But how do you get yall get your shots so crystal clear perfectly sharp? Whenver I have asked for critiques, that is always one of them, that my shots are 'soft'. Now I dont know if I am just not very steady or what lol. But I dont know how to get them any sharper. Recently I have started to experiment more with manually focusing on the subject instead of auto focus, and it helps but I still feel like they are soft.
This shot I took today but am using for tomorrow (its a day of rest ;P ) and i feel like it is pretty sharp but nowhere near others that I see... I am sorry that I cant think of any off the top of my head that get them sharp like I am talking about lol. But I am sure yall know what I mean.
Angela, Your aperture on this picture was f/5.6 try using f/11. It will cause the background to be less "soft". In this particular photo, I feel the most important aspect is your son's eyes. Having them sharp and in focus with the background soft keeps our attention on them.
I wouldn't think this is all the soft... it is a portrait of a child... it is meant to be a little soft...
you can sharpen in post with LR or other software... but personally I find lighting to me more an issue in this than softness... if you would have used some fill flash you could have really made his eys pop... like the above people mentioned use f/8 and you will be rocking the portraits in no time..
If focused properly, an aperture of 5.6 should be more than enough to make the face of your subject pretty sharp. The first thing to check would be your technique. Are you holding it properly? Are you using the right focus point?
It could also be something to do with your lens. Check that it's clean and it's focusing properly. Or it could simply be the quality of your lens. Some lenses aren't very sharp.
I don't know if you post process. If you don't, you could try playing around with the sharpness settings in your camera. Or even better, sharpen your pics on the computer.
Softness isn't necessarily a bad thing, Angela. Take the pic you posted here, for example... the softness in the background isolated the subject nicely!
I like your DOF in this photo. It makes your subject (who is so cute!) the focal point of your shot. For portrait shots I use spot metering. I spot meter on the eyes, recompose and take the shot.
As Harry suggested, if you want the entire shot in focus, you have to go to a smaller aperture like f11. I really do like this photo the way you have taken it.
I'm kinda surprised nobody has brought up the most obvious explanation: it's your lens.
Do you have a kit lens? Zoom lens? Something off-brand like Sigma, Tamron, or Tokina?
Prime lenses (those that have a fixed focal length) are the sharpest lenses out there. I have a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 that is the sharpest lens I've ever owned. But when it comes right down to it, it's all about the glass.
If you shoot with a kit lens you might as well strap a coffee filter on the front if you want the photo to be sharp. Increasing DOF and making sure you don't have motion blur from handheld shots are important, but the lens the key to the whole deal.
I don't have the tech know how, but I just wanted to post and say that you should never "feel stupid for asking". This community is super friendly and very open to people who are interested in photography. That's what I love the most about it! I hope it all works out for you.
Now I'm relatively new to this myself, however, depending on what your subject is, for portraits I would follow the advice above but for still life and other subjects I would Invest in a tripod, to maintain steadiness, then flick your camera on to live view and use manual focus, on some cameras you can also digitally zoom in, to ensure the picture is as sharp as it can be.
Thank you so much for asking this question -- I have been pondering it myself. I love how helpful everyone is here! I think Jason has the answer that is right for me. I shoot birds, so I am often zooming handheld which is a problem in and of itself, but I have seen other people on here with better glass who state that their crystal clear shots are "handheld", so I know there must be something to that! @jasonbarnette -- thanks, Jason!
p.s. -- I really love your portrait here, Angela. :)
oh, and P.P.S. - how do you post a pic that has not yet been added to your project? (you said you plan to post it for tomorrow's pic)
Keep in mind also that some cameras (I know mine does) will change the sharpness depending on what shooting style you have it on. I usually shoot faithful in AV, but if I want to reduce some of the time in post processing I may up the contrast or saturation in the custom styles section.
Lens, focal length, in camera settings, quality of lens and filters all play a role, but I think in the end it's up to you. Someone might just need glasses or are just looking to criticize something about your photos. Like icywarm said, it's a child it's supposed to be soft. However if you were doing product photography you'll get annoyed that nothings 'clean'. That's how I first realized I had mine on 'portrait' since on a DLSR in AV mode it's not all that obvious.
Having a look at your above shot, I wouldn't go for a sharp background, I'd want it as blurred as possible since the focus is the child and not the background. I'd have used the widest aperture I had available. If you're using the lens that came with your camera 5.6 is probably the widest you can open it. As cheap and easy as a 'kit' camera is I don't ever want to buy another one again, although I probably will since I keep refusing to shell out the big bucks for the proper lenses lol!
The only thing I'd improve on the above shot is to have more light on the face since it's in shadow (under a play gym?). Being a candid (I'm guessing!) of a child I know it's not really possible to haul out the reflectors, and exposing for his face would blow out the background since he's in shadow. From the catchlight in his eyes it does look like you used a flash, might want to see about changing the metering on your camera for times when you're in a mixed shadow/highlight situation like this. For instance spot metering or center weighted average.
To check "picture style" on my canon you press menu, then use the scroll wheel on the back to run down to "picture style" (in mine it's the last of the red section) then you can scroll through to see which one is best for your situation. Mine has "standard", "portrait", "landscape", "neutral", "faithful", and "monochrome", as well as space for three user defined ones. Like I said I usually shoot "av" mode with faithful. My guess is *if* you're using the Picture mode (the one on the dial with the face) it may be forcing you into "portrait" mode which has lower sharpness than "0"
Also, please never feel stupid! Leave that to me, I think I've got it more than covered! :D
also check out the equipment you are viewing your post-processing on. I have two PCs and one is a bit old school and antiquated and everyone's image looks soft on that one, but my new machine is super sharp. I do all my 365 on that.
What they said it good to know on the technical side. Thanks all.
From the side of how to handle the camerawhen you want a sharp focus... I struggle with having a sharp focus because my hands shake. I'm learning to brace the camera, my hands, or elbows on something solid for nearly every shot. It's getting better.
Wow thanks for all the great input all :) @jasonbarnette Caught me-kit lens. I have wondered if it would make a huge difference for me to upgrade to the 50mm. Maybe it's time :)
I'm waiting on a 50mm & a 35mm prime because I couldn't decide which I wanted more. And of course they're both on back order. Which ever one comes first I'll cancel the other one! Hopefully I'll have something to show for the difference between my kit lenses and a prime one!
@amorton1437 The kits lenses look really nice on our computers when we are shooting wide landscapes, but when we start printing those photos at 16"x20" or shooting portraits all of a sudden it doesn't look so good.
Start with either the 35mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.8. The 50mm is the cheaper of the two, but for single-person portraits you have to stand about 10' away.
I bet you'll see a world of difference just changing lenses.
No thanks for asking...I'm still trying to figure that out myself...drives me nuts! Just got a 50mm though and that does seem to help; although, I broke it 8 days later so I haven't fully played with it yet. Good luck
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you can sharpen in post with LR or other software... but personally I find lighting to me more an issue in this than softness... if you would have used some fill flash you could have really made his eys pop... like the above people mentioned use f/8 and you will be rocking the portraits in no time..
It could also be something to do with your lens. Check that it's clean and it's focusing properly. Or it could simply be the quality of your lens. Some lenses aren't very sharp.
I don't know if you post process. If you don't, you could try playing around with the sharpness settings in your camera. Or even better, sharpen your pics on the computer.
As Harry suggested, if you want the entire shot in focus, you have to go to a smaller aperture like f11. I really do like this photo the way you have taken it.
Do you have a kit lens? Zoom lens? Something off-brand like Sigma, Tamron, or Tokina?
Prime lenses (those that have a fixed focal length) are the sharpest lenses out there. I have a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 that is the sharpest lens I've ever owned. But when it comes right down to it, it's all about the glass.
If you shoot with a kit lens you might as well strap a coffee filter on the front if you want the photo to be sharp. Increasing DOF and making sure you don't have motion blur from handheld shots are important, but the lens the key to the whole deal.
p.s. -- I really love your portrait here, Angela. :)
oh, and P.P.S. - how do you post a pic that has not yet been added to your project? (you said you plan to post it for tomorrow's pic)
Lens, focal length, in camera settings, quality of lens and filters all play a role, but I think in the end it's up to you. Someone might just need glasses or are just looking to criticize something about your photos. Like icywarm said, it's a child it's supposed to be soft. However if you were doing product photography you'll get annoyed that nothings 'clean'. That's how I first realized I had mine on 'portrait' since on a DLSR in AV mode it's not all that obvious.
Having a look at your above shot, I wouldn't go for a sharp background, I'd want it as blurred as possible since the focus is the child and not the background. I'd have used the widest aperture I had available. If you're using the lens that came with your camera 5.6 is probably the widest you can open it. As cheap and easy as a 'kit' camera is I don't ever want to buy another one again, although I probably will since I keep refusing to shell out the big bucks for the proper lenses lol!
The only thing I'd improve on the above shot is to have more light on the face since it's in shadow (under a play gym?). Being a candid (I'm guessing!) of a child I know it's not really possible to haul out the reflectors, and exposing for his face would blow out the background since he's in shadow. From the catchlight in his eyes it does look like you used a flash, might want to see about changing the metering on your camera for times when you're in a mixed shadow/highlight situation like this. For instance spot metering or center weighted average.
To check "picture style" on my canon you press menu, then use the scroll wheel on the back to run down to "picture style" (in mine it's the last of the red section) then you can scroll through to see which one is best for your situation. Mine has "standard", "portrait", "landscape", "neutral", "faithful", and "monochrome", as well as space for three user defined ones. Like I said I usually shoot "av" mode with faithful. My guess is *if* you're using the Picture mode (the one on the dial with the face) it may be forcing you into "portrait" mode which has lower sharpness than "0"
Also, please never feel stupid! Leave that to me, I think I've got it more than covered! :D
Just a thought.
Anyway, as Jordan mentioned, there are things like an unsharp mask (USM) done when posting images to the web.
Sometimes it is the lens. Plastic lenses can provide plastic result.
So, I guess in some ways I am echoing Jason and Jordan's comments.
From the side of how to handle the camerawhen you want a sharp focus... I struggle with having a sharp focus because my hands shake. I'm learning to brace the camera, my hands, or elbows on something solid for nearly every shot. It's getting better.
Start with either the 35mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.8. The 50mm is the cheaper of the two, but for single-person portraits you have to stand about 10' away.
I bet you'll see a world of difference just changing lenses.