How to Take Sharp Digital Images

Photo by Dale (Ling Gondaeng)

Getting your digital images perfectly sharp is something that most photographers want - however clean, crisp, sharp images can be difficult to achieve.

Perhaps before we start exploring how to improve sharpness it would be good to talk about the main causes for lack of sharpness:

• Poor Focus - the most obvious way to get images that are ‘un-sharp’ is through having them out of focus. This might be a result of focussing upon the wrong part of the image, being too close to your subject for the camera to focus, selecting an aperture that generates a very narrow depth of field or taking an image too quickly without checking it is in focus.
• Subject Movement - another type of ‘blur’ in shots is the result of your subject moving - this is generally related to shutter speed being too slow.
• Camera Shake - similarly you can get blur if you as the photographer generate movement while taking the image - this often relates to either shutter speed and/or the stillness of your camera.
• Noise - ‘noisy’ shots are ones that are pixelated and look like they have lots of little dots over them (get up close to your TV and you’ll get the same impact).

Here’s a list of 10 basic things to think about when shooting to get sharp images (note - there’s also a lot you can do in photoshop after taking you images - learn more about that in Photoshop Tutorials):

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1. Hold Your Camera Well

A lot of blur in the photos that I see is a direct result of camera shake (the movement of your camera for that split second when your shutter is open). While the best way to tackle camera shake is to use a Tripod (see below) there are many times when using one is impractical and you’ll need to shoot while holding your camera. I’ve written a tutorial previously on how to hold a digital camera but in brief - use both hands, keep the camera close to your body, support yourself with a wall, tree or some other solid object etc.

2. Tripods

Regular readers of this site will have seen my recent series on tripods and know that I’m a big fan of them as a way to reduce (and even eliminate) camera shake. While not always practical, the result you’ll get when you do go to the effort of hauling one around can be well worth it.

3. Shutter Speed

Perhaps one of the first things to think about in your quest for sharp images is the shutter speed that you select. Obviously - the faster your shutter speed the less impact camera shake will have and the more you’ll freeze any movement in your shots. As a result you reduce the likelihood of two of the main types of blur in one go (subject movement and camera movement). Remember the ‘rule’ for handheld shutter speeds:
Choose a shutter speed with a denominator that is larger than the focal length of the lens.

So:

• if you have a lens that is 50mm in length don’t shoot any slower than 1/60th of a second
• if you have a lens with a 100mm focal length shoot at 1/125th of a second or faster
• if you are shooting with a lens of 200mm shoot at 1/250th of a second or faster

Keep in mind that the faster your shutter speed is the larger you’ll need to make your Aperture to compensate - this will mean you have a smaller depth of field which makes focussing more of a challenge (read more on Shutter Speed).

4. Aperture

Aperture impacts the depth of field (the zone that is in focus) in your images. Decreasing your aperture (increasing the number - say up to f/20) will increase the depth of field meaning that the zone that is in focus will include both close and distant objects. Do the opposite (for example moving to f/4) and the foreground and background of your images will be more out of focus and you’ll need to be more exact with what you focus your camera upon. Keep in mind that the smaller your aperture the longer your shutter speed will need to be - which of course makes moving subjects more difficult to keep sharp (read more on Aperture).

5. ISO

The third element of the exposure triangle is ISO which has a direct impact upon the noisiness of your shots. Choose a larger ISO and you’ll be able to use faster shutter speed and smaller aperture (which as we’ve seen help with sharpness) but you’ll suffer by increasing the noise of your shots. Depending upon your camera (and how large you want to enlarge your images) you can probably get away with using ISO of up to 400 (or even 800 on some cameras) without too much noise but for pin sharp images keep it as low as possible). Read more on ISO.

6. Image Stabilisation

Many cameras and lenses are now being released with different forms of image stabilisation (IS) which won’t eliminate camera shake - but can definitely help reduce its impact. I find that using IS lenses that it will give me an extra two or three stops (ie I can use slower shutter speeds but 2-3 stops) when hand holding my camera. Keep in mind that IS helps with camera movement but not subject movement as it allows you to use slower shutter speeds (not good for moving subjects).

7. Focus

Perhaps the most obvious technique to work on when aiming for sharp lenses is focussing. Most of us use ‘Auto Focussing’ with our cameras but don’t assume that the camera will always get it right. Always visually check what part of the image is in focus before hitting the shutter and if it’s not right try again or switch to manual focus mode. This is particularly important if you’re shooting with a large aperture (small depth of field) where even being slightly out can result in your subject being noticeably out of focus.

8. Good lenses

This one is for DSLR owners - if you have the budget for it invest in good quality lenses as they can have a major impact upon the sharpness of your images. For example shortly after buying my DSLR I was in the market for a everyday zoom lens that would give me the ability to have both wide (ish) and telephoto zoom capabilities. I bought a Canon EF 28-135mm lens. It was a good lens (and reasonably priced) but it wasn’t as sharp as some of my other lenses. A few months later I borrowed a Canon EF 24-105mm ‘L series’ (the professional series of lenses from Canon) lens from a friend and was amazed by the difference in sharpness between the lenses. While the first lens was good for what I paid for it I ended up going for an upgrade and the new lens is now almost permanently attached to my camera.

