When Courtney first asked me to write a guest post for “Click it up a Notch” I was really excited and honored! That feeling quickly turned into a giant writers block as I wondered what I could possibly share with so many talented photographers!
But there’s one thing I always come back to when picking out my favorite photos and that’s tack sharp focus. Photoshop can do a lot of amazing things. It can fix up photos with the worst exposure you’ve ever seen, remove unwanted elements, straighten bad horizon lines, and do a thousand more handy tricks. But it cannot take a photo that is out of focus, and make it be in focus. For that reason, I’ve always felt that focus is the most important element to get right in camera.
I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I’ve learned a few tips that I can share.
The most helpful method I’ve discovered is Single Point AF, verses Dynamic Area or Auto Area. (These are the focus options for my Nikon D90—they may be called something different on a Canon, or vary by camera.) In Single Point AF you can move the focus point to the exact part of the photo you want to have the sharpest focus while looking through the viewfinder. Read more about changing your focal point here.
I learned photography with the “focus and recompose” method. My camera focused on whatever was in the center of frame, so if I wanted a flower to be in focus on the far right of frame, I’d have push the shutter half way to focus on the flower and then recompose the shot to get the flower where I want before taking the picture.
The problem with this method is movement, especially when shooting at wide apertures with shallow depths of field. I found that it was really easy to throw off my focus completely by my small movements and that I risked that outside elements, like wind, could come and move my flower in the time it took me to recompose my shot. With Single Point focus, I can compose the shot how I’d like, and move my focus point to that flower on the right of frame, focus, and complete the shot without having to move. This method has been incredibly helpful to me. (It is my understanding that this only works for Nikon shooters as we have an active focal point. Canon people you still need to meter off the center focal point and then either move your focal point or focus and recompose. Maybe a Canon person can chime in **Check out Melissa’s comments below if you are a Canon user to clear up any confusion** – added by Courtney)
For example, in the shot below, I wanted the sharpest focus to lay on the baby’s face. Since he was in the center of the photo, it was fine leaving my focus point right in the center. I made sure the focal point I selected landed right on his eyes.
The result was tack sharp baby blues.
But some shots aren’t so easy and you don’t want your focus to lie in the center of the frame. In the shot below, I was shooting vertically and her eyes were in the top 1/3 of the photo. I wanted my sharpest point of focus to be on her eyes. So when I turned my camera and looked at her through the viewfinder, I simply moved my focal point towards the top of the frame and centered it right on top of the eye closest to me.
When shooting people you always want their eyes to be tack sharp, and if they’re at an angle, I always want the eye closest to me to be the sharpest part of the photo and so I always place my single point of focus directly on the closest eye. If I had left my focal point in the middle, I would’ve had to tilt my camera up to focus on her eye and then move my camera back down to frame the shot and take the picture. During that time I would risk the possibility of either her or me leaning forward or back just enough to throw focus off completely, and the picture would be lost. No amount of sharpening in Photoshop would make the photo be in focus.
I should also mention that I know a lot of photographers that still use and love the “focus and recompose” method and that Single Point AF is just something that works for me and that I think is worth trying out!
Two other important factors for sharp photos are ISO and Shutter Speed.
Shutter Speed is fairly self-explanatory. The faster the shutter speed, the lower the risk of movement affecting your photos. I used to pride myself on being able to take photos in focus as slow as 1/40 of a second. But the more I shoot, and the pickier I get about focus, the faster I prefer my shutter speed to be. When shooting people, I really prefer to be around 1/125 of a second or faster—and even faster for kids if possible!
Your ISO, as you probably know, can affect grain in your photos. As a general rule, the higher your ISO, the more grain that will be introduced. And grain can detract from that sharp look in your photos. But grain tends to mostly appear in the underexposed parts of your pictures. So while you should start off at the lowest ISO you have, don’t be afraid to bump it up a little to get a proper exposure, if necessary. There will be LESS grain in a properly exposed photo at ISO 400 than there will be in an underexposed photo at ISO 200. So if it’s getting dark, it’s not always the best idea to keep your ISO down and just shoot dark pictures, figuring you can fix it in post. Getting proper exposure in camera can keep your pictures looking sharp!
Ok, so you may have already known that your focal methods, shutter speed, and ISO, can affect your sharp focus. But did you know your Aperture can affect sharpness in your photos as well? And I’m not talking about depth of field. I’ve heard for a long time that every lens has a “sweet spot,” or an aperture where the lens shoots at its sharpest, and I recently decided to put this to the test.
I set my camera up on a tripod and aimed it a page in a book, using a Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens. I took a photo at several different apertures and then blew up the pictures on my computer to see the differences. The results blew me away!
