Photo Tip #1 - Where and how to focus

Blurred shots are common! It's good that we're using digital now. We can just delete...and delete and shoot again. The problem is, not all shots can be re-taken thus it's so easy to lose that special moment picture.

One cause of a blurred shots is camera shake attributed to 'unsteady hands' or 'moving the camera away when the shutter isn't finished with it's action yet'. This can easily happen when the shutter speed is slow (in low light conditions) and it would be better to use a tripod or any tool to increase stability.

Another cause and this is for 'out of focus' shots is the use of a wrong focus reference point. You can have steady hands but if you're not doing it the right way then you will still have 'oof' pictures. Auto-focus cameras have that small square or rectangle frame in the middle of the viewfinder. That is the camera's reference point on where to focus. I've seen pictures of two people together in a nice location, perhaps a view of a mountain behind them but the people were 'oof', and the mountain is 'sharp'. Why? The focus reference point was not at the people and in this case it is the mountain. Your camera's focus reference point should be at your main subject. The shutter button should first be pressed halfway as you use your subject as a reference point. The best way to do this is to focus on the eyes then press halfway to lock the focus. The eyes should always be sharp especially when you use selective focusing technique (more on that next time). After that you can recompose and then completely depress the shutter button. When you lock the focus, most likely depending on your camera, you're also locking the exposure thus it's easier to have better exposed shots!