9. Get your Eyes Checked

Since I was young I’ve worn glasses but in recent years I’ve been a little slack in getting my eyes checked. Recently I got them tested for the first time in a number of years and was surprised to find that they’d deteriorated significantly. Getting new glasses improved a number of areas of my life, one of which was my photography. Also connected with this is checking the ‘diopter’ on your camera (if it has one. The diopter is a little adjustment that you can make to how your viewfinder works - it’s particularly useful for people with poor eye sight - it’s usually a little wheel next to your viewfinder.

10. Clean equipment

Recently my wife and I went on a window cleaning frenzy at our place. Over the previous months the grime on our windows had gradually built up without us really noticing it. When we did clean them though we were amazed at how much more light got through and how much better the view outside was. The same can be true for your camera’s lens. Keep it clean and you’ll eliminate the smudges, dust and grime that can impact your shots. Similarly - a clean image sensor is a wonderful thing if you have a DSLR as getting dust on it can produce noticeable blotches in your end images.

Update

11. Lens Sweet Spot

Lenses have spots in their aperture ranges that are sharper than others. In many cases this ’sweet spot’ is one or two stops from the maximum aperture. So instead of shooting with your lens wide open (ie where the numbers are smallest) pull it back a stop or two and you might find you get a little more clarity in your shots.

How to Be a Curious Photographer

A few months ago I wrote a post on how curiosity is a characteristic of great photographers.

I was rereading this post earlier this week and began to ask myself a few questions:

• How do some people end up more curious than others?
• Is Curiosity a personality trait or can it be learned?
• How can I be more curious?

As I pondered these questions I thought of the images that I see each day on Flickr’s interestingness pages (the shots in this post come from there). Some of the shots are just so unusual that I would never have thought to take them. Obviously there are some ‘curious’ photographers behind them - but how do they do it?

I’ve never studied this but I suspect that while curiosity could well be something a personality type thing and that some of us will be more naturally curious than others - it is also that we can all probably learn how to be - to some extent.

How can you add Curiosity to your Photographic toolbox?

10 Ways to be a more Curious Photographer:

1. Don’t be held Captive ‘the Rules’

There are a lot of ‘rules’ going around when it comes to photography. Read the books (read this blog) and you’ll find them. Some of them have formal names like ‘rule of thirds’ and ‘the golden ratio’ while others are often just called ‘the right way to…’.

Rules are a great thing to know (and use) - however the curious photographer often takes great shots because they not only know the rules but because they set out to break them.

Take the Rule of thirds - sometimes the most powerful shots are those with a centered subject staring down the barrel of the lens.

2. Ask Questions

Curious photographers are always asking questions. Questions of other photographers, questions about their own work, questions about their cameras, questions of their subjects etc

As a result they often learn things about their art (and themselves) that the rest of us don’t and their work improves because of it.

Find someone with the same camera as you and ask them how they use it. Find a photographer from a different genre to you and ask them about their techniques. Look back over your last month’s photos and ask yourself what you did well (and not so well).

3. Ask ‘What if…’

One of the key questions you should get in the habit of asking is ‘what if’? Curious people don’t just ask questions - they also come up with solutions.

Many of the solutions will end up being thrown away but if you ask ‘what if’ enough times you’re bound to make progress eventually.

What if I held the camera on this angle…. What if I got my subject to stand like this…. What if I lay on the ground to take this shot…. What if I lengthened my shutter speed…..

4. ‘Turn Questions into Quests’

An old teacher once used this phrase with me and it’s stuck in my mind ever since - ‘turn your Questions into Quests’.

Asking ‘what if…’ (and other questions) is not enough. Keep a record of the questions that you ask yourself and keep coming back to them from time to time to attempt to find a solution to the problems behind the questions. Taking your questions to the next level like this may not always be fruitful but at times it’ll lead you on journeys of discovery to unexpected places.

Set yourself quests and challenges for your photography. I occasionally set myself a list of photos that I want to capture in an afternoon or will have a week where I explore a theme (the assignments in our forum are great for this).

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5. Learn from Others

While sometimes the best way to learn is by trying, making mistakes and then trying again - sometimes it’s more effective to find someone else who has already tried, made mistakes and tried again to help you avoid the pitfalls of photography.

Find another photographer to buddy up with when you go out on shoots. Swap ideas, give each other tips and share the lessons that you learn. This is actually whey I started this blog and more recently our forums - I want to learn more about digital photography and I know together we’ll discover so much more.

