There are a few issues in photography that you can fix – noisy images, distractions in the background, white balance – but sharpening up a soft image can be a right royal pain.
Even with the wizardry of Unsharp Mask or the tools in Lightroom, you can only sharpen up an image so much before you start to get haloes (and other ungodly artefacts) appearing.
It’s far better to try and get the shot sharp to begin with, so here’s a five point checklist to keep things nice and crisp.
1) What to do with a still subject
This is the first big question to ask yourself. If the subject is still, you can consider using Single AF mode, and then moving the AF point to where you absolutely need the shot to be sharp – the eyes in a portrait, for example.
Or, you might want to consider manual focus, which comes in handy if your subject is quite indistinct, causing autofocus to ‘hunt’ as it tries to lock on to it.
Manual focus can also come in handy when taking pictures at night – traffic trails or fireworks for instance – as your AF can easily get distracted by other things in the scene.
When taking landscapes using manual focus, try focusing about a third of the way in and narrow the aperture for more depth of field. Don’t narrow it down excessively however, as diffraction can actually cause your shots to become softer.
SEE MORE
Master your camera’s autofocus (which AF points to use and when to use them)
Which AF points should be used with which subjects
2) What to do with a moving subject
For moving subjects, for example a bride walking down the aisle or a child running towards you, you are better off with continuous AF mode, also known as AI Servo on Canon cameras.
This enables the camera to track the subject, but again, you also need to carefully set the focus point over critical areas – the eyes with the bride or child, for example.
Continuous AF is very useful but there may be times when it might struggle to keep up with speedy targets. In this case, switch to Single AF and pre-focus on a place the target is moving to.
A fast-moving vehicle, a wild animal or a bird in flight/hovering are obvious examples.
SEE MORE: Moving targets – how to plot trajectory and beat camera shake
3) Is the shutter speed fast enough?
The old rule about the shutter speed needing to be at least one second divided by the focal length of the lens still broadly holds today – so if you were shooting with a 100mm lens the 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.
The arrival of larger sensors has complicated this somewhat, so try aiming for the next speed along to be on the safe side.
Image-stabilised lenses help, but don’t rely on them, particularly if you have a higher resolution full-frame SLR. So always keep the shutter speed up, but watch you don’t underexpose.
SEE MORE: Shutter speed in photography – how to capture anything that moves!
4) Is the ISO high enough?
There are times when you simply must increase the ISO to get a fast enough shutter speed in the available light conditions, so don’t be afraid to ramp up the settings, depending on the capability of your camera.
While you will notice noise when you zoom into an image taken on a higher ISO, it can usually be reduced quite dramatically at settings under, say, ISO3200, but even that is becoming a more common setting these days.
Certainly, you shouldn’t worry excessively about noise on images taken under ISO 1600, as even though it can be visible when magnfied on screen, the image can still print well.
SEE MORE: 6 things you don’t know about ISO, but probably should
5) Do you need a tripod?
Returning to image-stabilised lenses, they can give a false sense of security. As the shutter speed drops, a tripod will nearly always give you sharper results than shooting handheld, especially when combined with skillful focusing.
It’s a good idea to keep a lightweight tripod in the boot of your car or attach one to your rucksack so you can always call on a bit of extra support when needed.
At the very least, always carry a light tripod alternative, such as the Joby Gorrillapod or Delkin Fat Gecko.
SEE MORE: Why you need a tripod… and when to use it
See more great tutorials on getting images sharp
Getting sharp images: every technique you need to know starting out
How to calculate hyperfocal distance for sharp images from front to back
How to take sharp landscape photos
How to get sharp photos when using a telephoto lens
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