Dilemma, sharp photos.....

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

I have a slight dilemma. I purchased a second hand Canon 60D about 4 months ago. Some of my photos are decent and some not as far as sharpness. I photo landscape on a tripod so not issues there. I started out on manual mode and shot a lot of photos at various apertures to find the best results. I fully understand what aperture settings do.

I have been reading and watching a lot of videos and came up with somewhat of a conclusion/ theory as I watched a video on general shutter priority. So today, I was on a mission to run my 60D in shutter priority. A gentleman in our Photo meetup group said you should not have to run in shutter priority rather Aperture priority. 1/80 sec should produce sharp shots.... I will post a few photos at the end....

I did run shutter priority at anywhere from 1/100 to 1/300 and seeing we were outside(sunny to partly cloudy) it seemed the photos came out much better.

Now, I like to to nighttime skyline photos and understand longer the shutter speed the better. I have been shooting night and day in manual mode using the meter to get the right shutter(exposure) with a tripod and still not much luck. Today, with the "better lighting conditions, my daytime skyline photos turned out much better but it seems at a distance, they kinda crap out. I use a good lens(canon F4 2/-105mm L lens and F4 17-40mm L)

Here is a shot at an International Travel Show that was not super crisp in AvP mode:

17 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

Here a shot today using Shutter Priority at 1/200th sec.

kids by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

and here is one at 1/100/sec:

planetarium by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

The gentleman in our Meetup Group said I could use exposure compensation in AvP(aperture priority), I will read up on this next but don't have a lot of knowledge about this...

Here is a landscape shot I did at 1/8oo sec. camera automatically set F4(trying different methods and shutter settings) :

art by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

Unfortunately, I did not save my bad landscape city shots as I was disgusted with them and had a clown afternoon on a shoot....

I understand in low lighting conditions in shutter priority, I will have to increase ISO. I am trying different ways to sharpen these photos out of the gate... When I use LR, they really add noise like the 2 Mexican gals above...

Also, to help anyone understand where I am at, I am learning to look at the histogram for easier post editing work and that is definitely helping me.... My post editing may not be the best but I am also getting better at that as I am a bit color blind but I am seeing the bad colors much better as of late....

So, I am asking you pro's(without getting to complicated) what is my next step? What do you think about my theory?

Thanks,

Jim

480sparky · Jan 24, 2015

What method, or mode, you use really isn't the issue.

What is important is to make sure the aperture and shutter speeds are the most appropriate for the subject as well as the focal length used.

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

480sparky said:
What method, or mode, you use really isn't the issue.

What is important is to make sure the aperture and shutter speeds are the most appropriate for the subject as well as the focal length used.

Well , that is the issue. In AP mode, I am somewhat learning Depth of field. It seems with my landscape shots from afar, F9 or so works but they are not crisp and tack sharp and this is at 28mm. So if I use F9 and use the meter for exposure on camera, the photos pretty much suck

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

most everyone says use AP priority and that is not working out well

480sparky · Jan 24, 2015

It could be a lens issue. Or camera movement. There's a lot of things that must be considered concerning sharpness.

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

480sparky said:
It could be a lens issue. Or camera movement. There's a lot of things that must be considered concerning sharpness.

Well, look at the photos of the Mexican girls and then of the 2 kids...... There is a huge difference and as you see, one was in AP and one in Shutter priority with the same lens

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

or better yet, look how crisp this is in SP 1/250 sec:

husky 3 by Jbaranski111, on Flickr

tecboy · Jan 24, 2015

Have you tried the single auto focus point? Make sure IS is on.

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

Yes, I use single auto focus point and IS is on...

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

The thing I like about Shutter Priority is the camera find the Aperture. So, If I find my shutter speed so to say(as a beginner) this may help me?

tecboy · Jan 24, 2015

When you shoot aperture priority, you have to pay attention to the shutter speed in the view finder. Especially if you shoot in the low lighting condition such as indoor. The shutter speed can go below 1/60 second.

James Baranski · Jan 24, 2015

tecboy said:
When you shoot aperture priority, you have to pay attention to the shutter speed in the view finder. Especially if you shoot in the low lighting condition such as indoor. The shutter speed can go below 1/60 second.

I use the use the view finder in manual mode for shutter speed. How can you adjust this in AP mode?

tecboy · Jan 25, 2015

In ap mode, you can not adjust the shutter speed. Your DSLR does it automatically for you. Beside, I always use shutter priority and pay attention to both ss and av.

James Baranski · Jan 25, 2015

tecboy said:
In ap mode, you can not adjust the shutter speed. Your DSLR does it automatically for you. Beside, I always use shutter priority and pay attention to both ss and av.

This seemed much better for me today.. Using your method....