Sharpness Archives - Infrared Conversions, IR Modifications & Photography Tutorials

Why Your Photos Are Not Sharp When Using A Tripod?

A tripod is undoubtedly one of the most important accessories that a travel or landscape photographer has. For most, it is their favourite tool in capturing great shots. A tripod can offer so much and really make a difference to the quality of your photos. But sometimes you may find that your photos are not sharp even when you have used a tripod. This can be incredibly frustrating, so here are 7 reasons that your photos might not be sharp even when using a tripod.

Not on stable ground

The first part of ensuring that your images will be sharp is to make sure your tripod is set up securely so that there isn’t any movement. This might sound obvious, but I have seen so many instances where photographers set up their tripod wrong.

You also need to be aware of where you and your tripod are. For example, if your tripod is placed on a bridge there may movement when people or cars go past. You can’t stop this happening so you need to try and time your shot to take photos to coincide with a gap in the traffic. Or you need to use a faster shutter speed.

So the first step in capturing sharp photos with a tripod is to make sure your tripod is stable.

Too windy

There are times that no matter what you try the conditions will be against you and even the heaviest and sturdiest tripod won’t be able to handle the wind. The thing to remember is that when you are shooting with slow exposure even the faintest of movements will cause your shots to be blurred. So what do you do?

In a strong wind, even with a tripod, an image won’t be sharp at slow shutter speeds.

In these scenarios, your only option is to use a faster shutter speed to minimise the potential of camera movement during exposure. For example, even though you may want to capture the beautiful silky water, it may not be possible.

One thing you could try is to get your tripod as low to the ground as possible and spread the legs out. This might buy you a couple more stops in strong wind.

You didn’t lock up the mirror

This is one of the most common mistakes that newbie photographers make when using a tripod and shooting slow exposure shots. In DSLR cameras, there is a mirror that reflects the scene into the viewfinder. That is how you see a live image rather than a digital one (like you get in mirrorless cameras).

When you press the shutter button to take a photo, this mirror flips up to expose the sensor to light to create the image. Incidentally, this is why your viewfinder goes dark. Because the mirror has flipped up. At fast shutter speeds, this doesn’t cause any issues. However, when you are shooting long exposures the mechanical movement of the mirror flipping up and down can cause vibrations which make your image look slightly blurred.

The solution is to go into your camera’s menu and select “lock up mirror”. This ensures that the mirror is flipped up before the sensor is exposed. Another easier solution is to set your camera to “Live view mode” which also does the same thing in flipping the mirror up.

Image stabilization in on

One of the best innovations in photography has been image stabilization. This can be really useful in allowing photographers to shoot at slower shutter speeds than was possible before. While this works great when you are shooting handheld, when your camera is on a tripod, the lack of movement can confuse the image stabilization system. This can cause your images to appear soft. So remember to turn off the IS when your camera is on a tripod.

You touched the camera

The most important thing to remember when your camera is on a tripod is that any movement can cause your photos to appear blurred (when you are not using fast shutter speeds). So even pressing the shutter button can cause this movement.

Rather than pressing the button to take a photo, set your camera on a timer. So that when you press the shutter button it takes a few seconds for the camera to take the photo. Or alternatively, you can use a shutter release cable.

Aperture too small

You probably already know that the smaller your aperture is, the greater your depth of field will be. So in landscape photography, for example, you will want to utilise this long depth of field. Most lenses have a sweet spot for sharpness which is around f/8 to f/11. That doesn’t mean that other apertures will give you a blurred photo.

But where it does start to cause problems is when you use extremely narrow apertures of f/18 and smaller due to something called “diffraction”. There’s plenty online about the science of this occurrence. But in short, this is an optical issue that is caused by small apertures. So always aim to keep your aperture at no more than f/16.

This shot was taken at f/18. You can see that when zoomed in, the image isn’t 100% sharp.

Not a good tripod

Like anything in life, sometimes the quality of a product makes a difference. A cheap and flimsy tripod might be more susceptible to vibrations and movements. So try to invest in a good quality carbon fibre tripod. I have had my Manfrotto tripod for almost 15 years and in that time I have dropped it, knocked it around and it even got hit by a car and it’s still standing strong.

Capturing sharp photos when using a tripod isn’t a given but if you follow the advice above you should end up with sharp photos when using a tripod every time.

5 Common Low Light Photography Questions Answered

Photographing in low light conditions can be one of the most challenging scenarios for a photographer. Some low light situations like cityscapes are not hugely challenging as long as you are using a tripod. But for example, any type of photography with movement can be very difficult to master. Over the years I often get asked the same questions about low light photography, so here are 5 of the most common questions answered.

