inspect if your camera or phone camera is still. Be sure to use two hands to hold your camera or phone camera and keep your elbows close to your body. You can also take the photo by gently pressing the shutter or tap to take a photo, as opposed to pressing a button on a phone or jabbing the shutter button.
Light levels can also result in a blurry photo. In low light situations, cameras may need more time to take a photo. This means if there is any movement while the camera takes the photo, the photo will appear blurry. A photo of the same subject can take a much longer time to be exposed in a dimly lit room at night compared to a window or other well-lit area. You can check if light levels are a source of your blurry photos by placing the photo next to a window or other well-lit area. Alternatively, you can ask the subject to face into the light or place your camera or phone camera on a stable surface and take one photo. If your photo comes out sharper because of this setup, then light might be a source of your photo blur.
A close subject can also lead to photos that appear blurry. If you find yourself having trouble to take a focus photo of a very small object while being too close to it, you can try walking away from it. When taking a photo near your subject, the camera or phone camera may have difficulty to take a focus photo, especially if you have a short minimum focus distance. Instead of taking a blurry photo, try to step back a little from your subject and take a photo. You can try cropping the photo slightly if desired. Often, the extra light or stability gained by taking a photo from a slight distance and with less blur is much more valuable than taking a photo that looks like it has a soft texture on it, edges on the subject aren’t clear, or a subject’s face isn’t in focus.
For this exercise, take three photos of the same still object or person. For the first photo, focus on the subject and take a photo while holding the subject in your normal way. For the second photo, brace your hands and elbows and take another photo. For the third photo, move your subject to a window or other well-lit area, refocus on the subject and take a photo. Compare the three photos to see which ones are the sharpest. Check if the sharpness on your photos lands on the subjects, if the photo’s background is sharper than your subject or if the third photo is the best. If so, then light is likely a source of why your photos are blurry.
The most important thing is not to be perfect with all of your photos. Instead of having all of your photos look sharp, it is better to be able to diagnose a blurry photo. For example, perhaps you are taking a photo of a subject but you are not focusing on that subject. Or, maybe you are holding your hands and arms in a way that’s causing your photos to be blurry. Perhaps the subject was too close. Maybe it is too dark in the room you are in. If you are able to determine a source or likely cause of a soft photo, then you can go about to correct that.