How To Capture Sharp Photos

It appears that help tips and articles on how to take sharp photos abound; rightfully so, as it is probably the most essential element of a quality photograph. Regardless of whether you have decided to concentrate on landscape, wildlife, sports, macro or portrait photography, your ability to achieve proper focus, maximize depth-of-field, e.g. the range of sharpness, and compose it to enhance the images' message will arguably be the first criterion by which your work will be judged. In order to learn how best to take sharp photos, you need to know reasons why an image may come out blurry. These can range from the simple, the improper holding of the camera during shooting or a dirty lens, to a poor quality lens. Improper camera settings such as too slow of a shutter speed, too high of a ISO setting, the cameras' vibration setting being set to off or improper focus of the subject are all things that can lead to a blurry image. Click "Read more ..." for additional info and focusing tips. THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT CAN LEAD TO A BLURRY IMAGE  from the Equipment to Camera Settings to Improper Shooting Techniques  First, let's look at the issue of the equipment: POOR OR INFERIOR LENS:  If you had a Compact Camera (CC), sometimes called a point-and-shoot camera, or Sub-Compact Camera (SCC) the price range of the camera will usually dictate the quality of the lens. This also applies to cell phone cameras. Be sure to check out the specs and camera reviews before you purchase. If you have a typical DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera or a mirror-less camera that uses an EVF (Electronic View Finder), you will have the option of using interchangeable lens’. Most of these cameras generally come with an inexpensive "kit" lens priced at the lowest end of the manufacturer's range so as to not add much to a camera price. These lenses often offer "zooming" and are generally slower and may not offer consistent sharpness at all focal lengths. LENS PURCHASE TIP: Invest in a good prime lens: Make the investment in a good, fast (f/1.4/f1.8) prime lens. Prime lenses are relatively inexpensive, ranging between $200 to $400.  Very few zoom lenses can achieve the same optical quality as the prime lenses, because prime lenses have simpler design and are optimized to perform for only one focal range. Although you lose the ability to zoom in and out, prime lenses are much faster than most zoom lenses and are excellent choices for low-light and portrait photography. Because of the shallow depth of field, they are also capable of producing pictures with beautiful bokeh (nicely blurred backgrounds).  If you have never used a prime lens before, give it a try and you will not regret it. ZOOM LENS TIP: Make sure the Shutter Speed equals the focus distance: When using a zoom lens that goes beyond 100mm, apply the general hand-holding rule, which states that the shutter speed should be equivalent to the distance in mm of the lens. For example, shooting at 200mm would equal a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second. When using zoom lenses, focus at the focal length you plan to shoot at. In the past, in the manual focus days, lenses were parfocal, meaning that you could zoom the lens and the focus would stay the same. Many of today’s lenses, however, are not parfocal.  So changing the focal length by zooming causes focus drift, and the lens is no longer focused where it was before it was zoomed.  The better bet is to zoom the lens where you want it for your composition, and then focus the lens. DIRTY LENS TIP: Keep your lenses clean: A dirty and a greasy front element of the lens is a guarantee to inaccurate camera focusing and poor image contrast. This is especially true when taking pictures with the very small lenses found on a cell phone. Next, let's examine camera settings:  SHUTTER SPEED TOO LOW: Even though the image stabilisation systems built into today's lenses and cameras have a mechanism to compensate for accidental camera movement, thus allowing slower shutter speeds to be used when the camera is handheld, it is still a good idea to adhere to the general rule that the shutter speed should be at least one second divided by the focal length of the lens e.g. if you are using a 100mm lens, shutter speed needs  to be at least 1/100sec, which because of the way shutter speed is set usually translates to a setting of 1/125sec or faster. APERTURE TOO SMALL: Although using a small aperture increases depth of field (the size of the focused area in the shot) it also increases the impact of diffraction, the bending of light as it passes over the edge of the aperture blades. This bending prevents the light from focusing on the sensor and thus softens the image. The smaller the aperture, the greater the proportion of unfocused light reaching the sensor, so the greater the softening effect. This means that there is a compromise between depth of field and sharpness. Rather than closing the aperture right down to its minimum setting, it’s better to open up by stop or two. AF FOCUSES ON THE WRONG SUBJECT: Whenever you let the camera take control of the focus point selection it may get it wrong. Many cameras are calibrated to focus on the nearest subject towards the center of the frame. As a result if your subject is near the edge of the frame or not the closest object to the lens the camera may focus on the wrong point. This is even more true when shooting subjects close-up. Because the camera usually looks for something in the mid-distance, you may find that the background is in focus rather than your intended subject. The simple solution is to control the focus point yourself by selecting something like Single Point AF. Then half-press the shutter release to focus the lens, before recomposing the shot while keeping the shutter release button pressed. When the scene is correctly composed push the shutter release