Sunrise in a Texas Field

[Daniel Neds]

I took this picture a while ago, but I finally put it up. I got up at about six and walked to this field but I forgot to bring the thing that connects the camera and the tripod, so the trees pic is not as sharp as I would like. I edited these pics on Lightroom because I took it in raw. Can you help me know how to take better pics next time? Here are the pictures specifics…

I took this with a Canon EOS Rebel T1i and my lenses focal length is 18mm to 55mm

The pic with the trees…

Focal length: 18mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/50

The pic that is on ground level…

Focal length: 18mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/40

And I was using Aperture Priority.

Thanks!!

[Daniel Neds]

Here are the Pictures.

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[Austin Vinar]

Hi Daniel! Looks like a nice morning.

First thing I noticed when I looked at your post is that the lack of sharpness in the tree was probably not caused by camera shake.
Because, as a general rule, your shutter speed should be as fast as your focal length to stop camera shake. So a shutter speed of 1/20 of a second should prevent camera shake at a focal length of 18mm.(or 1/500 of a second for a focal length of 500mm). And that does not figure in IS(which your lens probably has). 1/40 or 1/50 should have easily stopped any camera shake, even without stabilization!

I would guess blur was more likely caused by wind or focus.

But then that raises a question of my own, if your camera has a crop sensor(like mine does), do you have to figure that in for stopping camera shake?

Good job with the camera settings! Looks like what I would use. =) Although if you would have had your tripod, I may have stopped the lens down more.

[Joseph Camuso]

Hey @Danielneds! Those are some good shots!
However, I noticed in the first picture that the sky looks slightly grayish. I did a quick, rough edit in GIMP and increased the brightness and contrast of the sky. This brings out more color in the sunrise and is something I often do to improve pictures.

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[Daniel Neds]

Thanks @austinvinar and @joseph for replying so quickly! This is my first post thingy. @joseph I think my picture you edited has pretty good contrast but it looks a bit fake or edited, and that was not the look I was going for. I was trying to make it look a little more natural. Thanks anyway for the help. And @austinvinar, I think you are right about the blurriness not coming from the shutter speed. I might not have focused it all the way. And I like the tip you gave me about the shutter speed and the focal length; I never heard that before.

[Ezra Morley]

@AustinVinar, yes, you have to multiply the crop factor (1.6x) when doing the math for the hand-held rule.

Also, remember that in photography, rules are very easily broken. A shutter speeed of 1/50 should be enough normally, but if your finger jiggles the camera just as it’s taking, it could very easily create blur, even at 18mm. There’s a reason that professional landscape photographers use remote control and mirror lock-up. 🙂

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