Ok, sorry if this is patronising.
Your camera uses a combination of things to take a photo. Aperture (the variable hole in the lens through which light passes, denoted as f number eg f2.8, f4, lower number=bigger/wider hole), shutter speed (how long the sensor is exposed to light, measured in seconds but as fractions usually as majority of exposures are only for a fraction of a second eg 1/125) and sensor sensitivity (ISO, higher ISO=higher sensitivity).
This is a nice demo of how aperture and shutter speed are related. Note how when the f number is small the background is more blurred than with a larger f number. This is called depth of field (DOF) and is to do with how much of a scene, near to far, is in focus.
So, taking #4 of your photos as an example. The camera has used its light meter and identified a dark scene. Likely it has set a fairly wide aperture to maximise the light it will receive. Since you had flash turned on, it has decided to use it to illuminate the scene. The focus system in the meantime has identified something close (the leaves) which it has prioritised for focus. That's fine (so long as that is what you want), and together with the DOF of the selected wide aperture has made the leaves sharp and the background blurred out of focus (again, fine so long as that was what you had in mind).
Problem is, when taking the shot, it's not been clever or discerning enough to realise that the leaves will be way more illuminated than the background causing those nasty refections on the right. If the flash had been turned off, it would have selected a longer shutter speed to compensate. Again, fine, but you then need to pay attention to how long, since speeds slower than say 1/90s may be too slow when holding the camera in your hand. Seemingly imperceptible movements will mean the shot may be blurred.
Fact is, it all gets quite long winded. I really would recommend a bit of reading around the subject (and practice) to really fix these principles in your mind. It may seem like overkill, but you've already decided you want to take good/better photos and your camera isn't always thinking like you are. Whilst in the beginning it may seem very confusing or complicated, once you've got the basics in your head and you get used to implementing them in the use of your camera, it all falls into place.
Hope this helps.
And to the rest of the forum, please correct my errors. Sure I've made some.
Similar Threads
Optimised for Firefox.
Linear Mode
