Why your photos come out blurry, and how to fix it

A blurry photo feels like bad luck, but blur is not random. There are only three kinds, and each one has a clear cause and a clear fix. The skill is telling them apart.

Camera shake. The whole frame is soft, in the same direction, as if smeared. This is your own hands moving while the shutter was open. The fix is shutter speed. A rough rule: your shutter should be at least one over the focal length. With a 50mm lens, stay above 1/50; with a 200mm lens, above 1/200. If the light will not allow it, raise the ISO or brace the camera against something solid.

Subject motion. The background is sharp but the moving thing — a hand, a child, a passing car — is streaked. The camera held still; the subject did not. The fix is again a faster shutter, fast enough to freeze whatever is moving. For a walking person 1/250 is usually enough. For running or sport you want 1/1000 and up.

Missed focus. One part of the frame is razor sharp and your subject is not, often just behind or in front of it. The camera focused, but on the wrong thing. The fix is to take control of the focus point and put it deliberately on what matters, which for a portrait is always the near eye. Do not let the camera choose; it will pick the nearest high-contrast edge, and that is rarely where you wanted it.

Most blurry photos are the first kind, and most of those come from shooting in light that is too low for the shutter speed you need. When in doubt, watch your shutter speed before anything else. Get it high enough and two of the three problems disappear on their own.

The next time a photo comes out soft, do not just delete it. Look at it and ask which of the three it is. Naming the cause is most of the cure, and after a few hundred frames you will fix it before you press the button instead of after.