Source:www.jimippolito.com

Dim light means slow shutter speeds and slow shutter speeds mean blurry pictures

Above is a perfect example of an imperfect shot. I took this picture a few days ago in Zion National Park, where it was very sunny and bright, except in the spot where those trees are. Although there was decent light the surrounding mountains blocked most of the late afternoon sun due to its low angle.

The digital picture data shows the exposure to be 1/60th of a second. That's at the extreme of hand held, but doable, however, because the lens was zoomed out to moderate telephoto, the slight hand Shake was magnified, and a slightly blurry and therefore unacceptable image resulted.

There's always the option to increase your camera's ISO, but on all but the most expensive digital cameras that results in grainy photos. Always use the lowest ISO possible, the lowest is best actually

I should have used a tripod and set the self timer.

That's right, the self timer can not only be used so the photographer can hop into the picture, it can also be used to prevent camera shake.

Next time you expect to be in a low light situation, or want to take night photos, set your camera on a tripod, and engage the self timer.

Don't think the tripod will stabilize the camera enough to use the shutter button by itself either. The slight touch on the button will be enough to cause camera shake, whereas the delay between you activating the self timer and the moment the shutter fires will allow the camera to become stable.

Here's the next shot I took that day, of a mountain just to the left of the previous scene. The light is brighter and the picture is in focus because of the higher shutter speed.

Source:www.jimippolito.com

Because digital cameras are small and light, a minimal weight, inexpensive tripod will suffice. So do yourself a favor and if your camera has a tripod socket pick one up and bring it along when conditions may warrant its use.