Today we’re chatting about the best ways to get tack sharp images.

It doesn’t sound that hard, but once you start experimenting with different camera settings, you know there are lots of factors that affect whether or not you will get a crisp photo!

Check out today’s blog to hear our top tips to get tack sharp images today!

5 Ways to Get Tack Sharp Images

Prevent Camera Shake

If there is any movement of your camera while taking the photo, there will be blur in your image.

Even if you have steady hands, at a certain point (depending on what your Shutter Speed is) your body can’t physically be still enough.

If you want to compensate for possible camera shake/blur, try gently pressing the shutter to take the picture.

Another option is to break out a tripod, and give yourself that sturdy foundation to start with.

Using a tripod is an additional step, but it’s something you can do in order to ensure a tack sharp image!

Shutter Speed – High or Low?

Obviously your subject will dictate what your shutter speed is set at. If you are photographing a puppy who’s running around like a crazy, you will need a higher shutter speed. But if you are trying to blur the water on the beach, you’ll want a very low shutter speed.

As a portrait photographer, I can often get away with low(er) shutter speeds.

However, I don’t like to put my shutter below 1/60 of a second because it is too hard to keep the camera steady and get tack sharp images.

There is another photography “rule” (suggestion?) that says whatever your focal length is, don’t let your shutter speed go lower than that.

So if I’m shooting with my 85mm lens, I wouldn’t take my Shutter Speed lower than 1/80 of a second.

Or if I’m using the 70-200mm lens, I wouldn’t take the Shutter Speed lower than 1/200 of a second.

However, I find that this can often lead to tricky situations because if you get excited or start rushing at a lower SS, there’s more of a chance of introducing blur into your images. I’m just not willing to take that risk for my images.

What the F-Stop?!

Choosing the right Aperture (or F-Stop) is one of the biggest pieces to getting sharp images in camera.

A common misconception is that we need to take our Aperture down to the lowest setting (F 1.2, 1.4, 1.8, etc) so we get that background blur.

But this can actually be counter-productive, and there won’t be enough of your subject in focus.

The last thing you want is to take a portrait and find that the subjects nose is in focus, but everything else is blurry!

Bumping up your F-Stop will ensure that the parts of the photo that should be in focus, are. Plus, if you have a lower F-Stop (5.6 or lower), you will still be able to achieve quite a bit of background blur. You will definitely get to know the sweet spot for your lens.

This image of my engagement ring was shot at F/7.1, and there is still plenty of blur!

Chose Your Focal Point

Switch that bad boy into single point auto focus mode and choose your own focal point.

This tells your camera to focus sharply on just one point and allows you to move that little dot in your viewfinder to exactly where you want the focus to fall.

This is especially helpful in low-light, as the camera isn’t hunting around for something to lock it’s focus on.

Cleanup In Post

Whether you use Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, you can add a bit of sharpness in post-processing.

In Lightroom, you can use the Clarity or Dehaze slider to add a bit more oomph to your image.

However be careful, a little really goes a long way with these two!

If you don’t want to sharpen the whole image (for example, clouds shouldn’t be sharpened because they are softer in real life), you can use the brush tool and selectively soften a specific area of the photo.

Take Your Business to the Next Level!

Now that you’ve had a chance to see our top 5 ways to get tack sharp images, we’d love to help in your photographic biz journey! Fresh Look Photography offers private mentoring to help with any aspect of running your business, and we’d love to chat with you! Feel free to drop a comment below or click the { Contact Me } button and we will get rocking and rolling!