What went wrong? Blur!

[longroad]

I had a really bad day last weekend. I was sitting in a National Park eating lunch when along comes a beautiful wallaby. I had my 70-300VR lens on so started snapping away.
He was close enough that most of my shots were at 70mm yet they were ALL blurred. I've been taking some great photos lately yet I could not get this unmoving, close subject in focus? I took better photos of a bird in a tree at 300mm. This is embarrasing :o

Any ideas what went wrong here? Some rogue setting (I hope)?

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/3609/dsc2719ro7.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc2719ro7.jpg)
Focal Length: 70mm
f5.6
1/40 sec
ISO 200
Metering: Centre weighted
Aperture Priority

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5340/dsc2720ev6.th.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc2720ev6.jpg)
Focal Length: 70mm
f5.6
1/15 sec
ISO 200
Metering: Centre weighted
Aperture Priority

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3954/dsc2722ex5.th.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc2722ex5.jpg)
Focal Length: 70mm
f5.6
1/30 sec
ISO 200
Metering: Centre weighted
Aperture Priority

[XaiLo]

Your shutter speed was too slow. It has to be a minimum of 1/125 of a sec to stop motion. Allow me to suggest "Understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson it will help immensely light read and plenty of helpful illustrations.

[K1W1]

What he said.

VR might help you get clear shots of stationary objects at 1/30 but it ain't going to make the Wallaby stand still for you.

[longroad]

I know about all that and looking at the figures now, yes you're right.
But I generally use aperture priority and the camera usually selects the right shutter speed, looks like something stopped that from happening this time?

[Rooz]

not enuf light. you're already at your maximum aperture for that lens. you needed to bump your iso up. consider using auto iso next time you shoot with the 70-300 and you wont have to worry about that again.

[K1W1]

For things that are moving even reasonably slowly I prefer shutter priority over aperture priority if I'm trying to capture the moving object. That way I can either freeze the object with a fast shutter speed or control (try to control at least) the amount of blur with a slower speed. I'm also not a big fan of auto ISO and I no longer use it on the D50 but I think the D80 may be less inclined to leap to ISO1600 the way the D50 does.

[XaiLo]

Shameless D40 plug! :D ISO 1600 works out rather nicely and quite usable. I shoot in manual mode 99.9% of the time. It just works out better for me in low light. Didn't notice the OP was shooting in "Aperature Priority" I'd have to also say I would be more inclined to use shutter priority. longroad the camera is only so smart in this case it could not tell your subject was moving. Aperature Priority is probably the primary instrument in controling depth of field.

I suggested Peterson because he does a good job of illustrating the relationship between ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperature. More importantly he illustrates how to manipulates these to get the picture you want. I only looked at the first image and read as far as shutter speed then responded to your question because the rest was pretty much irrelevant at that point. It's one thing to know what they do and quite another to use them to get the story as Peterson would put it.

[tim11]

Hey Longroad. Make it easy for yourself mate. Just go to a zoo. :D

[TheWengler]

I know about all that and looking at the figures now, yes you're right.
But I generally use aperture priority and the camera usually selects the right shutter speed, looks like something stopped that from happening this time?

I think if you knew about 'all that' then this thread wouldn't exist. Aperture priority will select a SS to give you a correct exposure. It doesn't know what you're taking a picture of or if you'll need a faster shutter speed to avoid motion blur. You could go to ISO 800 for 2 stops and you could open up the lens another stop at 70mm.

[AMDnut]

XaiLo has a good suggestion, I read "Understanding Exposure" on his recommendation (twice now in fact!:)) and it is a big help. The one thing that it has made me do is use Manual mode more. Manual mode allows me to see what is going on and help understand things better. In your case, I probably would have at least gone to Shutter Priority and bumped things up to maybe ISO400 at 1/125.
Of course, I am still learning my D40 and still trying to learn more about shots like yours myself! :D

[longroad]

Yeah I figured upping the ISO is what I should have done.. have never used auto-iso but will give it a go.

Guess I am just surprised that I ran out of light being in an outdoor environment in the middle of the day.

As for zoos.. I prefer animals in their natural state:)

[Rooz]

LR if you set your auto iso to:
min shutter speed 1/125s, max sensitivity iso 800, that should keep you well out of trouble next time.

i found the d80's auto is worked really well.