What settings should I use for low light photography?

This is by far the most common question I get asked. Unfortunately, there is no right answer here as all types of scenarios are different and require different settings. So rather than trying to give ideal settings, here are some tips to help you decide for yourself:

Think about what you are photographing – your shutter speed will need to be set depending on what you are photographing. The faster something is moving, the faster your shutter speed needs to be. For example, trying to freeze a moving car in your shots will require a much faster shutter speed than photographing a statue. As a general guide, a fairly fast-moving subject will usually need a shutter speed of at least 1/250 sec. This would still be the case for moving subjects even if you are using a tripod.
The depth of field is important – in addition to your shutter speed, your depth of field will also be an important consideration. More so in low light photography because it will impact your shutter speed. The smaller your aperture is the slower your shutter speed will need to be. So think about what you are photographing and set your aperture accordingly. For example, if you are taking a portrait, you don’t need a deep depth of field. By selecting a wide aperture you will naturally allow more light into the camera and so can achieve a faster shutter speed. This is really important in low light photography.
Set your ISO accordingly – once you have the above two settings sorted, your ISO will be the setting to allow you to achieve these. So increase your ISO as much as you need to so that you can achieve the shutter speed and aperture that you need.

Why do my photos look blurred even with a fast shutter speed?

If your shutter speed is fast enough for the subject you are photographing and yet your photos still look blurred, there could be two reasons why:

You have focused on the wrong place – if you are using a wide aperture or in other words a shallow depth of field, then your focus point becomes much more important. For example, if you accidentally focus on the background of your subject you’ll find that they won’t be in focus. This will make the overall image seem soft or blurred.
Your ISO is too high – a high ISO can help you achieve the shutter speed and aperture that you desire. But that comes at a price. The higher your ISO is the more noise will appear in your image. More noise means the image will appear softer. So even if your shutter speed is 1/1000 sec, at 6400 your photo will look soft. The lesson here is to only raise your ISO as much as you need to. If for example, you can still capture the shot at 1/250 sec instead of 1/1000, then that will mean you can have a lower ISO.

I used a tripod but my image is still blurry, why is that?

This can be incredibly frustrating but usually, there are reasons why even if you used a tripod your image is still not completely sharp. Check if it could be because of any of the reasons below:

Not stable enough – it could be that your tripod isn’t sturdy enough for your camera. Cheap and flimsy tripods can also suffer from vibration which has a detrimental effect on image sharpness at long exposures
The tripod moved – did you accidentally knock the tripod after your pressed the shutter button? That might even be because you actually pressed the shutter button instead of using a remote or timer. It also could be that you are standing somewhere that vibrates when people move on it (i.e. a bridge). Even a strong gust of wind can make a camera vibrate and cause camera shake.
You didn’t lockup your mirror – DSLR cameras have a mirror inside that flicks up when you press to take a photo. This mechanical action causes small vibrations in the camera that can have an impact on image sharpness at slow shutter speeds. You can either “lockup mirror” in your camera settings or use “Live view mode” to avoid this issue.
Turn off image stabilization – modern lenses benefit from image stabilization which does a great job when you are handholding a camera. But when your camera is on a tripod, the image stabilization actually gets confused and can cause camera vibrations. So as a rule if your camera is mounted on a tripod, for slow exposures, turn off your image stabilization.

How can I freeze the action in low light?

This is one of the toughest photography scenarios and will take time and practice to perfect. The simple answer is that you will need a fast shutter speed. Earlier I talked about being able to achieve this while keeping your ISO as low as possible. The other solution is to use artificial lighting such as a flash or LED light to brighten your subject so that you can have a fast shutter speed and a lower ISO than you would be able to select otherwise. Using a flash or LED will also have its challenges as sometimes it’s not allowed or even possible. But if you use some lighting in low light conditions, it will allow you to take photos with a faster shutter speed and lower ISO.

How can I maximise my chances of capturing sharp photos handheld?

There are of course times when it isn’t possible to use a tripod and so you have to do your best to capture photos handheld. There are a few things you can do to maximise your chances of capturing sharp photos handheld:

Shoot in burst mode – you will often find that shooting in high-speed burst mode will mean your middle images are sharper than your first and last ones.
Set yourself – before you take photos, get yourself and your stance properly set up. Tuck your elbows in and if there is a wall or somewhere you can lean on, then do so. Keep your breathing steady and take your time.
Underexpose a little – if you find that your shutter speed is on the borderline of being fast enough to handhold, then underexpose your image slightly so that your shutter speed will be fast enough. You can then brighten the image up a little when you are editing.

