Easy Tips for Taking Sharper Photos!

This is the final post about taking sharper images! I hope you're excited to try some of these final, general tips; they will change your photo life. Blurry photos are the worst. They aren't doing anyone a favor, so listen up. If you haven't read my previous posts in this series about taking shaper images, check them out here:

• Understanding Your Focus Modes

• Understanding Your Focus Area Modes and Focus Points

• Back Button Focusing for Sharper Images

When it comes to understanding how to take sharp photos it is sometimes easier to think about WHY our photos are coming out blurry. Why, why, why??! Here are some reasons why your photos aren't as clear as you'd like them to be:

• Your shutter speed is too slow, causing movement to show. 

• You are shooting too wide open (your f/stop is low, giving you a small plane for focusing).

• There's not enough light in your scene.

• Your ISO is a little too high (showing grain).

• You are causing camera shake.

• You aren't using the best Autofocus setting for your subject. 

Shutter Speed

Let's start with shutter speed. There's a general rule-of-thumb that if you are hand-holding your camera, you should shoot at a shutter speed equal to or greater than focal length of the lens to avoid camera shake. For example, if you are shooting with a 50mm lens, you want your shutter speed to be at least 1/50th of a second to avoid showing the shakiness (...is that a word? If not, is in my book) of your hands. For any camera with a cropped sensor (most beginner DSLR camera bodies) you'll calculate 1.5 x focal length of your lens. SO for a 50mm lens, I'd need a minimum shutter speed of 1/75th. 

Another thing to think about is your subject and whether it is moving or not. The tips about shutter speed above are useful for anything stationary. Once you take into account how fast your subject matter might be moving, you will need a faster shutter speed to freeze motion. There are many situations where showing motion is the goal; but we're talking about SHARP photos here.

To freeze motion, I usually start by playing it safe around 1/250th. This works well for family photo shoots when kids are wiggly but may not be sprinting in a full-blown race. If I want to freeze motion of a kid being tossed in the air, I'd like to shoot at 1/400th or something higher to be sure it's sharp. Consider your scenario, and if freezing motion is key, raise your shutter speed as high as you can without having your ISO setting too high (results in a grainy photo) or your aperture going too wide (lower aperture lets in more light). Read more about shutter speed here. 

Aperture

Shooting wide open (lower aperture, such as f/2.8) isn't necessarily wrong, it just limits what is in focus. This creates a shallow depth of field, so only a small plane of your image will be in focus when you take a photo. If you are going to use a low aperture, be sure you get your focal point spot on. For help with focusing tips, read my first two articles mentioned above! Learn more about aperture here. Most lenses are the sharpest a few stops up from wide open (the lowest f/stop setting). If I have a 35mm f/1.8 lens, the images I take between f/2.8-f/5 will be more crisp than at f/1.8. I shot this photo at f/3.5 and focused exactly on the right eye to make sure they were as sharp as can be. For portraits it's crucial to try and get the eyes in focus. 

ISO

When it comes to ISO, we know that the lower our ISO number is, such as ISO 100, the higher quality our images will have or the sharper they will be. Higher ISO settings, like ISO 6400, let in more light but show more grain. Read more about ISO here. 

Autofocus

You can't rely on your camera to pick the perfect focus point for you automatically. If you are wanting a particular part of your scene, someone's face or even just the eyes in focus, you need to select the focus point using my tips in the articles mentioned above. Camera's have to guess and sometimes the result isn't what you want. For this photo below, I shot at f/2.8 and manually selected the focus point to be right on the product (the bracelet). It's completely sharp because my subject was still, I had plenty of light in this studio to use a fast shutter speed and a lower ISO, and I used the right Autofocus setting to get accurate focus. If I had my camera choose the focus, it probably would have focused on her sweater, making the bracelet fall out of focus. 

I hope you've learned a few tips to carry with you as you try to take sharper photos. Get out there and practice a few of these techniques and you are bound to have better results! If you have any other questions about how to take sharp photos, head to my contact page and let me know. 

PIN THESE TIPS!

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Road to Sharp Images - Back Button Focusing!

Who is excited for more tips to get sharper photos?! If you missed my first two articles in this series, click here and then click here to catch up. I am going to talk about back button focusing today and how it is another pretty SWEET step towards taking sharper photos! This little trick can save you from just missing your sharp focal point, due to moving subjects. If you are trying to photograph still life subjects, this may not be a drastic improvement or technique for you. If you're like me, and take portraits of people, especially little people, this helps a TON. It is also very helpful for sports and wildlife photography. 

First let's explain how it works and why it is beneficial to use this feature. Back button focusing (BBF) can separate the Autofocus activation from the shutter release button. Normally, if we press the shutter release button half way, our camera will focus and then we take the photo by pressing it all the way. You can hold down the BBF button while a subject is moving and use the shutter button to capture the image at just the right moment; there's no need to keep pressing the shutter half way to get the shot you want! In a nutshell, your thumb can work the Autofocusing while your index finger only has to focus on taking the perfect shot.  By separating these two functions, we can also lock focus by pressing the BBF button and recompose our subject as many times as we need to (moving your subject to different sides of your frame, not having your subject move forward or backward). 

