PLEASE HELP! Having the worse time with moving children

[bgvotaw]

My daughter never sits still; she just wont at any cost. I literally have to just sit for an hour or 2 and click when I think I MIGHT have a shot. I had all my settings set on my NIKON D200 for Manual but was told to try out P mode; may have been a big mistake. However, I have read so many books, talk to so many people, even taken some courses and I just CANNOT grasp how to get a good clear photo of my daughter; especially indoors! I can do it with other children who are not moving much. I had someone tell me once, it just cannot be done...uhhh..I beg to differ because I see it right here: Olga Ivanova Photography -Los Angeles children's photographer bubbles

Had I tried to take that photo, it would have come out blurry; I want to know how to take a non blurry photo with my daughter. Help?

Here are some examples of her moving and not moving; all photos by me:

Her NOT moving:



Her Moving:



This is one I just took today and is the worse; I could not get a good one of her at all; you can see EVERY blur. :(


(F 5.6 1/20 ISO 200)

Does anyone have any tips for my moving child? Like, "Keep shutter speed at..." and so on. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT ANYTHING OVER 200 ON MY ISO IS AWFUL!!!! :(

Any tips for an indoor shoot using natural lighting only with her moving?

[kamekaze]

You definitely need to up your shutter speed, most people need 1/60 or faster to be able to hand hold shoot. If you're shooting inside use your fastest glass, widest aperature, and at least 1/60 on your shutter you should be able to get some alright shots with limited light. And having a little bit of noise from bumping your iso is better than missing a shot, nois can be fixed with pp.

[kamekaze]

Try swithing it to aperature priority mode and keeping it at 1.8 for a bit.

[bgvotaw]

Ok, here is what I got...still not as great as I would like it to be and had to do a ton of PP.


(F 1.8 1/60 ISO 100)

[Kalrog]

Up your ISO. You should easily be able to hit ISO 400. With the same aperture, your shutter speed would have been 1/250 and that should stop most blur while not introducing too much noise.

[Kalrog]

Ugh - I just saw your earlier post about ISO200 being your comfortable max. That sounds low, but I'll defer to your preferences there. I still think you should up the ISO and try to keep your SS as high as possible. I like to keep SS above 1/100 for kids and for sports (which some child shooting is) at 1/320+

You may also just need to use a flash. Even with a slower shutter speed, a flash can still do wonders to stop action because it only flashes for a fraction of the time the shutter is open.

[Dobick]

if you are getting bad photos anyway, then you might as well experiment.

try this...

try making the shot just a bit overexposed. So if you normally shoot with the exposure needle at the 0, see if you can shoot some with the exposure needle at a +1

but Bump your camera up to ISO 800.
Put the camera on M
get the Shutter speed up to 1/250 or faster
and then settle in somewhere around f/2.8

Try that and see if it doesn't eliminate your blurry from shake and movement.

I just want to define a few things as well though.
blurry images can come from a number of reasons:
the shutter speed to slow and the camera is moving while the shutter is open.
The subject is moving faster than the shutter speed can open and close.
the subject moves out of the plane of focus between focus lock and firing the shutter.
and other reasons as well, but these seem to cover what you are fighting

Additionally, you say that anything over ISO 200 is aweful -- I bet if you get a proper exposure (and don't have to bump up in post processing) that your images at higher ISO levels will be much more pleasing.

Indoors can be challenging to find enough light to make a decent photo sometimes, but in the last shot you posted you will really help yourself by moving around so that your back is to the window and you are not trying to shoot your subject completely backlit as well.

[bgvotaw]

Tried again....


(1.8 1/200 200ISO)

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by Dobick

I just want to define a few things as well though.
blurry images can come from a number of reasons:
the shutter speed to slow and the camera is moving while the shutter is open.
The subject is moving faster than the shutter speed can open and close.
the subject moves out of the plane of focus between focus lock and firing the shutter.
and other reasons as well, but these seem to cover what you are fighting

Additionally, you say that anything over ISO 200 is aweful -- I bet if you get a proper exposure (and don't have to bump up in post processing) that your images at higher ISO levels will be much more pleasing.

Indoors can be challenging to find enough light to make a decent photo sometimes, but in the last shot you posted you will really help yourself by moving around so that your back is to the window and you are not trying to shoot your subject completely backlit as well.

I am using a tripod. Also, what do you suggest for proper exposure? I know that is one thing I need to learn a lot more about. Thanks!

[J Eddington]

Try adding some flash or additional lights inside. You may need it outside too. That way you can keep the ISO down. It may not be just her moving it is you too. You have got to get that shutter speed up

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by J Eddington

Try adding some flash or additional lights inside. You may need it outside too. That way you can keep the ISO down. It may not be just her moving it is you too. You have got to get that shutter speed up

I never have a problem with my shutter speed. My kids who "pose" for me always come out crystal clear at low SS like this one at SS 125 & same low lighting conditions. This one was without a tripod...she just held her pose and it was perfect. Had my DD been in this same situation, she would have moved and it would have been blurry.

[kamekaze]

Originally Posted by bgvotaw

I never have a problem with my shutter speed. My kids who "pose" for me always come out crystal clear at low SS like this one at SS 125 & same low lighting conditions. This one was without a tripod...she just held her pose and it was perfect. Had my DD been in this same situation, she would have moved and it would have been blurry.

Though your shutter speed might not be the sole cause of your problem, it is a solution. At 1/20 you are going to pick up the slightest bit of motion your kid makes, while if you bump your iso up to 400, shoot at 1/250 you will freeze your kidddos motion. At 1.8 you can shoot at pretty low light well.

[bgvotaw]

Ok, here we go. The settings are: F1.8 1/200 ISO400

(Feel free to play with this one and make it look better)

[Dobick]

by proper exposure -- I mean that the last example you are posting above is actually under exposed. If you took that same shot at ISO 800 and moved the shutter speed to 1/320 you will be closer. (that is if the image above has not had post processing done on it) You can also move the shutter speed down a 1/3rd to 1/160 and achieve the same results. Don't be afraid of the higher ISO settings though -- they will fall apart if you are under exposed, but they work fine if you slightly over expose.

That said, the above posted example looks really good as far as I can tell. There is plenty of definition in the individual hairs which indicates to me that there is no problem with camera shake or subject motion blur.

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by Dobick

by proper exposure -- I mean that the last example you are posting above is actually under exposed. If you took that same shot at ISO 800 and moved the shutter speed to 1/320 you will be closer. (that is if the image above has not had post processing done on it) You can also move the shutter speed down a 1/3rd to 1/160 and achieve the same results. Don't be afraid of the higher ISO settings though -- they will fall apart if you are under exposed, but they work fine if you slightly over expose.

That said, the above posted example looks really good as far as I can tell. There is plenty of definition in the individual hairs which indicates to me that there is no problem with camera shake or subject motion blur.

I think the above photo is ok, but nothing I would turn over to a client. I think even all the PP in the world could not make it look presentable enough for an actual client. Also, blown up to full size you can see A LOT of grain in the photo and 0 clarity in the eyes. I have seen other photographers get very clear photos with these same lighting conditions. Perhaps it is my equipment???