These are the most common questions that I get asked when it comes to low light photography. Like any other genre of photography, you will improve the more times you take photos in these scenarios and you will learn techniques you can use (and things not to do) to increase your chances of capturing better photos in low light conditions.

5 Top Tips On Avoiding Blurry Photos When Not Using A Tripod

A tripod is one of the most important accessories that any photographer has. But they are heavy, cumbersome and awkward to carry around not to mention that they often do end up drawing attention. You may also find that in some places (usually indoors) tripods are not allowed at all. So how can you ensure that you take great photos that are not blurry when you don’t have a tripod with you? Here are 5 tips to help you do so.

Bump up your ISO

The most important factor in ensuring that your photos are not blurred is your shutter speed. If it isn’t fast enough then you will end up with camera shake which in turn means blurred photos. How slow your shutter speed can be is influenced by a variety of factors such as the subject you are photographing (i.e. a speeding car requires a faster shutter speed than a statue). Your lens and your camera are also factors in how slow you can shoot handheld. Image stabilization has meant people can handhold a camera a few stops slower than they ever could before but it will vary from lens to lens and camera to camera. There is also your own ability to be able to hold a camera steady. For example many years ago on one of my workshops, one of the attendees could not hold a camera steady even at 1/100 sec due to a medical condition. Whereas others may be able to do so at speeds of 1/60 sec or even slower.

To ensure that your shutter speed is going to be fast enough to capture the photos that you want, you will have to increase your ISO. The higher your ISO is the faster you can set your shutter speed. The important part is that you only increase your ISO as much as you need to as the higher it is, the more noise will appear in your photo. This actually ends up making your photo seem soft. So keep tweaking your ISO to see how low it can be whilst giving you a fast enough shutter speed.

Find a resting place

As useful as the ISO setting is for allowing you to set a faster shutter speed, nothing will beat having your camera on a tripod and on as low an ISO as you can set (some cameras this could be as low as 50). This might seem like an obvious thing to point out, but even without a tripod you can still put your camera somewhere steady and treat it the same way as you would do with a tripod. A ledge, bench, rocks, trees, the ground or even your backpack can all act as a tripod and help you keep your ISO as low as possible. I have lost count of the number of times that I have taken photos by simply looking around or being creative and placing my camera somewhere.

I placed my camera on the ground for this shot and placed my wallet underneath the lens to raise it up a little.

The added benefit of taking photos in this way is that you will often end up with some very interesting angles and views that you won’t normally take. We are all guilty of setting up our tripod at eye level and taking photos from the obvious spots. By having to find places to rest your camera on, you will automatically end up with much more unique shots.

Find a light source

As mentioned earlier, often the main reason that people end up with blurred photos is that their shutter speed isn’t fast enough. This usually happens when there isn’t enough light for the scene. Throughout all my years of running photo tours and workshops very few people end up with blurred photos in the middle of the day when the scene outside is bright! One way to ensure that there is enough light to help you set a fast shutter speed in the lower light conditions that you face earlier or later in the day or even when you are indoors is to actually add more light to the subject. Rest assured I’m not talking about packing a whole load of lighting gear for the day (although you may want to do that). But something as simple as an LED light or even the light on the back of an iPhone can be incredibly useful to light up your subject a little. Just this bit of extra light can mean the difference in allowing a slightly faster shutter speed rather than a higher ISO.

This will only work when you have a subject that is fairly close to your camera, like if you are photographing a person. In a landscape scene, a small light wouldn’t be strong enough to light any further than the immediate foreground. But this is really useful when photographing people so it might be worth investing in an inexpensive LED light.

I used an iPhone to light this man a bit more to allow me to set a slightly faster shutter speed rather than raising the ISO too high.

Get your stance right

Sometimes you have no choice but to do your best to capture the shot whilst handholding the camera There may not be anywhere you can rest your camera on. You may not want to set your ISO too high and you might not have an LED light with you. What do you do then? Firstly, it’s important to get the way you are standing and holding the camera correct. I often see people holding a camera with their hand over the focus ring rather than under it. If you hold the camera in this way you are in effect holding the full weight of the camera with one hand. Holding your lens from underneath will immediately make your camera more steady.

You should also tuck your elbows into your side which again will help make you more steady. If you are shooting in low light conditions, try to find somewhere to lean on like a wall or even crouch down and rest your elbow on your knee. Lastly, take your time and control your breathing. If you have just been walking around or hiking you might be out of breath so give yourself a few minutes to calm down. All of this can help you become more steady so that the camera doesn’t shake when you take photos. In fact, you should make sure that your stance is correct whenever you take photos not just in low light conditions.