all the way to take the shot. SELECTING THE RIGHT AREA TO FOCUS ON: Whether photographing people or animals, always focus on the closest eye to you. This is very important, especially when dealing with large apertures between f/1.4 and f/2.8. As long as the eye of the subject is sharp, the image will most likely be acceptable. IN SUMMARY HERE: Learn how to properly focus your camera: Because most cameras have some several "auto-focusing" modes, it is important that you learn what they are and when to apply them to our advantage. The first thing you need to learn here is how to differentiate between a camera shake/motion blur and a focus problem. When a subject in your image is soft or out of focus, while something else in the foreground or background is perfectly in focus and sharp, it is a focus issue. If the whole image is blurry and nothing is sharp, it is most likely a slow shutter speed or improper camera holding technique that is the issue. Next, you need to understand what can cause an "auto-focus" malfunction.  lack of light can cause auto-focus malfunction. Make sure there is plenty of light for your camera to properly focus. A lack of contrast can cause auto-focus malfunction. The camera auto-focus system works by looking at the contrast around the focus area, e.g. if you try to focus your camera on a clean white wall, it will never be able to acquire focus, because the camera will not see any areas of contrast. Tip: Place the rectangular focus area to an area with the most contrast. Examples are: edges of objects, lines separating different colors, numbers and letters printed on objects, etc. Don't be afraid to focus multiple times until you can clearly see in the viewfinder that the object is in focus. If you have a small viewfinder and can't determine if the subject is in focus, just keep re-focusing, taking multiple pictures. During the post editing process, you will be able to tell which one is in best focus. If the camera won't acquire focus where you want it, then you are probably using "multiple-area" focusing and need to switch to "center point" focus. Focus on the desired object, then slightly move the camera to obtain the best composition. If you use single AF mode to photograph a moving object you’ll find that the camera focuses the lens on the subject at first, but that the subject moves out of focus. Consequently, if you are shooting continuously only the first image will be sharp. As it name suggests, in continuous AF mode the camera continues to focus the lens for as long as the shutter release button is held down. Lastly, let's examine shooting situations and shooting technique:  BODY MOVEMENT: You can help prevent body movement by maintaining a proper stance and controlling your breathing. Place your feet shoulder width apart, with one foot slightly ahead of the other. Cradle the lens by gripping the bottom of the lens with your left hand and hold the body with your right hand, finger placed on the shutter release button. Tuck your elbows firmly against your body. Press the eye cup of the camera firmly against your head.  Control your breathing by completely exhaling before pressing the shutter. CAMERA SHAKE: Preventing camera shake can be easy. First of all, if your camera or lens has such a function, make sure that your "vibration reduction" or "image stabilization" is set to “On”. In the case of my Panasonic cameras, this is an in-camera menu function for my 14-42mm lens, and a switch on the lens for the 45-200mm Zoom lens. If you can’t use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze accidental camera movements, or hand-held camera shake, then you need to put the camera on or against some form of support. This can either be natural like a wall or rock or in the form of a monopod or a tripod. Also keep in mind, that just touching a camera mounted on a tripod can be enough to set it wobbling a little and make your images soft. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to resolve the problem with a remote release. Remote releases come in two forms, wired and wireless. Remote releases are especially useful when you want very long bulb exposures because they avoid you having to press the camera’s shutter release button throughout the duration of the exposure.  MOTION BLUR: It doesn't matter how rock-steady the camera is, if the subject is moving the image will be blurred. If you’re shooting a moving subject and you want it sharp rather than blurred the shutter speed has to be fast enough to freeze the movement. A shutter speed of 1/60sec or 1/125 is usually fast enough to freeze a walking person, but if you’re photographing sports like football and hockey a shutter speed of around 1/500sec is usually needed. Remember, using fast shutter speeds means using a higher sensitivity (ISO) setting and/or opening up the aperture to let more light into the camera. If you are photographing a person, have them freeze and not move while you take their picture. When you work with slow shutter speeds, even if you do everything right, your images might still come out blurry just because the intended subject is moving while the shutter is open. This is called motion blur. When photographing close-ups of flowers on a windy day, I have sometimes used an umbrella to block the wind and keep the flower from moving. ISO SETTINGS  TIP: Start with ISO set to its lowest value: Always start with your camera's lowest ISO value. This is usually ISO-100 or ISO-200, depending upon your camera. Increasing this under certain lighting conditions may be necessary. If your camera has an Auto or Intelligent ISO setting, set it to ON. Even though higher ISO setting will increase "noise", it’s worth remembering that a little bit of noise is usually preferable to a badly burred image. CREATING DEPTH-OF-FIELD or Bokeh    Depth of field (DOF) is that distance within an image between the nearest and farthest objects that appear acceptably sharp. The first