Musical Chairs

[Emi-Day]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24042517@N08/2279946649/" title="Musical Chairs by demi_close, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/2279946649_322fff2912.jpg" width="500" height="376" alt="Musical Chairs" /></a>


Is this way too blurry?
I'm thinking about entering this in the local youth photography contest in the category of human interests, but I can't decide if this is just way to blurry or if that aspect gives it character. Your opinion is appreciated.

[netbymatt]

I'd go with too blurry. Many of us here would be glad to help out with your technique on this photo, but we'd need the EXIF data for it. I'll give it a shot though.

It looks like you were using a relatively long shutter speed to capture the motion of the kids, an excellent idea since they're playing musical chairs. Unfortunately, this requires a tripod, or incredibly steady hands. The blur that you're seeing looks to be cause by the camera moving while the shutter was open.

[Liz Caldwell]

Agree'd, too blurry... sorry :( Along with Matt's suggestion, I would also add a flash to help stop the action. If this was something you can get the kids to do again, maybe pose in their running position and tell 'em when the flash goes off, music starts... that way you have them still for a moment before they go running for a seat :)

btw, I miss playing musical chairs... :(

[Saralonde]

What you need is for the moving objects (children) to be a bit blurry to show motion but the stationary objects must remain in focus. The 2 above posters have excellent suggestions on how to achieve this. I'd look into an inexpensive tripod. Very helpful for keeping the camera still.

[jiminyClickit]

Emi-Day, Welcome

When you start a thread, consider reading the guidelines so that you can give Critiquers all the information necessary to give you adequate commentary to help your photos be the best possible. Here's a link:

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10895

With your camera settings, we could suggest why your photo is so overexposed. If the shutter speed is slow, that could cause motion blur, and account for too much light too long. Having all your information makes guessing unnecessary.

[wulf]

The background and framing are also a bit non-descript so, even if you had stood stock still, I think you wouldn't have a particularly exciting photo.

Who owns the red vehicle in the background? If there were amenable, one thing you could have done is stand on the rear bumper (or, I guess, fender if you are in the States). This would achieve several things:

1. A change of perspective as you would now be looking down on the action from above eye-view.

2. By looking down and getting the sky out of the picture, the exposure might be more balanced and the background might be more harmonious.

3. Bracing yourself with the spare wheel and the roof, you might be able to hold still enough to get the chair and grass in focus, making the most of the movement of the children.

Wulf