Why oh why can't I get tack sharp shots??? I need help!!!

chericheesecake · Aug 4, 2014

Hi all! I would really love some advice from anyone who is willing to help me.

My background: I'm not a straight up beginner exactly - I've dabbled in photography since I was a little kid and am currently failing forward as a committed semi professional. I have my skill set and my niche (pin ups, band photos, some general portraits and weddings) and for the most part things go pretty well. But I have one BIG problem: my terrible focusing ability!!! WAAAAH!!! I keep practicing and reading and thinking I've got it down, until I get my shots in Lightroom and have to trash hundreds of otherwise good shots, rendered unusable because they're just not quite sharp enough. Sooo many. That's how I go through my shots. I just have to search for the tack sharp ones to keep. IT SUCKS!!! I'm just not sure what I'm doing to mess them up. I usually shoot in AV, I try different "rules" and ideas for camera settings, I focus on eyes, I use back button auto focus, I try not to "stab" the shutter...I just don't know if the problem is in my settings, or a physical problem. At this point I keep throwing ideas at the wall and hope they stick, and I don't want to work that way. I need to learn how to get my shots sharp so that I can worry about other stuff.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Overread · Aug 4, 2014

Show us - we need to see some of these failed shots along with a full breakdown of how you went about taking them, including;

1) Settings used - aperture - shutter speed - ISO

2) Lighting setup - was there any

3) Tripod or handheld - were you standing or crouched - how do you hold the camera etc...

4) Wind or other climatic conditions of note on the day

5) The camera body and lens you used as well as any other equipment.

6) What AF settings did you use for the shot and how did you go about making use of them to focus the shot

A 100% crop of the sharpest area combined with a resized overall image should be fine on a couple of the shots.

We need the detailed information otherwise there are a whole host of things that could be contributing toward the problem and without any input from yourself we'll all be guessing for hours.

chuasam · Aug 4, 2014

tack-sharp images are overrated.

robbins.photo · Aug 4, 2014

chericheesecake said:
Hi all! I would really love some advice from anyone who is willing to help me. My background: I'm not a straight up beginner exactly - I've dabbled in photography since I was a little kid and am currently failing forward as a committed semi professional. I have my skill set and my niche (pin ups, band photos, some general portraits and weddings) and for the most part things go pretty well. But I have one BIG problem: my terrible focusing ability!!! WAAAAH!!! I keep practicing and reading and thinking I've got it down, until I get my shots in Lightroom and have to trash hundreds of otherwise good shots, rendered unusable because they're just not quite sharp enough. Sooo many. That's how I go through my shots. I just have to search for the tack sharp ones to keep. IT SUCKS!!! I'm just not sure what I'm doing to mess them up. I usually shoot in AV, I try different "rules" and ideas for camera settings, I focus on eyes, I use back button auto focus, I try not to "stab" the shutter...I just don't know if the problem is in my settings, or a physical problem. At this point I keep throwing ideas at the wall and hope they stick, and I don't want to work that way. I need to learn how to get my shots sharp so that I can worry about other stuff.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Greetings Cheri,

In generally when you shoot in Aperture Priority mode what the camera will do is take whatever aperture you use and figure out how to get the lowest ISO possible given this aperture setting. As a result it will often push the shutter speed way down, to the point where things like motion blur and camera shake become real issues.

Depending on your camera, it might be possible to select a minimum shutter speed so that the camera will have to use that as a minimum. In general you want a shutter speed that is at least equal to the focal length your shooting at, so what I recommend if your going to use a minimum shutter speed setting is that you set it for the maximum focal length of your lens, or even a little higher. So lets say for example your using an 18-50 mm lens, set your minimum shutter speed for say 1/100 or even better 1/200 if you have good enough lighting.

If your camera doesn't have a minimum shutter speed or if you don't want to have to get into the menus and reset it often you might want to try shooting in shutter priority, set your shutter speed and if you want to change your aperture, adjust your ISO. That's normally what I do, I prefer having direct control over my shutter speed.

Ok, second part of the puzzle is aperture, if your shooting wide open on most lenses your not really going to get the best results in most cases as far as sharpness - on fast lenses in particular your looking at a narrow depth of field that can generally make a lot of areas of the photo look soft. So when you can stopping down the lens and keeping an eye on your shutter speed will give you the best overall results.

Derrel · Aug 4, 2014

chuasam said:
tack-sharp images are overrated.

Yes, I agree, high sharpness or tack-sharpness is overrated. But in professional or even semi-pro level work, a person ought not to have to discard, "hundreds of shots". That's indicative of something, or perhaps multiple things, being "wrong", for lack of a gentler word.

As the OP wrote, "I keep practicing and reading and thinking I've got it down, until I get my shots in Lightroom and have to trash hundreds of otherwise good shots, rendered unusable because they're just not quite sharp enough. Sooo many. That's how I go through my shots. I just have to search for the tack sharp ones to keep. IT SUCKS!!! I'm just not sure what I'm doing to mess them up."