6. Put disconnected ideas together

Edward De Bono has a lot of different exercises that help people develop lateral thinking skills. In a number of his books he talks about how one way to think outside the box is when you put random ideas together to find new solutions to problems. Get in the frame of mind where you regularly do this and you’ll be surprised at how your mind comes up with wonderfully creative things.

The shot above of the guy under the umbrella with capsules dropping down on him is a prime example of this. Who would have ever thought to put drugs raining down on someone under a bright umbrella?

7. Play

Perhaps the most curious of people are children who do a lot of what we’re writing about here (especially asking questions).

Another thing that children do is ‘play’. With no other agenda than having fun and seeing what happens next children will play with the things around them and experiment and push the boundaries of their environment. In doing so they learn about life, themselves and their world. I find that it’s often when I take this ‘playful’ approach to life that I’m at my most creative and make all kinds of discoveries.

Some of my best photos have come out of periods of ‘play’ when I just fooled around with my camera with no agenda at all. Play with new angles, with different shooting distances, with shooting from different perspectives etc

8. Go with the Flow

One of the biggest blockages to creativeness and curiosity are statements like:

• We’ve never done it this way before
• This is Stupid
• It will never work

It is often directly after such statements that ideas stop being explored, projects end and people return to the humdrum of life.

Learn to ignore such statements and follow your intuition and hunches and you might just find yourself doing something that ‘has never been done before’ that people wish HAD been done before. I’m sure many of the images in the Flickr interestingness page are the result of this evolution of ideas by people who didn’t know when to stop.

9. Get Proactive

One of the main things that I notice about curious people are that they rarely sit still and are always pushing forward and taking the initiative. Curious photographers don’t expect great photographic opportunities to come to them - but instead they actively search for them. They have a mindset where it almost becomes natural to ask, seek and find the things that the rest of us hope that will one day fall in our laps.

Grab your camera, get out of the house, find some interesting subjects and start shooting. That great shot won’t just come knocking on your door!

10. Slow Down

We live in a fast paced world where we race from one thing to another, rarely sitting still.

Unfortunately it is easy to bring this way of life into our photography. We impatiently wait for ‘the shot’ and when it doesn’t quickly come we snap away and move on. However in most cases photography isn’t a fast paced medium. I learned this talking to a Pro Landscape photographer once who told me that some days he’d sit in a spot for a full day and only take a handful of shots. He had learned to slow down, to see the smaller subtleties of life, to be patient and the results were that his work was truly magnificent.

Set aside a few hours this week to go and sit quietly in a pace in your town or city and watch the world go by. Don’t set yourself an agenda - just watch and when you see something worth photographing take the shot.

5 Black and White Photography Tips

Continuing the Black and White Photography theme we’ve been on lately in the latest forum assignment (where the photos featured in this post were submitted) I thought I’d share five pretty random Black and White Photography Tips.

1. Shoot in RAW

I know many readers of DPS can’t shoot in RAW (because their camera doesn’t offer it) or don’t shoot in RAW (because they either don’t know how or don’t like to) but for the most control in the post production phase of converting your color images into black and white ones - you’ll want to shoot in RAW if your camera does allow it. Of course shooting in JPEG doesn’t stop you shooting in black and white - but if it’s an option, give RAW a go, you might be surprised by what it offers you in post production. More on RAW vs JPEG here.

2. Shoot in Color

If your camera doesn’t allow you to shoot in RAW (or you choose not to) - shoot in color and do your conversion to black and white later on your computer.

While most digital cameras offer you the option to shoot in Black and White (and can produce some reasonable results) you have more control over your end results if you have the color data to work with in your conversion on your computer. (read more on the choice between shooting in black and white or post production conversion).

Update: There is an exception to shooting in Color and it’s when you’re taking note of point 1 above (shooting in RAW). When shooting in RAW and switching to Black and White mode you see your results in the LCD in black and white but the camera actually records all of the information (including color) - the best of both worlds. But if you’re shooting in JPEG - shoot in color and do the conversion later. Thanks to Joost (in comments) for the reminder to include this.

3. Low ISO

Shoot with the lowest possible ISO possible. While this is something that most of us do in color photography it is particularly important when it comes to black and white where noise created by ISO can become even more obvious. If you’re after this ‘noise’ (or grain) you can always add it later in your post production - but it’s harder to go the other way and take noise out.

4. When to Shoot

Many digital photographers actually prefer to shoot images for Black and White in low contrast situations. So an dark or overcast day can be a great time to shoot out door shots.

Ironically these are the days that those who shoot only in color sit at home complaining about the ‘poor light’. So next time you find yourself with a dark and gloomy day - shoot some black and white shots.

5. Composition

Most of the general tips on how to compose or frame a good shot apply just as well to black and white photography as they do when shooting in color - however the main obvious difference is that you’re unable to use color to lead the eye into or around your shot. This means you need to train yourself to look at shapes, tones and textures in your frame as points of interest. Pay particularly attention to shadows and highlights which will become a feature of your shot.