Sharper landscape shots?

[myjay610]

Hey everyone,
So I just bought a Nikon D3000 and I have been taking photos with it for the last week. What is a good way to shoot landscapes handheld? If I don't have my tripod with me I usually end up shooting a few shots on f/8,f/9,f/10 using aperture mode and with a minimum shutter speed of 1/60 to avoid motion blur. Some come out very nice and others just do not seem as sharp as they could be. The ISO is always at 100 because there is enough light. Where is a good spot to focus? I usually do just above the horizon, trees, etc. Here are a few that I took with these settings, any ideas/CC about getting sharper shots?

This one was f/9, ISO 100, 1/100, 18mm and just from my back porch because I was playing around with trying to get sharp shots.

Here I am at f/8, 1/200, ISO 100, 34mm

f/9, 1/125, ISO 100, 18mm

Thanks!

 

[TJ K]

I would recommend using a tripod for ultimate sharpness though out the picture. Shooting around f/8-11 is good because that's usually where the lenses peak in performance. The low iso is good because you won't have much noise but if it is windy it would probably be best to not have a bunch of motion blur in trees and other plants.

 

[Stosh]

Those shots look plenty sharp to me, but the only way to tell how sharp they really are is at full res pic, or at least a 100% crop.

If in fact they are not sharp enough for you, the tripod is the best option, but you can also do better hand held. Yes, you always hear the rule that your shutter speed should be at least 1/F.L. I don't know how steady your hands are, but if I'm going for an ultimate sharpness landscape shot (hand held) that I think might be enlargement worthy, I always aim for at least twice as fast as the rule, possibly 4x if you can afford it. Graininess at ISO 200 is not really much more and if it gains sharpness by reducing camera shake, it's worth it. Everything is a trade-off. You need to examine your pics closer to see exactly what the limiting factor is. If it's noise, lower the ISO. If it's blur, raise the ISO or open your aperture more. Depending on your sensor's pixel size, f/8-f/11 may already be getting beyond diffraction limited, so you may want to try f/5.6 if you have good glass. Again, examining your shot closer can tell you exactly what the limiting factor is.

 

[myjay610]

Thanks for the feedback! I will hopefully get out today and try out some variations. I think bumping up the shutter or opening the aperture might help some more. I just did a few on ISO200-400 and the graininess doesn't seem like a big deal.

 

[MAARTE]

I absolutely love the 2nd shot! The color are great.

 

[Brian L]

Also too some of the shots that are online you might see are shot with maymia cameras with 40 and 50 mega pixel digital backs. They offer much more resolution and then too there is also processing the image in photo shop or such editing software.

These photos are super sharp to me. They look fine. If you wanted to spice them up the do some processing but all fine and dandy to me. Good job.

 

[Bad Andy]

These photos are looking good. If you aren't using a circular polarizer, I would strongly invest in one. They help make the sky bluer and add more contrast to the clouds. Since you are using wide-angle, get a thin one, and one that is coated. I use HMC, but B&W and Heliopan make great ones.

Keep it up and continue to post here for improvement. Congratulations on your camera purchase.

-Andy