It is sooo frustrating when it looks like you have an AMAZING picture on the back of your camera then you get it on your computer and it’s NOT sharp. When your photos are not as sharp as you want them, there are several different possibilities of things that could be going wrong! These are the three things I would look into first to shoot sharper photos!
Check your Lens
Not all lenses (or camera bodies) are created equally. The standard lenses that come with start up dslrs (18-55, 55-100) are not very sharp. You can upgrade to a nifty fifty (cheap 50mm lens) and just in that slight upgrade you’ll see a huge difference. If you really want to have the sharpest quality of photos, upgrade to professional grade lenses. You can find these from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Sigma, Tamron and more.
My sharpest lenses are: 35mm art 1.4 and 85 mm art 1.4 by Sigma. Available for Canon or Nikon.
Along with purchasing high quality lenses, you also may need to calibrate your lens to your camera body. Especially when using Tamron or Sigma, your camera will need to be adjusted for the lens. I typically take it to a local to calibrate for me, but it’s VERY simple and can be done in a few minutes. Once I even had to do it on an airplane because my lens seemed off and I had a shoot right when I got off the plane!
What is your Shutter Speed?
The BIGGEST issue I see with sharpness lies in this category: shutter speed. When you are hand holding a camera (not using a tripod) and taking pictures of subjects that move (or breath), your shutter speed needs to be fast enough to capture the subject without picking up shake or movement.
When hand holding your camera or taking pictures of subjects that are alive, you should always be AT LEAST 1/125, but I try to be 1/200 or 1/2xlength of lens. For example, if I’m using my 200mm, I shoot for 1/400.
Focus Problems
There are so many ways to focus. It can get confusing. If you have a quick hand and amazing eye, you can manually focus by spinning the focus on your lens. (Not recommended.) If you want 0 control over where your camera focuses, you can keep auto select on. (Also not recommended)
The best way I’ve found to focus is manually-selecting the point you want your camera to auto-focus on. It sounds confusing, but basically you have ONE point in your camera that is for focusing and then you can either move your camera or the point (with arrows) to put over where you want to focus in a photo.To avoid your camera choosing your focus point for you, you need to switch your camera to manual select focus points. (note: this does not work in Auto mode.) This does not mean you’re switching to manual focus, just manual selection. You can still use your camera’s autofocus, but this allows you to choose which part of the picture you want your camera to autofocus on.
Along with manual selection, back button focusing can assist in creating sharp photos and finding/keeping focus FAST. In the simplest terms Back Button Focus is using one of your buttons on the back of your camera to focus. Once you turn ON a back button for focusing you turn OFF the shutter button for focusing. Now the back button focuses and the shutter button simply takes the picture. You aren’t refocusing when you try to take the picture resulting in more missed focused and confusion. My focus area stays in the middle of my camera. I click the back button to focus on someone or something in that middle area. When I release my finger from the back button and I can move, but the focus does not. I can easily focus, recompose my composition and click my shutter to take the shot.
How to Shoot Sharper Photos
Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
August 17, 2017
Kylee Maughan
