How To Take Sharp Photos
Getting sharp images is a major component of images that look and feel professional, so it’s so incredibly important to learn how to do it right!
Most new photographers get frustrated because their images constantly come out slightly soft and blurry, and they struggle to get the tack-sharp images they want. This is usually because they are either leaving most of the key choices up to the camera, or because they are focusing in the exact same way for everything they photograph.
In order to get photos that are tack sharp, you actually need to make conscious and informed decisions about your settings, and the techniques and strategies you use, and change these based on what your subject is, or what they’re doing. That way you get everything working together to get sharp images.
So let’s break down the 5 different components that go together to create sharp photos!
Aperture
The first element is Aperture.
When you first start out in photography it can be tempting to shoot at really wide apertures, but the problem is, it’s often simply too wide for the intended subject, and this is when your subject can look slightly soft and out of focus.
A short term solution to this is to try shooting with a slightly smaller aperture, which will give you a bit more wiggle room with your focus. Of course, the long term solution to this is - as with everything to do with photography - is educating yourself on all the factors that go into choosing the right aperture, so that you can get images to look exactly the way you want them to.
(Pssst! If you need some help choosing the right camera settings, be sure to download my free Manual Settings Cheat Sheet!)
Shutter Speed
The second aspect to consider is shutter speed, because you want to make sure that your shutter speed is high enough for the movement of your subject. This is particularly a problem for those who are still shooting on AUTO mode or even Aperture Priority mode) as in those cases, your camera is still choosing the shutter speed for you. In many cases, it will frequently pick far too slow a shutter speed for what you want to photograph, which will lead to slight motion blur in your images.
The bare minimum for a human subject is 1/125, and you want to increase that based on how fast your subject is moving. Again, there are a number of factors that go into choosing the right shutter speed, but getting this right will greatly improve the sharpness of your images.
Focusing Mode
Next up is focusing mode. You will have different focusing “modes” on your camera, and each mode is suited to different types of photography.
These modes are called Al Servo / AF-C, which is the mode suitable for moving subjects, and One Shot / AF-S, which is suitable for still subjects.
Making sure you use the right one can make all the difference, so change this based on what you are photographing, and the focusing technique you are using.
Focusing Technique
The next element is to check whether you are using the right focusing technique, such as focus recompose or manual focus select. Both can be used, but for the most part, I recommend that you use manual focus select and choose your own focus point. This will give you sharper focus, because you’re taking control of where focus lands, rather than your camera.
Focusing Strategies
When you are ready to get more advanced, you’ll want to learn some different focusing strategies too. For example, I would focus differently on a couple walking down the aisle toward me than I would a child jumping off a rock into a lake, and another strategy for a child who is moving erratically.
When you learn each of these elements and how to put them together correctly you’ll go from being a fumbling and frustrated photographer to a confident and empowered photographer, because you’ll be choosing the right camera settings at the right time.
