Why your photos are blurry and how to fix it
Blurry photos come from camera shake, subject motion, missed focus or a dirty lens. Diagnose which one it is and apply the right fix.
Blur has four common causes, and each has a different fix. Zoom into a blurry photo at 100% and look carefully to find out which one you are dealing with.
1. Camera shake
Everything in the frame is smeared in the same direction. Fix it with a faster shutter speed, stabilization, a better grip, or a tripod. Tuck your elbows in, exhale and press the shutter gently.
2. Subject motion
The background is sharp but the moving subject is not. You need a faster shutter speed: at least 1/250 for walking people and 1/1000 for running kids.
3. Missed focus
Something is sharp, but not the subject: the ear instead of the eye, or the wall behind a person. Use eye AF, a smaller focus area, AF-C for moving subjects, and more depth of field for groups.
4. Lens or filter issues
The whole image looks soft and hazy, often with low contrast. Clean the front element, remove cheap filters, and watch for fogging when moving from air conditioning into Yucatán humidity.
Bonus: diffraction and small apertures
At f/16 to f/22, images lose a bit of fine detail. For most scenes, f/8 to f/11 is plenty.
A quick checklist
Check shutter speed, check the focus point, check the lens surface. Those three habits solve most blurry photos.
Next: Depth of field: how to control what is sharp and what is blurred