Now I will show you where we find this magic button, and how to set your camera up for back button focusing. Most higher end DSLRs come with an AF-ON button, dedicated entirely to back button focusing. If you don't have this button and you shoot with a Nikon, look for the AE-L/AF-L button. You'll have to set this button to act as your back button focus. Head to your MENU, and go under the pencil icon for your 'custom settings menu'. Go to 'controls' and select 'Assign AE-L/AF-L button'. Then choose 'AF-ON'. After this you'll have to tell your camera to take a photo even if the focus wasn't achieved. Go to 'custom settings menu' and choose 'autofocus'. Go to 'AF-C priority selection' and 'AF-S priority selection' and make sure they are both on 'release'. Your back button focus should be set to go!

On Canon cameras, your back button focusing button will either be the AF-ON or AE-LOCK (marked by an *) button. If you don't have an AF-ON button, you'll also have to set your * button to tell it what to do. On a Canon Custom Function menu, look for a 'Shutter/AE Lock button'. In this menu you'll probably look for a 'Metering Start/Meter + AF start' (no that doesn't make any sense but that's what they named it)! There are different ways for setting this correctly, depending on which model you have. I recommend checking your manual for exact instructions. It is also important to remember that this only works when shooting in a Creative Mode, not on an Auto mode. 

Here's a scenario where BBF would be very helpful to achieve sharp focus. 

In this scenario, my subjects are moving towards me. If I were to press my shutter half way to focus, in even a fraction of a second they will move closer to me; this would cause them to be out of focus. Even if they are slightly out of focus, our goal is to have SHARP images. BBF allows me to focus separately, freeing up my shutter to take the photo right at the exact moment I want to. For moving subjects, it is helpful to shoot on a Dynamic mode such as AF-C (Nikon) or Ai-Servo (Canon) while back button focusing on a moving subject. In this case, you'll keep your thumb pressing the BBF button and let your camera track your moving subject while you press the shutter at the right moment. 

If you want to shoot a self-portrait or use a timer/remote, you can simply press the BBF button once to lock the focus and when the shutter is released, your focus won't change. BBF can definitely make photographing certain scenarios more simple.   

Give back button focusing a try! It might take a few days to practice and get the hang of it, but I promise it can be a game changer for you like it is for me. 

PIN THIS TIP FOR YOUR FRIENDS!

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Road to Sharp Images - Understanding Focus Area Modes & Focus Points

Every DSLR camera is equipped with focus points. Focus points help the camera detect contrast, which (to make a long story short), help the camera focus on a scene more accurately. Some of these are regular vertical AF sensor points and some come with a newer cross-type technology. The cross-type sensors detect contrast vertically and horizontally, which means that the more cross-type AF sensors your camera has, the more efficient your Autofocus will be. It's also helpful to know that the more AF points your camera has, the better focusing results you'll get with moving subjects. 

AF-Area Modes

On my Nikon D7000, I change this setting by pressing this button and scrolling my front wheel dial. 

On an entry-level Canon DSLR, you might change this setting by pressing this button and then selecting your Focus Area Mode. If you're unsure about your camera, check your camera's manual. 

Single-Point AF-Area 

Known as Single Point (Nikon) or Manual AF Point (Canon), this mode uses one focus point (one specific area) that you choose to focus on your subject. This mode is great for precision. It's as simple as that. Here's what it looks like when you do Manual point selection on a Canon screen; only one focus point is activated.

Dynamic AF-Area 

Known as Dynamic (Nikon) or AF Point Expansion (Canon) mode, you first choose the single focus point; once focus is achieved on that area, you can pan (or follow) your subject, trying to keep it close to the focus point. Your camera will then try and help you track the focus, by using the surrounding points. This mode works really well for moving subjects. You can also choose how many focus points you want to use; every camera is different and has a different number of these points. If you want to track a small area of the scene, you can choose a smaller number of focus points. If you want to track a subject using the whole viewfinder, you should pick the highest number of tracking points. See my example below.  

3D-Tracking Mode

Some DSLRs have a 3D-Tracking Mode, where you pick the focus point and your camera will automatically activate as many focus points as needed to have an efficient way of tracking your moving subject. It uses a color-recognition technology so you can recompose, while it tracks, for instance, a red car driving down the street or a white bird flying around birds that might be black. The difference between 3D and Dynamic Mode is that you choose the area you want to focus in Dynamic Mode. 

Here's an example of what the different Focus Modes look like on a Nikon (image source from Nikon).

It can be a little confusing to remember how our Focus Modes and Focus Area Modes work. Hopefully these posts help you understand how your Autofocus system works a little better. Try some of these different settings and see which Focus Area Modes work best for you, your subject matter and your camera!