To me, that sounds like there could be multiple problems or issues. Not having seen a single photo, it's impossible to ascertain how bad the OP's problem is with sharpness...but trashing hundred of otherwise good shots...hmmm...that just does not sound right. Maybe it's a camera body problem, like the lens mount is loose on one side, or the OP relies on one, single wonky zoom lens with a de-centered element? Again, no photos means we're all shooting in the dark, and as overread requested, some PICS!!!! would help. But, it sounds like there is **something** wrong on an ongoing, continuing basis.

chuasam · Aug 4, 2014

Define sharp enough.
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. - Ansel Adams

Overread · Aug 4, 2014

I think it might be best if we wait for the OP to reply with some examples or at least more specific detail on their workflow and methodology - if you want to go debate the merits of sharpness and its artistic value within photography go start a separate thread up.

Derrel · Aug 4, 2014

Sharp enough = sharp enough so that the shooter does not immediately proclaim his or her own work crap, which he or she immediately deletes from disk in Lightroom! ;-)

I sure wanna see what chericheescake is talkin' bout...some fo-tos would maker this easier to talk about.

The Ansel Adams quote, "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." is a slam against the abilities of other people to come up with good photo concepts.

Is that what you really want to do convey to a first-time poster here? Do you wish to insult her ability to come up with good concepts??

Because, that's what that tired old Adams quote actually means...it means "Your gear is good, but you are a talentless hack," utterly devoid of creative capabilities. Adams was a really cocky old SOB.

Braineack · Aug 4, 2014

Live sharp and toss fuzz!

KmH · Aug 4, 2014

Understanding Camera Autofocus
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography
Tutorials - Sharpness
Diffraction Limited Photography: Pixel Size, Aperture and Airy Disks
Camera Lens Quality: MTF, Resolution & Contrast

How Do I Use My Digital SLR?: How to Get Sharply Focused Images

Tailgunner · Aug 4, 2014

This brings back memories. I remember in my early days having to toss tons of photos that turned out blurry instead of sharp. I would click on a photo thinking everything looked great only to find out it was blurry after zooming in on it. It was frustrating beyond belief! My technique was just awful and my understanding of night time photography was severely lacking. It was so many different things that it really took a while to get it sorted and figured out.

Anyhow, OP, we really need to see an example in order to formulate an opinion and suggest a course of action.

TCampbell · Aug 4, 2014

Without images, all we can do is repeat what you may already have read in your manual or online.

There are a lot of things that cause an image to come out soft. Missed focus is just one reason (and there are ways to verify if that's the case.)

But you can't be a semi-pro photographer and not be capable of focusing the camera accurately. That's a notch away from being a film photographer and understanding everything about photography... except load film. It's sort of pre-requesiste step to being able to do everything else.

Your camera may be in the wrong focus mode. Your camera may have been moving. Your camera may have focused on something other than what you think it focused on. The camera and lens may be out of calibration at the auto-focus sensors (again... there's a test for this.)

There may be a pattern as to what's "in focus" vs. "out of focus". Are you having focus problems only when using low focal ratios? Only when hand-holding? Only when at low shutter speeds? Only with some lenses? Only when using specific focus points (or are you allowing the camera to auto-select the focus point?) Only in poor lighting? The list goes on.

Ultimately, and before you go too far, we should do some testing just to make sure the problem really is you and not your equipment (because it's entirely possible that it is the equipment).

I'd suggest you follow this link: Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Jeffrey?s Autofocus Test Chart

That's a downloadable focus test chart (he actually has an assortment of them with the contrast varying). He wants to print the chart on your printer, lay it at an angle (as seen in the photo on his website). You will put the camera on a SOLID tripod. Follow his instructions and take some photos of the test chart after carefully focusing on the center line. When I do this, I deliberately de-focus the camera between each shot in order to force the camera to re-focus. Incidentally... I de-focus a half-dozen or so shots so that the camera is starting at minimum focus... and then another half-dozen or so shots at maximum focus. I carefully record the image numbers so that I know where the camera started. You can sometimes find a pattern where the camera nails focus coming from one direction... but misses focus if it is coming from the other direction.

The goal is to determine if your camera and lens can repeatedly focus on the intended focus point on the chart. Since the chart has a lower-contrast scale printed on it, it is possible to inspect the results to determine if the camera is consistently focusing closer than the intended point... or farther than the intended point. Many cameras mid-range and above cameras allow you to tune the auto-focus system (entry-level cameras typically don't have this feature.)

There are many factors that can throw off focus and in order to improve your focus, we need to isolate all the potential causes of missed focus so we can figure out WHICH of these areas is to blame before we can help you fix it. E.g. giving you advice on how to grip the camera, have a proper stance to put your center of gravity over your feet, support the camera body from below, etc. won't do any good if we find out, for example, that you were letting your camera auto-pick the AF point and there was a closer subject than the intended subjects (the AF systems are programmed to use the AF point that can achieve focus with the minimum focus distance -- it's not random.)

Please post examples.
Include all the settings used (AF mode, AF point selection, ISO, shutter, aperture, whether you were hand-holding vs. a tripod, etc.) Some of the needed info will be in your image EXIF data as long as you don't strip it out when posting.

Regards,
Tim

chuasam · Aug 4, 2014

In that case: Sharpness is a bourgeois concept -HCB
In all fairness I have a 50mm lens that has horrific focus shift issues.

The_Traveler · Aug 4, 2014

Derrel said:
Do you wish to insult her ability to come up with good concepts??

Because, that's what that tired old Adams quote actually means...it means "Your gear is good, but you are a talentless hack," utterly devoid of creative capabilities.

Actually I think I remember Derrel saying that to me. :smileys::smileys::smileys: