How To Get SHARP Photos In Camera

Wondering how to get sharp photos? In this short tutorial I will help you understand depth of field and common mistakes to avoid, so you can create sharp photos every time.

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Tags:

New Zealand, Landscape, Photography, Tutorial, Sharpness, Sharpening, William, Patino, Learn, How To,

[don]

Another great video/ You need to be connecting with some of the more viewed youtubers, because your content is better than a lot of theirs, and you definitely deserve a lot more eyeballs on your videos. There seems to be some cliques of content creators who help pump each others' content.

[lphilpot]

You may have mentioned this and my apologies if so (I'm watching after eating Sunday lunch and suffering from food coma LOL). If your scene is all at infinity, take advantage of the luxury of your lens' sharpest aperture range. Even though you' re focusing far into the distance, there's no DOF issues (as you mentioned) so open up to about three stops above widest. On a typical f/4 lens that might be f/5.6 to f/8 or so, where it's inherently sharpest. Plus you'll gain more light for a faster shutter.

[markgoostree]

On a few rare occasions, I find I've made a sharp image.... accidentally. I think I need to keep your points in mind, slow down a bit, make sure I've got the settings proper.... THEN make the shot. Maybe then those sharper images will come around more often. Thanks. Make me think about the process.

[Robert-kowr]

This was another excellent video. I've been shooting for 50+ years of film and now digital and your's is the VERY BEST explanation of sharpness I've ever listened to. You are a very good teacher with photos that further explain what you are saying. For me you prove the rule: If I want to be a better photographer? Seek out photographers who shoot better than me. Easy advice since I found your channel. Of course I don't have your breathtaking views but that's ok. I get to see what you see through your photographs. Thanks for sharing, always learn something new watching you. It's like a mini-course. Keep doing what you are doing.

[BecomingLizzyBlue]

One of the best videos I’ve seen. So many discussions of speed and aperture are too basic and fail to mention other factors such as distance and focal length. Took me a while to realize that even 6.3 or 7.1 may not keep the entire image sharp. Part of it may have to do with the type of photography they specialize in. I think portrait photographers sometimes forget that we don’t always want a shallow depth of field.

[louisburley]

Another tip that helps me if I’m in a scenario where I don’t have a tripod/ time to set up one.

If you’re going to have something out of focus it will look better if it looks like you intentionally have it out of focus. Open up to F4 and really blur the foreground (especially if you’re shooting through the grass).

I try to tell myself that even though I do get caught up in the sharpness thing all too often myself.

I’ve talked myself into upgrading to the A7RV when I can just for the ease of focus bracketing xD.

It’s a struggle. I appreciate this video William!

[laurelb]

You have explained this so well, many fail to talk about dof and appropriate shutter speeds. Thank you so much 👏

[LeeAllen]

Practice, practice, practice. Go out and use your camera as much as you can. You'll get better as you put the hours in, I promise.

[alanm.]

Good job Bill. People need to answer a couple of questions at the outset: who is your target audience, and, how are you going to display your images. If you primarily make exposures that will be viewed online, then there is no need to shell out countless dollars for equipment you don’t need. I have great images printed as 24x36” that were made with a point and shoot camera…on a tripod. Follow Bill’s recommendations and you might be surprised how well your existing equipment will do the job for you. PS: a tripod is also a discipline tool…it makes you stop and think in this ‘snap and go’ smartphone world. Think quality, not quantity. And devote more time to practising.

[denisesavage]

Good sound insights there Will. Especially that last bit. Sometimes if we get hung up on it all, we lose the fun, play and creativity of photography which is what many of us really enjoy.

[carbybirett]

Another good video, you are a very good teacher and I really appreciate your calm way of speaking it's just great.

[williammurray]

Excellent! I wish this video was out two years ago when I started getting serious about photography.

[Andyhutchinson]

Great advice as always mate. Great to see Bombo in the thumb, as well :)

[theolinol]

Big help especially with where to focus, thanks Will

[aerozg]

If you are just shooting for fun don't get obsessed with sharpness. If it's a job, then perfect technical quality in the files will be expected. Things get more complicated when you have to shoot in harsh light/mid-day conditions and have to use ND filters and so on. On the other end, low light conditions bring challenges of their own. Focus stacking and focus breathing can also give you a headache. Get to know your gear first, your camera and sensor, and then your lenses. Do a lot of testing to see how it behaves in different conditions and scenarios. Once you understand the technical side, you can move on to the creative part, like composition and shaping the light etc.

[johnchambers]

Great practical advice Will and as always very well explained. In this video there were stunning images that I don't believe that you have shown in other videos before.

[larrywales]

Thanks Man, great video. I will keep practicing at my DOF. It's the only way to learn it.

[SaraWC]

I luv your videos so much, you just make sense to me, I think I try to hard sometimes & just need to keep practicing & having fun ❤️🙏

[rosssayer]

Even though it's a short video they are always helpful to the Amateur so many thanks William for sharing that with us. Unfortunately I'm one of those shaky people so the tripod is my best mate, I do hand hold but when I can get a post or tree to lean against/support. the images you showed during the helpful info were just brilliant. Look forward to next week.

[davidburchettephotography]

Good discussion about sharpness/focus.

There are many examples of excellent images that are not sharp everywhere in the image. If the artist (photographer) is wanting the viewer to focus on a particular subject in the image having other areas a bit (or even a lot) out of focus can help force the viewer to ‘focus’ on the intended subject.