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Road to Sharp Images - Understanding Your Focus Modes

This first post is going to be part of a series where I will teach you how to get tack-sharp images. There are many helpful tips, but before we dive straight into it we need to understand our focusing modes. I am going to cover the four basic focus modes that come with a Nikon and Canon camera. To find out how to change these modes, please check out and review my video walk through about camera settings, or read your camera's manual. 

Single Shot Mode

This mode is known as One-Shot AF (for Canon) or AF-S (for Nikon). This focus mode is used for objects that are mostly stationary, or to gain control of your single focus point. It is also used for selecting the focus (by pressing your shutter release button down half way) and will allow you to recompose your image. I shoot in this mode 95% of the time and I find that it allows me to have the most control over what is in focus in my image. I love it.

My Nikon viewfinder looks something like this below, one box will outline in red and I can move my selected focus point using the arrows on the back right of my camera (the same arrows used to scroll through your image playback). 

This is what a Canon viewfinder might look like. 

I find Single Shot focus mode very helpful when I'm shooting with a shallow depth of field. 

Active or Continuous Focus Mode

On a Canon camera, this setting is known as Al-Servo and on a Nikon it is known as AF-C. This setting will continuously track your focus point and readjusts as a subject moves across the frame. Simply press your shutter half way to focus on your subject, and when it moves, it will track your subject until you are ready to snap the photo. It's not fail proof, but the camera activates the focusing points and works to keep focusing on a moving subject. I like using this for sports.

Auto Focus Mode

The auto focus mode on a Canon is called Al-Focus AF and on a Nikon it is AF-A. This setting will allow your camera to choose the focus mode, based on what it sees (whether a subject is stationary or moving). It sort of combines the Single-Shot and Continuous modes. Your camera will usually focus on what is predominately filling your viewfinder, or it will focus on the subject that is closest to you. It's best to only leave it on this mode if it is obvious what your subject is, and the surroundings are not very distracting.

Manual Focus

Sometimes if your scene doesn't have enough contrast, or if it is getting dark, you'll hear your camera searching to grab focus. If it's struggling to lock focus, you can switch to manual focus and use the ring on your lens to manually select the focus. It's important to check the dial on your lens to be sure that it doesn't get bumped to manual focus, unless you are intentionally wanting to focus manually. Once it a while I'll accidentally hit this and wonder why my images are blurry. Your autofocus modes won't work correctly if this switch is on manual! 

Hopefully your AF Modes make more sense to you now; these modes dictate how your lens will focus. On Thursday, we'll cover the AF Area Modes which tells your camera where it will focus! 

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Feature Friday - Devan Jacobsen from Devan Rae Photography

I am so honored to be featured here today! When Alise asked me, I was so excited to share! My name is Devan Jacobsen, owner of Devan Rae Photography. I am married to an amazing man, Spencer. We have two lovely children, a 3.5 year old little boy & a 1.5 year old little girl. They keep us on our toes! We love being outdoors & having adventures, which only fuels my love for photography. My family is my greatest joy, and they continue to encourage my love of photography. I am truly indebted to them! 

I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. I used to play with my mom's film cameras when I was younger. I took class after class in High School. I was enthralled in everything having to do with photography. I loved the aesthetic that could be produced with a camera! When I was applying to colleges, I knew what I wanted to be. A Photographer! I just wasn't positive what type of photography I loved yet. My parents always encouraged me to follow my dreams! They bought me my first camera. They paid for my crazy expensive film hobby too. My parents & my husband have been my greatest advocates! I graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Utah Valley University and went to work in my town Photographing Newborns, Births, Families, & Weddings. I love portraiture! 

I enjoy portraiture so much because I get to work with people. I get to capture their personalities & the things they love the most in life. I am documenting amazingly beautiful things in their lives, and I am so grateful for that. I get to meet these amazing people & learn about their lives. It truly is a treat to learn from all of my amazing clients! 

Today I want to give you a few Newborn Photography Tips!

• Comfort is key! If you have a baby that is well fed & sleepy, you have hit the jackpot! When babies are calm, comfy & fed, they are more likely to pose easier, or stay happier during pictures. Have a small space heater in the same room as you. You don't want to overheat your baby, but having the room warm that you're taking pictures in will help a ton. 

• Light, light, light! I love ample light. Take pictures of your baby when there is a lot window light. The more light you have, the fresher, cleaner & more beautiful your portraits will be.

• Direction of light- each person has their own preference here. I prefer to have my baby far enough away from the window that the light is diffused & beautiful. Also, pay attention to where the shadow lays on the baby's face. You want to have the shadow under the nose. In other words, don't have the window light going up the baby's nose. You will position the forehead closer to the light source to prevent ghoul lighting. I tend to love less shadow so I like to position the baby more towards the light. 

• Be safe! Always have help when taking newborn portraits. Only attempt safe lifestyle & prop poses. For instance, swaddle your baby securely, shoot from a few different angles, then slowly unwrap you baby & shoot their details... little hands, feet, nose, ears, hair, belly button, mouth... then make a collage! Those details you never want to forget! 

Thank you for letting me share some tips with you today!

To see more of my work, visit my website at www.devanraephotography.com. 

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