Lens creep? Or ???

[Waybo]

Could this be lens creep? Or could it something else?

I'm working on the Long Exposure Challenge. I set up a fresh flower arrangement in a dark hall, and played with some flashlights to create some low level lighting. The flower arrangement gave me an extra challenge, as it has "water beads" in the vase -- marble-sized gel balls that are shimmery and reflective, like crystal, and there is an LED light under the vase to give it a neat "glowing" effect.

I used a tripod and a wireless remote, so I wasn't touching the camera.

I took a lot of shots, but when I put them on the computer, I find that most of them are blurry. Here's a close up of one of them:

ISO 100, 35mm, 1 ev, f/5, 3.5 sec.

I'd like to continue experimenting with Long Exposures / Low Level Lighting, but I need to figure out what's causing this before I do any more.

What could I be doing wrong? Or could it be my equipment? I took long exposures (3-15 seconds). Could lens creep cause this?

Help!!!

 

[VirtualRain]

Your photo isn't showing up for me. However, the first thing that comes to mind is making sure you had any image stabilization turned off. That can cause blurry pictures in an otherwise rock solid long exposure situation.

 

[Waybo]

Your photo isn't showing up for me. However, the first thing that comes to mind is making sure you had any image stabilization turned off. That can cause blurry pictures in an otherwise rock solid long exposure situation.

Great! Thanks, Virtual Rain. I DID forget to turn off image stabilization. And I do know better!

 

[RogersDA]

Lens creep? I doubt it.

Using a wide aperture can be the culprit. Perhaps that lens you have is not that sharp at f/3.5, which probably had a very, very thin depth of field which would mean most of the image would not be in focus.

Since you have the time try with a mid-range aperture like f/8.

I have done the same thing and used f/16 to f/32 for the increased depth of field.

Also, are you certain you were not causing any issues by moving around with the flashlights and causing air currents? Those can affect those flowers during long exposures.