Why did it take me 20 years to figure out a tripod helps?

I was at a family reunion in Phoenix last spring, taking photos of all the kids playing. Every single shot came out blurry. My niece's boyfriend, who just got into photography, asked why I kept shooting at 1/15th of a second. I didn't even know that was a number to look at. Turns out I had been holding the camera too steady but not steady enough, if that makes sense. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple fix like a tripod or faster shutter made all the difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnson.faith18d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, 1/15th is rough. I spent years wondering why all my concert photos looked like ghosts. I was using a camera my grandma gave me, no idea what shutter speed even meant. Finally bought a tiny cheap tripod from a garage sale for $5, clamped my ancient point and shoot to it, and suddenly my night shots actually showed stuff instead of blurry smudges. I felt like a genius and an idiot at the same time. Now I tell all my friends, just get something to hold your camera still, you won't believe the difference.

davis.adam18d ago

Buddy of mine had the exact same lightbulb moment. He was trying to shoot some local band at a dive bar, kept getting these shaky, ghostly shots. He was about to drop $400 on a new camera body. Instead, his neighbor gave him a beat up monopod for free. He propped it against a barstool, and his next batch of photos actually had sharp guitars and drumsticks. He still jokes that the $0 fix saved him $400 and a lot of frustration. Did he ever try stacking beer coasters under the lens too? That's my go to for low tables.