The Ever Hated Grainy Photo

[samkusterbeck]

To begin I have a CANON REBEL T7 with a 24-70 mm CANON lens. 
I have taken quite a bit of time scouring the internet for the do's and don't of photography. All my images are RAW files and I shoot in Manual mode and use the auto focus mode (which I feel like is what the issue is) 
ISO is 100 f/28 1/320 I think I was set at AL SERVO 
I point the red dot on the face and then I open the files and some/most of the pictures come out "annoyling" grainy. I don't know what to do!
Is the AF Point Selection just no good? I heard the center one is the best to use, but the face or subject I want in focus isn't always smack dab in the center.

Is it the distance I am shooting from? If so could someone explain to me in simple terms what and how the best  shooting distance is determined?

Is my camera no bueno and its just not capable sometimes of getting crisp shots?

Do I need to use manual focus and if so HOW> it seems like it would make photo taking take forever trying to make sure you get the right focus? 

[jrhoffman75]

Can you post a few RAW images on Dropbox so we can study your settings?

[Tronhard]

To me, the bottom one is better exposed and is sharper.  Samantha, it would be helpful if for each shot  you post you indicated the EXIF data: lens, Focal length, f/stop, S/speed and ISO.   We can then see exactly how the image was taken.

[samkusterbeck]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/glrit76fum3yxan/In%20Focus%20%282%29.cr2?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oo8hhd02lvd9s05/In%20Focus.cr2?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lcmbgl25a2fvwbz/20220417-IMG_0885.cr2?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m74jjsr3orb4kxw/Out%20of%20Focus%20%282%29.cr2?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8bmz26uohilhg36/Out%20of%20Focus%20%283%29.cr2?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0d2coolgnild2z7/Out%20of%20Focus.cr2?dl=0

I named them either "In Focus" or "Out of Focus" hopefully I did it correctly.
I sincerely and deeply am so thankful for everyone's time helping me on this... I have a basic level of understanding of my camera. My issue isn't a grain issue as it is becoming apparent, its an out of focus issue. I'm not really sure what I am doing wrong in between photos. Why some are in great focus and others seem blurry (upclose)

[samkusterbeck]

It shows it on the top right I  thought....Under the histogram?

[samkusterbeck]

I don't typically use the Live view and use the viewfinder- do you think one is better than the other?
I feel like the focus takes too long when I use the live view... 

[samkusterbeck]

The underexposed one has the better focus. 😔

[jrhoffman75]

I examined the in focus and out of focus images in Canon DPP.

The out of focus image appears to be uniformly out of focus. Compare the edges of the bib and the ribs in the shirt as well as the eyelashes. Even the lettering looks less crisp.

A shutter speed of 1/350 should be enough to prevent camera shake in most cases, but perhaps you are down low to get the shot and not the most steady shooting configuration?

I'll look at the other images.

[Tronhard]

Personally, when hand-holding (which is 99.9% of my photography), the viewfinder is the way to go. A tripod has three legs for a reason - that's the minimum, if not the optimum, number of support points for a stable shot.  When hand-holding, you needs to hold the camera as shown below: left hand under the lens, supporting the weight of the camera, right hand less support but with stability and using the controls, and the viewfinder to the eye, providing the contact to achieve the third point of support.

See what I mean here:
The correct techniques

[Tronhard]

Sorry Samantha, I confused your images with those in Ernie's posting! 😬 There have been so many responses and with the new interface that keeps hiding some posts I get lost sometimes. 

The images that look best to me are the ones that are not as bright.  Yet, the puzzle is that looking at the setting according to what's on your screen, they are essentially identical. 

[jrhoffman75]

I just looked at the two dog images.

Both shot at f/2.8 1/40 sec. 24mm focal length. In general 1/40 should be sufficient for hand holding. You said 24-70mm lens. Is it a Canon L lens? If not, what lens?

Do you have access to a tripod? If so, you can shoot a series of shots. That would eliminate the hand holding effect (if any).

I am now thinking either camera shake or a mechanical problem w/camera and/or lens.