The Elements of Tack Sharp
Posted on 03 March 2010
There are a handful of things I’ve learned, mostly from Scott, about capturing the sharpest possible image. Today I’m talking about the technique. Some other time I’ll get into things like fast glass, strobes, VR or IS lenses, and other tech things that influence sharpness.
A steady surface (like a tripod)
No matter how steady-handed you might be, if you want a sharp shot, you need to get your camera on a tripod. Even a cheap tripod, or a GorillaPod will do the trick. Heck, I’ve even put my camera down on a concrete post or a mailbox to stabilize it.
A remote shutter release
Usually we think about things like an IR control for remote triggering, but there are other options like onOne’s iPhone/iPod Touch option if you’re around a local WiFi network. And there’s always the good old trusty wired remote switch. The main thing to remember is that pressing the shutter release directly on the camera causes the camera to move just a little bit and in many situations, that’s enough movement of the camera body to soften the image a little bit.
The Timer
This is really the reason for today’s article. (You probably already know this but it’s one of those things that, when somebody tells you, you find yourself saying, “oh, yeah. I knew that. I need to remember to do that next time.”) I knew that my camera had a timer but I always thought of it as something to use when I wanted to be in the shot myself. I was in the Bahamas with Scott, shooting a night shot of our cruise ship, and I had put the camera on a post to stabilize it, but I just couldn’t keep it still enough for a sharp shot with the long exposure necessary. Scott said, “Set your camera down and use your timer.” That reminder was all I needed to hear. I turned on the timer to a 2 second delay, lined up the shot, pressed the shutter button, and let go of the camera. Two seconds later the shutter clicked and I had a great, sharp, low-light night shot.
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3 responses to The Elements of Tack Sharp
I have never thought to use the timer in that way! Like you said, it’s always been for pictures that I wanted to run around and get into. Thanks for the excellent suggestion!
Tamara
Larry, I totally agree with the tripod and timer technique, but sometimes a tripod can’t be used to capture a moment of time. I just won the popular photograpy winter challenge for a macro image of a snowflake, an image that was impossible to shoot tripod mounted under the conditions. It’s not tack sharp, and I’m sure will be scrutinized by critical eyes, but the few seconds of time it lasted before it became water would have been physically impossible to capture if I was tinkering with a tripod or timer. I wish I could have used a tripod to make the image sharper, but I also know I would have been shooting a water droplet. So while I agree with you and Scott, I also know sometimes you have to leave the comfort zone and push yourself to make better images any way you can, even if they aren’t tack sharp.
Travis
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