Shoot in burst mode

Once you have got your stance correct, another way that you can improve your chances of capturing sharp photos is by setting your camera to shoot in burst mode. You will often find that the middle shots in a set of burst shots are the sharpest. Some cameras like the latest Canons also have high-speed burst mode which shoots even faster. Try to rattle off 6 or 7 shots and then check them in post-production where you can choose the sharpest ones.

A burst of shots taken handheld. 3 of this set were sharp enough to use.

I would always advise anyone to use a tripod as much as possible where they can. But there are times and situations when that just isn’t possible. In those scenarios, use the tips above to enhance your chances of capturing a sharp photo.

Images Not Sharp? You Could Be Making One Of These Mistakes

Capturing sharp images is one of the critical elements of photography. It is also often one of the areas that beginner photographers struggle with the most. It can be incredibly frustrating and somewhat disheartening when you think you have captured a great shot only to realise upon closer inspection that it isn’t sharp. Like most elements of photography with practice and experience, you’ll be able to pick up the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to capture sharp photos. But to help you on your journey, here are 4 mistakes that you could be making that have a detrimental effect on your photos.

Holding the camera incorrectly

This is one of the most common mistakes that I see photographers of all levels make. Like anything in life, you should aim to get the very basics right first. So you should pay close attention to the way that you are standing and holding the camera. Start by ensuring that your legs are shoulder-width apart with one slightly further forward than the other. Ideally, you should be standing at a slight angle so that your weight is distributed evenly. Next comes your arm position. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides rather than out to the sides. This will make things much easier on your shoulders and give your arms more stability.

Lastly, make sure you are holding the camera properly. I often see people holding the camera but then trying to zoom or focus with their other hand from the top of the lens. This means that one hand is holding of the weight of a camera. Instead, cradle the lens from underneath using your other hand. By adopting these tips you will hold the camera far more steady and will be less likely to suffer from camera shake.

Using a wide aperture all the time

Just because your lens is capable of allowing you to shoot at f/1.4 doesn’t mean that you should all the time. The big problem when using extremely wide apertures is that often it has a detrimental effect on your images (the same as shooting with very small apertures). Shooting at something like f/1.4 could result in edges appearing softer which in turn means less sharpness. So why are lenses capable of this you may ask? Because in some situations you have no other choice but to have a wide aperture to allow enough light to come into the camera so that you can shoot handheld.

The other big challenge when shooting with an extremely wide aperture is to make sure that you focus correctly on the right element that you want sharp. Because your plain of focus will be so shallow, only a very small part of the image will be in focus. So missing that mark will mean that your image will look blurred. So try to avoid using lenses at their extreme apertures unless you really have to.

Your shutter speed is too slow

You might already realise that unless you have statue-like hands, then you simply would not be able to hold a camera steady at slow shutter speeds. But how slow is that? Well, firstly that depends on you, the person holding the camera. One person might be able to hold a camera steady at 1/80 sec whereas for someone else that might result in camera shake. Then there is also your focal length to factor in. There is a longstanding rule called the “reciprocal rule” which simply means that you match your minimum shutter speed to the focal length you are shooting at. So for example, if you are shooting with a 100mm lens then your shutter speed should be 1/100 sec. For 200mm lens 1/200 sec and so on. This is not set in stone and these days lenses have much better image stabilization which can mean you can reduce your shutter speed. But it is a handy formula to use to ensure your shutter speed will not be too slow.

Letting the camera set your ISO

There’s no denying that modern cameras are incredibly advanced. But they are still no match for human intuition and are ultimately governed by predetermined rules and formulas. Unfortunately, sometimes this can lead to wrong decisions when it comes to settings. One of the biggest culprits of soft photos is too much noise which is often due to high ISO settings. For example, if you have set your camera to Auto ISO you may find that the camera will suddenly whack up your ISO so that you can achieve your shutter speed or aperture. Whilst on the surface this might seem like the right thing to do, by actually selecting the settings yourself you may find that you can underexpose your image a little instead of raising your ISO so high. You can then fix this in post-production and end up with a far sharper image than if you had used a very high ISO. Needless to say that you should always keep your ISO as low as possible.

This might all seem like too much to remember or implement, but with practice and experience, you will naturally improve. But remember to also check your mistakes and work out where you went wrong. Was it because you ISO was too high? Or maybe you focused on the wrong thing. By examining your photos and working out where you went wrong you are far more likely to avoid making the same mistakes again. Always remember that you learn more from your failed photos than your successful ones. Use the tips above and you should see an improvement in the sharpness of your photos.