Reply To: Don't know if I want to do this :D

[Bill]

You show a lot of potential, not saying they are great but for this stage they are a great starting point. Do yourself a favor and keep shooting and don’t get that cocky like some do and think that you have everything down pat.

The one thing I notice is that you tend to shoot very slow shutter speeds, or you are trying to max out the exposure in some way, fine in some cases but when your subjects are fluid (in motion) a slow shutter speed can add unwanted softness and motion blur into the photos.

A kind of rule that helps combat this and forces you to make other adjustments is to not shoot slower than your focal length. So for instance, you are shooting with a 50mm, don’t shoot below 1/50″, shooting a 70-200mm or other variable zoom lens, see what your focal length in according to the barrel markings and don’t shoot below it.

I normally try not to shoot below 1/100 (depending on the scene and scenario). I put some examples together fo you as a quick guide:

50mm – 1/50″
70mm – either 1/60″ or 1/80″
85mm – either 1/80″ or 1/100″
100mm – 1/100″
135mm – either 1/125″ or 1/160″
200mm – 1/200″ or higher

Again, these are not set in stone Rules, these settings are just helpful guides to prevent motion blur in general shooting scenarios, you would have to adjust them according to what and how you are shooting of course.