thing you need to understand is that for any combination of sensor, lens, focal length and ƒ-stop setting, there's only one precise point of focus; everything else within the area defined as the DOF is technically un-sharp but perceived to be acceptable, with the sharpness decreasing as the distance from the precise plane of focus increases. The two things you usually want to do are to maximize DOF and to place it strategically within an image. Controlling Depth Of Field In Single Captures: On digital sensors, expanding DOF is a continuing challenge for photographers, but it can be achieved in single captures, with varying success, in several ways. Using a wide-angle lens (16-24mm for full-frame DSLRs) offers nearly unlimited DOF, but tends to create a distorted perspective. Moving farther away from the subject (say, an imposing tree in the middle ground of a landscape image) can bring the primary subject into focus; however, this isn't always desirable, possible or practical. On the other hand, using a telephoto lens at larger apertures is a good option for minimizing or strategically placing DOF. This "selective focus" can be a strong compositional tool. Achieving the largest possible area of sharpness: Stopping down the aperture of a lens is typically the best option to increase DOF. For all lenses, the smallest lens opening offers the greatest DOF. However, be aware of two things; first, that the smaller the aperture, e.g. ƒ/22, the more the DOF is compromised by diffraction - the bending of light rays as they enter the very small lens opening at an angle; and second, that a smaller ƒ-stop typically mandates a longer shutter speed which causes the image to be more susceptible to camera and subject movement. All of these variables must be considered when attempting to achieve the largest possible area of sharpness. Tip: Another technique that can be used to maximize DOF is tilting the front optic to induce the Scheimpflug principle - a geometric rule that describes the orientation of the plane of focus of an optical system (such as a camera) when the lens plane is not parallel to the image plane. Determining the Hyperfocal Distance: For each lens and ƒ-stop combination, there's a point called the hyperfocal distance, from which all objects will be sharp into infinity. The greater the focal length and the larger the aperture, the farther away the closest focus point will be. A good prime wide-angle lens will have DOF markings on the lens barrel to make this setting easier to attain. By placing the marking for a certain ƒ-stop on infinity and reading its corresponding marking on the focus indicator, you'll have set an approximate hyperfocal distance for the lens. For example, with a wide-angle lens of 16mm set to ƒ/16: the area from one foot in front of the lens to infinity (the hyperfocal distance) will be sharp. Ways camera, lens and exposure choices affect DOF: When choosing the lens and focal length needed to properly frame your subject, remember that ... Longer focal lengths yield less DOF. When choosing an aperture to expand or concentrate the DOF so the subject is in focus, remember that ... Smaller apertures yield more DOF. Choose the exposure and ISO required for proper lighting and capture speed. Make adjustments among all these variables to achieve the resolution and exposure you seek. GENERAL SHOOTING TIPS TIP - Shoot in Aperture-Priority mode: When using this mode, set the aperture to the lowest value e.g. f/3.5, and let the camera set the shutter speed. Don't be afraid to take a couple of test shots and review at 100% to evaluate the sharpness. If they don't appear sharp, you can always increase the minimum shutter speed or bump up the ISO setting. Always make sure that your stance, holding of the camera, and your breathing is controlled before pressing the shutter. Aperture also plays a big role in achieving optimal sharpness. For landscape photography, generally use apertures between f/8 and f/10; for portraits, use apertures between f/1.4 to f/8, depending on how much background you want in focus. Keep in mind that playing with aperture changes the depth of field and will have an impact on the lens bokeh. TIP - Use a polarizing filter: Polarizers are famous for darkening blue skies on sunny days, but they are just as useful in other situations. In misty or hazy situations, polarizers can help cut through that haze.  Haze has the effect of softening an image, so using a polarizer to eliminate the haze enhances sharpness. So don’t hesitate to put the polarizer on your lens, even when darkening a blue sky isn’t the reason. TIP - Use a tripod for low-light situations:   For shooting lightning storms, fireworks, city lights and other cool stuff at night, a sturdy tripod is a must! Don’t buy a cheap tripod designed for point and shoot cameras, but rather invest in a heavy duty, sturdy tripod that can handle your DSLR. Having a self-timer mode or a cable/wireless shutter release is also very helpful, to minimize camera shake. TIP - Select the AF point you want to use: Place the center AF point on the spot you want in sharpest focus and use the “Focus and Recompose” method of focusing to create their images.  Be careful when shooting at wider apertures where the depth of field is shallower. When you do this, the focal plane shifts, moving it away from where you originally focused, which may reduce sharpness. TIP - Shoot in bursts: Set your camera to AF-C (Auto Focus in Continuous Mode), then photograph your subject in bursts by just holding the shutter button. Shooting moving subjects continuously helps improve the odds that you’ll get a shot that is spot-on. Firing off 3 or 5 shot bursts can also help freeze the motion of your subject, especially with a bit of panning. Sometimes you’ll get just enough of the subject in focus with everything else blurred because of the motion, leaving you with a nice isolation that highlights the emotion of that moment.