The mid-range apertures all look pretty similar, but to me, my sharpest photos are at f/2.5 and f/7.1. The amount of degradation in the photo at f/1.8 shocked me! I may never shoot at 1.8 again! In the past, I’ve taken landscape shots on tripods all the way at f/22. After seeing the results of this test, I now see I’d be much better off staying around f/7.1 to get the sharpest results possible.
These results may vary by lens. The only way to know the sharpest aperture of your lens is to give this test a try! I highly recommend it!
My last step in making sure my final photos are tack sharp is done on the computer when I’m reviewing my shots from a shoot. When shooting portraits, I go through my photos on Lightroom and zoom in all the way on every single photo and check the focus around the eyes. If the focus isn’t sharp, I won’t edit the photo or pass it on. In the photos below, I had two really cute shots of this adorable baby.
At first glance they may look similar, but when I zoomed in on his eyes I saw that the focus was a little off on the photo on the right. Therefore, this photo was not passed on.
This method can be disheartening at times, because sometimes I really love a photo and I am crushed to see the focus is off, but by doing so all the final photos in my portfolio are crisp and clear and I hope that their sharpness makes them stand out!
*You may also enjoy this post – How to Take a Sharp Photo (added by Courtney)*
About the Author: Jaymi McClusky
My name is Jaymi and I blog over at Live, Love, Travel where I share many photography tips and host a weekly link-up called “Tuesday Tips & Pics.” You can also follow me on Facebook, Flickr, or even on Pinterest.
I hope to see you soon!
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Thanks for the tips! Not sure of the Nikon lingo either, since I shoot Canon, but Canon users are not limited to focus/recompose only. Canon can also toggle the focus points using single point AF or manual AF. I’m still trying to figure out which method works best for me-hard to say!
Twitter: clickitupanotch
says:
Yes, you are right. You can change your focal point but I think you need to meter off your center focal point. Hope you find a method that words best for you :O)
I shoot Canon, and technically, metering and focal points are not related. You are correct though that Canon has several meter modes, Spot (3.5%), Partial (8%), Center-weighted (starts at center and averaged across frame), which each evaluate a portion of the frame starting in the center. I guess what I’m trying to clarify is that metering and focus are two different animals. I know this was confusing to me when I first started out.
Twitter: clickitupanotch
says:
Yes, you are right about the metering modes, Spot, Partial, and Center-weighted. I was trying to say that you need to meter (set your SS, ISO, and aperture) by using the center focal point. I’m probably just adding to the confusion but I know Canons and Nikons are different that way :O)
You’ve got it right Courtney.
It’s so confusing at first. Canon SHOULD have metering and focusing together (in my opinion) but they don’t. I think the thought of focus and recomposing comes from people who shoot with the 5D ii because the only crossed sensor is the middle one and people tend to miss focus on the outer points. But yes we do have the ability to toggle focus points only. Unfortunately we have to come back to the center point to make sure our exposure is correct. This is definitely an area Nikon has one up on Canon. (P.S. I shoot the 5D just in case this comment sounds in favor of Nikon. 
hehe)
Melissa recently posted..Big Girl Bed
Twitter: boilerchick
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Wow, this is so informative! I never really thought of the perspective that you can fix most anything except focus in Photoshop. I really love the photo of the sharp flower. I have a Canon, so I guess I can’t do the single point focus thing, but I do need to get some practice with “focus and recompose.”
Laura Jane recently posted..Can You Work Out and Have a Social Life?
Twitter: clickitupanotch
says:
Laura, you can still move your single point of focus but I believe you need to meter off your center focal point. Hope this helps :O)
Laura, Courtney is right in saying that you must meter off the center focal point to get correct exposure. However you can toggle your points for focus to obtain better composition. But just check that center point if you’re unsure of your exposure. I feel that was one of Canon’s pitfalls in their cameras. Here’s hoping the next full frame 5D iii has the ability to meter off the active focal point. It would make things a lot easier.
Melissa recently posted..Big Girl Bed
Twitter: clickitupanotch
says:
Thanks Melissa for helping us clear this us! Canons confuse me…Go Nikon :O)
Thank you for helping clarify the Canon v Nikon lingo/functions here. I have a Canon question: so if the exposure is only checked at the center focal point, is it best to begin each shot at the center focal point to check exposure and then recompose with composition in mind?
