How Do I Remove Blur in Night Party Photos?

[GoddyD]

Hi

I have been into photography for almost a year now. I love taking photos. I have done a few friends birthday parties. I realised that some of my pictures are not as sharp as others. The faces are a bit blurry. I got an external flash but the problem is there there, though its reduced now.

I have a olympus e-520. I uploaded a sample picture. I shot it in P mode, f 5.0, S 1/60, ISO 200 (I had set it on auto), White balance was on auto and I used an external flash. The pictures were taken indoors. How can I improve in this area?

Thanx for the help in advance.

Cheers,
Goddy

[teaking]

It sounds like your capturing motion, some reasons could be the flash is not powerful enough to freeze the subjects or the shutter speed is to to slow.

I think when shooting with P mode your exposure takes into account the flash. So maybe shooting AV or Aperture Priority mode which only exposes for ambient light, and exposing your shot making sure you have a shutter speed in the 100's then using the flash to fill or in your case freeze the subject. I could be wrong or have bits of that mixed up but im sure someone can lead you on the right path.

[Raoul Isidro]

If you have Photoshop, try this...
From the Menu pull down the Image Menu...
Select adjustments...
Then Auto Levels.

Your sample photo is set on the grey card reference.
Try increasing the brightness in your Photo Editing software.

To minimize motion blur / camera shake, use 1/60 speed and/or increase ISO to 800 or 1600 (not Auto ISO...)
Cheers!

[i speak in math]

It looks like your focus was off. The plant behind them and the wall are in focus, not the subject. I would keep the aperture where you had it, around f/5. Raise the shutter speed to the cameras sync speed ~1/160th. And put the ISO at 200. Set your WB to "flash" and bouch the flash off the ceiling. This will make it so the ambient light from the party doesn't enter the scene. You will light the people entirely with the flash. The flash from a speedlight is so quick, you will freeze the motion of the people. Then you only need to ensure that you get the focus on them.

[GoddyD]

Thanks for your help guys.

I will go back and read the manual to make sure i get the most out of my cameras focusing. I want to shoot it right so i wont depend on photoshop.

Quick question. Does the image stabiliser affect the focusing in any way?