The most important ingredient for a spectacular photograph is to be sharply in focus. Even the slightest blur takes away from the picture, no matter how good the subject, lighting and color.
Photographers have somewhat varying opinions on what constitutes a tack sharp picture, but generally, a tack sharp photograph has good, clean lines. The picture has clear definition, instead of a soft blending of lines, or even downright blurry.
There are several things you can do to increase your chances of getting that coveted tack sharp picture.
Hand-Held Digital Photography Tips
If you’re hand-holding your camera, brace your arms against your sides to help steady the camera.If your camera has anti-shake technology like Vibration Reduction (VR) or Image Stabilization (IS) lens, this is the time to have it turned on.
You can also lean against a wall or tree or whatever sturdy object that’s handy, and help keep yourself and your camera steady.Putting you camera against or on some readily available sturdy object will also help steady the camera.
Steadying your camera by hooking the strap under your elbow and wrapping the rest around your forearm will also help stabilize the camera and hold it steady in your hand.
Getting those tack sharp photos while hand-holding your camera can be difficult, so to increase your chances of getting that perfect shot, use the burst or continuous shooting mode on your camera to take several shots at once.Taking several pictures in quick sequence should increase the chances of one of them being in sharp focus.
Tripods For Better Focus
There’s no getting around the fact that it’s easier to get a tack sharp photo using a tripod.A person just can't keep a camera as still and steady as a tripod does.With most photography equipment, you get what you pay for, and a tripod is no different.It's just a fact a more expensive tripod will generally hold the camera much steadier than a cheap one does.To get the best results, buy the best tripod you can reasonably afford.
The more expensive tripods don’t come with the head attached.It must be bought separately, but that gives you the opportunity to choose what you like best.A quality ballheads are a good investment for your tripod, as it will keep your camera firmly in place so the picture stays sharply in focus.
If you’re somewhere that carrying a tripod just won’t work, beanbags make a nice cushion for cameras in these settings.By cushioning your camera, the beanbag will help steady it and keep the picture sharp. It also helps you situate the camera to get just the photo you want.
To improve your chances of a tack sharp photo even more, use a cable release instead of pressing the shutter.The movement from pressing the shutter may not seem like much, but it shakes the camera enough to prevent getting a tack sharp picture.
If you don’t have a cable release, the self timer will also work.It means that although you press the shutter manually, the camera has time to stabilize before actually taking hte picture.
More Advanced Digital Photography Secrets For Sharp Shots
If you have a digital SLR camera, there are even more ways to make sure your camera stays steady while taking pictures.
The first is to use mirror lock-up.The camera's mirror is locked in the up position. Thus when you take a picture the mirror doesn't move until after the picture is taken, and that limits the movement inside the camera. This means to take a picture, you will have to press the shutter release button twice on your remote or cable release (you’re not going to all this trouble and pressing the shutter release on the camera are you?). The first press lifts the mirror and the second press actually takes the picture.
The second method is to turn off the Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization. That may sound counter productive, but when you’ve stabilized your camera with a tripod and other methods, the vibration reduction keeps looking for shakes/movements.Vibration reduction can actually cause some shaking by looking for movement that isn't there. A good rule of thumb is to keep these turned off when shooting with a tripod, and only turn them on when you’re hand-holding the camera.
One last way to increase the sharpness of your pictures is to have good glass.It makes a big difference which lens you use. A quality lens with good glass is more expensive of course, but it’s another instance of getting what you pay for.It's an investment in fantastic photography.
Use as many methods as you can to steady your camera, and you’ll have a much better chance of getting those lovely tack sharp photographs.