Professional Tips for getting really Sharp Photos

Zoom in to Check Sharpness

Here is a tricky part in digital photography, everything looks sharp and in focus when you first look at the tiny LCD screen on the back of your camera. When your photos is displayed at that small size, it always look sharp, when you transfer the image to your computer, zoom in and see, you will notice the lack of sharpness. When taking the photograph itself, on the tiny screen in the back of your camera, you have got to zoom in and check the sharpness, on the back of the camera , there is a zoom button that lets you zoom in close and see if the photo is really in focus. Do this right on the spot – right after you take the shot, so you will still have a chance to retake the photo if you zoom in and find out it is blurry.

Hand Held Sharpness trick

Anytime you are hand holding your camera, in anything but direct sun light. You are taking your chances on getting a sharply focused photo because of camera shake. You can try the trick the professionals use in this sticky situation – switch to continuous shooting (burst) mode and hold down the shutter release to take a burst of photos instead of just one or two. Chances are at least one or two of the dozen photos is going to be sharp. I have used this a multiple number of times.

Getting "Tack Sharp" Starts with a Tripod

There's not one trick that will give you sharp photos, the professionals get - its a combinations of things that all come together to give you "tack sharp" shots. (Tack sharp is the term pro photographers use to describe the ultimate level of sharpness). So, while there are a number of things you will need to do to get a tack sharp photos, the most important is shooting on a tripod. Yes, its more work, but its the key ingredient everyone miss. Professionals will do the little things that most others are not willing to do; that's part of the reason their photos look like they do. Keeping the camera still and steady is a tripods only job, but when it comes to tripods, some do a lot better job than the others. That's why you don't want to skimp on quality. You will hear professionals talking about this again and again, because cheap tripods simply don't do a great job of keeping your camera that steady. That's why they are cheap.

A Ballhead will make your life easier

When you purchase a professional quality tripod, you will just get the tripod, and it doesn’t come with a tripod head fixed like the tripods you get with your camera for free. So you will have to buy a tripod head separately. Ball heads are good, because with just one turn, you can get it to the direction you want easily and can position your camera at any angle accurately. Good ball heads keep your camera locked down tight to keep your camera from “creeping”, which is slowly sliding from one way to the other, after you have set up your shot, Like tripods a good ball head is not cheap.