HOW TO GET CRAZY SHARP PHOTOS WITH ANY CAMERA!

Have you ever wondered how to take sharp photos?

As an amateur photographer myself, I know how frustrating it can be to come home with blurry or soft images, even when you feel like you've done everything right.

But don't worry, I've learned a few tricks that I think can help you get crazy sharp photographs with any camera and lens.

#photography #photographytips #landscapephotography

[ian_lewono]

"but be careful, the higher you go the more noise and grain you'll start to see " unless you intentionally overexpose the subject and reduce it in post to hide that noise. I've shoot night track races at ISO 16, 000 on a crop sensor DSLR and you can't see noise unless you pixel peep. It's called ETTR or expose to the right (of the histogram)

I should also mention that shooting wide open at f/1.4 or f/4 isn't going to give you the best results optically, most lenses perform best at f/8-f/10 meaning chromatic aberration and lens softening will be less at those apertures.

[jeielshamblee]

A pitfall of shooting wide open is that DoF can be so shallow that often a camera will focus at infinity and many photographers will not notice. You can still get nice photos at infinity focus with a well built lens. You will just be missing out on a little sharpness.

[danielho]

Other techniques to add:
-- (for SL/DSL): Mirror lockup w/ 2 second shutter timer (on tripod). Remember to cover the eyepiece to not let light in.
-- (for mirrorless): 2 second shutter timer (on tripod) or remote shutter release
-- watch for lens flare -- shade lens
-- (for mirrorless): use focus peaking to help determine focus and depth of field
-- a monopod may suffice if you can't setup a tripod

[martin]

One thing I've learned is to hold steady through the shot. Have the mindset that after I snap the image, I won't move for about 2 seconds. Sometimes, we tend to jerk the camera once we snap the picture. So I'm holding still through the picture.

[herwigvercauteren]

A very important subject was not touched in the video : when using a tripod also use the 2 sec. or 10 sec. timer of the camera, or use a cable release. 😉

[davidogilvie]

At 14:30 the video shows you dusting off a camera lens that is pointed upward. The problem with that is that the dust particles tend to get pushed into the lens mounting. A better way is to point the lens downward while doing this, so gravity helps the particles to fall away from the lens.

[GototheMountain-gn]

I’ll add one more tip that has worked for me when doing handheld shots: Use your highest frame rate to take multiple shots. Most might be soft or blurry, but one or two (by pure luck!) will be tack sharp.

[Laiquatan]

Great video, thank you - nice and clear summing up the factors. One other thing I think could be valuable for new photographers to keep in the back of their minds for static subjects like landscapes: if the 'focusing 1/3 the way into the scene' doesn't give you enough front to back sharpness, focus stacking can give you as much depth-of-field as you want. A bit more involved than the other tips you covered but potentially a scene-saver if depth-of-field is giving troubles.

[markjones]

I once got bogged down with sharpness and would only use lenses at their sweet-spot and with hyperfocal settings, and took some insanely sharp images, which I hated as using those techniques basically takes away all the artistic elements of photography and makes it more of a mathematical process, after years of shooting 35mm manual slr with prime lenses I never struggle with settings though, it's all intuitive and that's why I love shooting Fuji as they don't have PASM which I've never been a huge fan of, they have their own version of it of course, but it's far less intrusive and I have everything set to manual at all times anyway as I find no need for any auto settings when shooting landscapes.

[tawandamachona]

Great advice, if I can add on a bit. if you want to be a good photographer always practice with very old gear, I'm talking about the very first generations of digital cameras. A lot of people do not manage to grasp the interrelatedness of the photographing parameters due to how "smart" modern cameras have become. With old gear you learn about these parameters better. Modern cameras do so much by themselves in good conditions but when conditions go bad a lot of photographers lose it. Extra tip, make it habit of exercising your arms especially if you do a lot hand held photography, get a light set of bumbells and work those arms out, the arm muscles become much more steadier.

[SteveDisenhof]

Generally a good video for beginning photographers. However, it does promote the trope that iso is a measure of sensor sensitivity. In fact, iso is controlled by a downstream amplifier. All the sensor does is count electrons that have been generated by photons of light. I’d like to see any video that discusses noise get this right so that photographers can understand where noise actually comes from.

[peterdisbury]

Another TIP a PRO Shared with me in regards to the SHUTTER BUTTON, is to set the timer at 2 sec then lock focus, tap the shutter and wait for it to go off....VOILA. Of course, don't move the camera until the shutter is finished..😂😂
This has worked every time for me and I now use it for landscapes, low light, street, real estate stills, auto shows and anything NON MOVING.

[franciedavis]

I found your video while searching for Nikon P950 tutorials. The words "crazy sharp" caught my attention, so I watched. You just taught me things I've been trying to understand for years! And you made it sound so easy. Thank you! You have a new subscriber here!

[losendos]

Great video! I would add using a remote firing device when your camera is mounted on a tripod.

[hoonior]

This is the first video from you that I've seen. It was perfectly pitched, useful for absolute beginners and those with some experience. You've got a new subscriber and i look forward to going back through your catalogue. Thank you🙂

[paularger]

This is a good video! I have to point out two things though. All lenses are sharp - you just need to know it’s limitations and how to use it to your advantage. Also, stopping down to f16 can cause diffraction and can lead to just as soft an image as shooting wide open. I like your style and your clarity - very informative. Please keep up the good work!

[tremaincheerful]

Such excellent information, well organized, explained in a congenial and easy to understand way. Subscribed immediately.

[GototheMountain-gn]

Nicely done, thank you! Great explanations and I really like your engaging style. If only I would run through a checklist like this instead of thinking, “I got this!” And then realizing later I didn’t get it.

[TitusEmakoua]

what are you using to record this video? camera and lense please?

[Minotaurus]

Perfect advice, great teacher! - However, here are some additional techniques we can use.
1. Use a Monopod - when a tripod is not handy enough. This can reduce shaking a lot.
2. Use image stabilisation - most cameras have this feature anyway.
3. Be careful when you do focus-and-recompose, especially with a DSLR and a wide aperture: recomposing moves the focal plane!!! And suddenly the tack sharp eye is out of focus. It took me a long time to identify this problem, especially when shooting people.
The easiest way to solve this is to reduce the aperture. However, esp. in people photography you want to shoot wide open.
With mirror-less cameras you simply move the focus-point to where the models' eye is (on a DSLR the area of focus-points is often too small).
-Mino