Why was every shot at f/5.6?

McGene, fromwhat you've written, it seems you don't fully understand the interplay between ISO, aperture, and shutter. You state that picture clarity is most important to you, but you're shooting at f/5.6 and getting subject motion blur. The easiest way to fix that is to increase shutter speed while in Ax priority. If you're at ISO 200 f/5.6 and 1/40 shutter speed, simply going to f/4 will get you 1/80. If you go to f/2.8 your shutter speed again doubles to 1/160. If you double your ISO to 400 (which is totally acceptable on the D90), your shutter speed doubles again to 1/320. The resulting images are a handshake free, subject motion blur free, properly exposed. The VR is bonus if you have something static and want greater DOF with a hand held shot.

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"You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
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