Getting Sharp Images
Have you thought of joining one of our photographic workshops? Elsewhere in these Photo Tips we've had a look at the different camera types and what they can do as well as some basic composition . But getting all this stuff right is of little importance if the image is not sharp and I would hazard a guess that more photographs are discarded because they are not sharp than for any other reason. Of course many photographers use blur in their photographs to create certain effects and it can be a very impressive and emotive technique but what I am talking about here is the unintentional blur or lack of sharpness. This can also be emotive but at great cost to the photographer's blood pressure levels! There are three main reasons for loss of sharpness: Poor lenses, bad focus and – the biggest culprit of all – camera movement.  The first is the easiest to fix and the simple answer here is to get the best lens you possibly can. There are many very cheap lenses on the market and while a “do everything, low priced” zoom lens may seem attractive, those with good optics are very few and far between. There is a good reason for professional photographers using the best lenses and that is that they get the best results from them. I'm not suggesting that everyone needs the top of the range, fastest, most expensive lens but it would be better to get a good second-hand prime lens from a reputable dealer that an el cheapo zoom simply because of its price. Focus is also pretty easy to fix. All it needs is a little care and knowledge of your camera – read the instruction manual. Howick. KwaZulu Natal.Manual focus cameras usually have a focussing aid of some form in the centre of the viewfinder, whether it be the split image type or a fresnel screen. Use these aids and make sure that the most important part of the picture that you intend to take is in focus. For live subjects this is usually the eyes but if you are photographing scenery or something else then it will most often be the point or points of interest. On auto focus cameras, which usually have the auto focus target in the centre of the viewfinder, the trick is to first focus on your subject and then, while holding the shutter release button down on the focus position, compose the picture and release the shutter. Remember that many of the auto focus systems used on point and shoot cameras don't allow them to focus through glass. So if you are photographing through a glass window, the window will be in focus and not your subject. And then there is camera movement. This is the biggie! The bottom line here is that in order to take photographs with no blur in them the camera (and the subject for that matter) needs to be kept perfectly still at the point the shutter is released. The rule for hand holding cameras is that the shutter speed should not be slower than the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens. Now all this means is that if you are using a 300mm lens then the shutter speed set on the camera should not be less than 1/300 of a second. On most cameras one would therefore set 1/500 of a second. By the same token if the focal length of the lens attached to the camera is 100mm then we would be looking at nothing slower that 1/100 of a second and the closest faster speed than this would be 1/125. But one still has to be careful to keep the camera steady. Keep you arms tucked in against your sides, get comfortable (those elaborate, “professional” looking poses don't work anyway), relax and squeeeeeze off that shutter release button. DON'T push it – squeeze it.  There
will be many occasions that it is simply not possible to follow the
reciprocal rule above and in any case these is no substitute for
placing the camera on a solid surface for keeping it steady. The
obvious one here is to use a tripod and like so much in photography it
pays to get a good one. A cheap, light, small, steady tripod is very
much like an elephant with wings – non-existent! Even the
slightest breeze will have the camera shaking all over the place. If
you are using long shutter speeds even the effect of you squeezing the
shutter button can induce a significant amount of vibration -
that is why the cable release was invented. If you don't have one then
use the self-timer. By the time the picture is taken the camera will
have stopped vibrating. Tripods are all very well and there can be no
substitute in many instances but they can be an absolute nightmare if
you are trying to use one in a car! Sure you get those nifty
little brackets that clip onto the window but one of the most simple,
cheap (yes cheap) and effective of all supports is the humble beanbag.
All you do is place it on the windowsill of the car, for example, and
rest the camera on it. I've found that one about 250mm square, made
from good quality T-shirt material is a good size. For those that
travel by air a zip along one of the edges means that you don't have to
carry around 2kg of beans with you and when you get to your
destination it can be filled with a suitable filling. Wild birdseed is
about the best filling, rice is not bad and lentils are also pretty
good. For lightness (the hikers out there) sunflower seed works
reasonably well.If there's something that you would like to read about in this column or questions you have , feel free to contact me on e-mail at info@africaimagery.com . I will try to get back to you but things sometimes get a little hectic around here so please forgive me if I don't. It will, though, help to give me an idea of what you want to know |
Email us for information on commercial and personal use of images