Yes, you will want to meter first with that center point when you take a picture. Whether or not that is your active focal point is up to you. What I do for a session or just shooting around the house, is first do my metering with that point and then start shooting. I keep a close eye if the light changes, whether it’s the sun going behind a cloud at a session or my daughter walking away from a window at home. If that happens I hover my center point back over her to make sure my metering is still correct. Your center focal point does not have to be active in order for it to meter correctly. I also keep an eye on my histogram throughout a shoot. I highly recommend having that active on your preview screen so if you’re unsure you can check it. I hope that answers your question.
Melissa recently posted..Big Girl Bed
perfect! thank answered my question exactly
. soooo much to learn! and now to learn about histograms…. thank you!
Twitter: clickitupanotch
says:
Have you seen this post about histograms, Rachel?? – http://www.clickitupanotch.com/2010/11/reading-a-histogram/ You can do it!
Thanks, Jaymi!! I too, have a D90 and I have big problems with getting tack sharp photos. It was nice to hear someone share information about focus and have the same camera. You have helped me out so much. Thanks, a million!
Dana, I’m so glad I was able to help! Stop by if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to help!
Jaymi recently posted..Tuesday Tips & Pics
Love!!!!! Thank you for sharing these tips, I now understand why I’m not getting the sharp pictures I want with my 50mm! I am changing my settings now!!!! Thank you thank you!
Thank you for some wonderful tips! I never knew that about aperture. I’ll be testing my lenses to see where I get the sharpest photos.
Kimberly recently posted..Week 3 in pictures
Twitter: Momtriedit
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I love Jaymi. Her photos are amazing on her blog. I have read her blog for a while.
Another tip to add to her tips about shutter speed and producing sharp images is that a good rule of thumb is to make your shutter speed 1/focal length. So if you are shooting with a 50mm, don’t shot slower than 1/50. If you are at 75mm focal length, don’t shoot slower than 1/75.
Nothing really to set in stone, but a really good guideline to follow. If you still don’t have the proper exposure at that shutter speed, adjust aperture and ISO accordingly. It helps a lot!
Great tips, Jaymi!!!
Kim Young recently posted..Losing the Crutch
The pictures were so helpful for me, really allowing what I have read to truly all make sense now in my head!!!! Thank you! Thank you!! We are doing this right now in the CM shooting 101 class:), figuring out our sweet spots and focusing on the eyes!!!
You have nice photos. It really motivates me to make my work good enough. Thank you for sharing this.
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Great, great post- Thank you for speaking about this. I often times find I do a whole mini photo session with my kids and become frustrated when the photos that had appeared to be in focus on my screen aren’t so much up close
Thanks for the tips!
Fabulous & informative! I know my lenses have a sweet spot- I just need to take the time to test them out to know where that is exactly. I think I will do what Jaymi did with the text as it makes it so obvious.
Gina recently posted..Using the Light Box
thanks so much for these wonderful tips!
great advice!
loving your photography!
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. Ive joined your rss feed and look ahead to in quest of extra of your fantastic post. Additionally, I have shared your website in my social networks!
Jaymi, this is a great post! I wish there was something like this around when I started.
Lots of trial and error in the beginning. You did a fantastic job explaining some awesome tips!
Melissa recently posted..Big Girl Bed
thanks Melissa! I definitely had a lot of trial and error myself and still have a lot to learn! but I like to try to share what I can!
Jaymi recently posted..Tuesday Tips & Pics
Great share Jaymi!!
Kristy Life n Reflection recently posted..The Textured Touch
Twitter: m3lissagrac3
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This is such a great article! Thank you for sharing with us…I thought I was crazy that I didn’t really like shooting with my aperture at f/1.8 (I have the same lens), so now I know I’m not!
However, do you have to manually focus your 50mm? My D60 does not have a focus motor in the body, so I’m a lil SOL with my focusing…I have to get that focused myself which is hard!
The Nikon 50mm 1.8 only auto focuses on certain bodies. I used to shoot with the Nikon D70s and technically it would auto-focus, but it auto-focued really slowly and not that reliably. Now I have a nIkon D90 and it auto-focuses just fine and is my favorite lens for portraits! If you plan on sticking with your D60 for a while, you might want to think about saving up for the 50mm 1.4, which I think runs about $450 on Amazon, and you might be able to sell your 1.8 for $75-$100 on ebay to help put towards it! At least I would have to do that, because I am really bad at manual focusing! My eyes just aren’t good enough!
Jaymi recently posted..Tuesday Tips & Pics – Guest Post by Mira Crisp
Just found my way to this blog
…Another tip I wanted to add was one I just saw AF Point Display (on Canons, sorry I don’t know the Nikon equivalent). When you chimp, it puts a red square on where you focused, so you have instant feedback on whether you focused where you meant to. I just tried this last weekend and it helped me a lot!
Twitter: clickitupanotch
says:
Thanks for sharing that!