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Shooting for Sharp Shots How to Take ’em, How to Create ’em
Rick Sammon for PMAI
 Sharp lenses, low ISO settings, direct lighting and subjects with fine detail are elements that help us get sharp shots. (Photograph © Rick Sammon) |
Most of us strive to take the sharpest possible picture, capturing the fine detail of a subject with our cameras. However, despite our best efforts, we don’t always get the sharpest shots.
In this month’s column I’d like to offer some food for thought on shooting sharp shots.
To begin, the quality of a lens affects the sharpness of a picture. Usually, you get what you pay for: as the price of a lens increases, so does the quality. However, even if you have the best lens on the planet, you can still get a soft picture. A fingerprint on the front element of the lens or filter can soften a picture. Also, direct light falling on the front element/filter can make a picture look soft, which is why a lens hood is recommended for outdoor shooting.
Teleconverters for SLR lenses can affect the sharpness of a picture. With some manufacturers, 2x telecoverters are not as sharp as 1.4x teleconverters. What’s more, expensive teleconverters often produce sharper pictures (especially around the edges of the frame) than more affordable teleconverters.
Grain in film, and noise in a digital image, can affect how sharp a picture looks. The higher the ISO film speed or ISO digital setting, the more grain or digital noise you’ll get in your pictures. This, in turn, will reduce image sharpness. Camera shake, caused by using a slow shutter speed, can also make a picture look soft. For best results in low light, use a tripod or a flash for sharp shots.
The detail in a subject also affects how sharp a picture will look. A photograph of a scene with a lot of detail, say a close-up of a flower, will appear sharper than a picture of clouds in the sky. Also, strong, directional lighting can make a subject appear sharper.
The quality of a filter can make the difference between a sharp and soft picture, too. Use a good (usually expensive) filter, and it will not affect picture sharpness. Use an inexpensive filter, and your pictures may look soft.
Many digital cameras offer an in-camera sharpening option. Boosting the sharpness will make a picture look sharper, but I don’t recommend in-camera sharpening. Why? Because if you over sharpen an image, especially one with a wide contrast range, you’ll have a hard time – if not an impossible time – getting the picture to look “normal” later in the digital darkroom.
Speaking of sharpening, digital image editing programs such as Adobe ® Photoshop ® Elements, offer a sharpening effect.
Sharpening a soft picture in your computer can make it sharper. However, you can’t transform an out-of-focus picture into a sharp picture. If you try, your picture will look very pixilated. Pictures taken using a digital zoom lens setting (as opposed to the optical zoom lens setting) can look pixilated, too. Try not to use the digital zoom lens setting. A better idea is to do what photographers did before zoom lenses were invented: zoom with your feet!