I've tried a lot of different ways to take pictures on the Canon Power Shot 530 HS My close-up pics aren't too bad. But I have the camera primarily to shoot action for dog agility trials. I can't seem to get things right. If I focus too much, it's blurry. These weekend photos were taken on P. ANY advice appreciated. Also could use advice for shooting at night as many of the classes are held at night.
This is quite likely not a focus issue, the dog is running and your shutter is slower than the running of the dog. The other image with the dog jumping also seems to be blurry all over which means the camera moved on a slow shutter. If you look at eta data you probably will see 1/20 or 1/30 of a sec. without IS, you will definitely blur hand holding the image. The windy image of the dog on the ramp is very over exposed but seems not to have the same blur from hand holding. You will find P is not always ideal. Using Shutter, aperture or manual mode so you can control things like freezing action, or exposure as needed would be a better approach.
https://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/6/0300017416/02/pssx530hs-cu2-en.pdf Page 75 shows how in manual mode you can adjust and read the exposure meter. Center is balanced exposure for the meter mode you are in, there is more to that you can read into, but depending on the mode and scene you may not want center you may need to over or under expose to get highlights or shadows balanced to your flavor. An exaggeration of this is someone in front of a sunset, backlit, the camera will expose the scene the person will be pretty dark, you may need to push it further for a silhouette or add more light to the people in the foreground via a flash to expose them properly. For exposure after dark you will likely need a high iso or flash, your camera just has a built in one so you are limited here. You can use a slow shutter on a tripod, but moving objects will be a problem. A few sentences summary does not replace a semester of basics in a photo class, but: ISO will control grain, Shutter stops action or blurs action, aperture will control depth of field(background blur). Modes other than p are very important because you start to control these. All three of those above control the light hitting the sensor. If you are exposed correctly, you can take from on to give to the other. So if you need to freeze a moving car you will probably want 1/500 or better shutter speed, you will have to increase the ISO or open up the aperture to get there, but those will decrease depth pf field or add grain. And your available options will be very different at noon verse midnight outside. It is all a balancing act and assessing the needs of the scene. This is why my reply for night photography was a simple one liner, that did not give you specific settings, it depends on the lighting and what you are trying to shoot.
Welcome to the Forum, Vicki, Johnsey is switch on when it comes to equipment so I do not have much to add other than you need a higher shutter speed. On your camera you have a command dial, this is the one you turn to put the camera in P mode, next to P is TV which stands for time value and controls the shutter speed. select this and dial in a much higher shutter speed. Near your Shutter button is a jog wheel, turn this to increase or decrease your shutter speed and the camera should do the rest any problems with it you have options, have a look on Youtube on how to use the camera or put the issue up on the forum for the community members to help. All the best with it Craig S.
