Common photographic problems & solutions:

Unsharp pictures:

1. Cause: Camera hand held, shutter speed too low . Solution: Use a tripod and faster shutter speed. Use a shutter speed which is closest to your lens focal length. Example, 1/250 sec. with a 200mm lens.

2. Cause: Front and/or rear lens elements dirty. Solution: Clean with lens tissue and cleaning fluid. Use one drop of cleaning fluid on a tissue and clean lens in a circular motion starting from the center.

3. Cause: Low quality UV or Sky light filter. Solution: Remove filter or replace with a better one.

4. Cause: Camera shaken during exposure. Solution: Use a cable release to trip the shutter, use mirror luck-up if your camera has one otherwise avoid speeds between 1/8 to 1/15 sec.

5. Cause: Diffraction.  Using very small f-stops create more depth-of-field but overall sharpness is lost. This is due to diffraction, caused by the way light passes through very small aperture opening. This creates softening of the image. Solution: Avoid very small f-stops if possible.

Under exposure/ over exposure:

1. Cause: Wrong exposure used. Solution: See Learning exposure on this site under tips.

2. Cause: Wrong ISO setting. Solution: Check for correct ISO prior to shooting.

3. Cause: Reciprocity failure. The relationship between shutter speed and f-stops that increasing one and decreasing the other for the same exposure does not hold true in long exposures. Solution: You must add more light when using very long exposures . How much depends on the type of film you are using. Check your film instruction for its reciprocity characteristics.

False colors:

1. Cause: Wrong film used. Solution: When day light films are used under tungsten light they produce a yellowish cast. Tungsten films used outdoors produce bluish cast. Use day light balanced films for outdoor use or use an 80A filter when used under tungsten lights. Use tungsten light films indoors or use an 85B filter for outdoor use.

2. Cause: Reciprocity failure. Films shift color in very long exposures. Solution: Use color correction filters ( CC ) to adjust color. Check film instruction for recommended CC filters with long exposures.

Small lines or dots on slides or prints:

1. Cause: Hair or dirt in shutter. Solution: Brush off dirt from the shutter carefully. Do not use air cans.

Flare:

1. Cause: It is light reflecting off the inner and outer surface of a lens. Solution: Use a lens hood. Remove UV Or Sky light filters.

Dark corners in the picture:

1. Cause: Vigenetting. Filter too thick, lens hood too long. Solution: Use wider filters than the lens diameter. Use correct size lens hood.

Red eye:

1. Cause: Red eye is caused by light reflecting from the blood vessels at the back of the eye when flash is fired near axis of the lens with the subject looking into the camera. Solution: Use off camera flash. Don't photograph in very dark rooms.