clarity and sharpness help me

bellaphoto

Hello, i am a new photographer. i have done about 4 shoots now of children. although i get complimented on my work, some of the pictures don't come out tack sharp. i really have a problem with this. they don't really come out blurry. they just don't come out clear and i have to spen alot of time editing them and making them sharp! once in a while i get lucky and get a great sharp picture. i try to keep track of the settings i use. i have a new Nikon D40. i love it but i feel like maybe i should tade it in for a better camera. even though i think the error may be with me.
if anyone want to check out my slide show on my home page. you will see what i am talking about. mostly in the few last pictures i did of a little 2 year old toddler.

thanks for any input
http://www.rominasphotography.com

romina ludovico
:scratch

ziggy53

Romina,

What lenses are you using?

What settings on the camera? (Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, Autofocus, etc.)

What software do you use in post-processing?

What is a typical workflow?

bellaphoto

i have the standard lens that came with the nikon D40 18-55mm
and a 55-200mm lens. nothing fancy
the settings i use are Auto, sometimes i switch it to aperture priority, i am still learning how to use my camera so i try alot of settings.

i use photoshop or picasa from google to fix the sharpness which works great but takes forever to edit all those pictures.

my workflow??? not sure what you mean byt that. i have only done a few shoots. pretty new at all this. i love to do and i am trying to learn as much as i can!

thanks for replying.
romina

ziggy53 wrote:

Romina,

What lenses are you using?

What settings on the camera? (Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, Autofocus, etc.)

What software do you use in post-processing?

What is a typical workflow?

jeffreaux2

The very first step in capturing a sharp image is in a stable camera. I have had good success with a monopod. Shy of that, be absolute certain that your shutter speed is twice your focal length. 1/100 for a 50mm.....1/400 at 200mm. This of course will not take a moving subject into account especially at wider focal lengths.

I more often get good results with the monopod that without.

ziggy53

bellaphoto wrote:

i have the standard lens that came with the nikon D40 18-55mm
and a 55-200mm lens. nothing fancy
the settings i use are Auto, sometimes i switch it to aperture priority, i am still learning how to use my camera so i try alot of settings.

...

Those are entry level consumer lenses. The problem is they have to be stopped down to a smaller aperture in order to be sharp. They also have autofocus motors which may be slower than the better lenses.

You could generally improve your images better by choosing better lenses. Do make sure you use Nikon AF-S lenses or Sigma HSM lenses.

At very least the new Nikon 18-55mm, f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX (VR) is supposed to be an upgrade over the base 18-55mm "kit" lens.

A better choice, by far, is the Nikkor 17-55mm, f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX.

For the longer zoom, many people like the Sigma 70-200mm, f/2.8 DG Macro HSM II. Of course, the best lens might be the Nikkor 70-200mm, f/2.8G AF-S VR.

bellaphoto wrote:

...

i use photoshop or picasa from google to fix the sharpness which works great but takes forever to edit all those pictures.

...

Welcome to my world. A much greater portion of my time is spent processing the images than most people will ever know. I use i2e and PhotoShop for most of the paid-work processing.

bellaphoto wrote:

...

my workflow??? not sure what you mean byt that. i have only done a few shoots. pretty new at all this. i love to do and i am trying to learn as much as i can!

thanks for replying.
romina

Workflow is like a brief description of how you work including file format you shoot to and the rough sequence of steps in each software.

I do caution the use of Picassa for professional work. By default, Picassa is set for very high compression output and very small image size output as well. You can set the software for visually lossless output at full resolution, but I think you also have to use an "export to folder" function in order to retain the best quality and then burn CD/DVDs from the export directory with full resolution and original file size settings. Picassa also can only save to JPG so you have to make sure it is the last step in your "workflow" for your best results.

J.T.

bellaphoto wrote:

i have the standard lens that came with the nikon D40 18-55mm
and a 55-200mm lens. nothing fancy
the settings i use are Auto, sometimes i switch it to aperture priority, i am still learning how to use my camera so i try alot of settings.

i use photoshop or picasa from google to fix the sharpness which works great but takes forever to edit all those pictures.

my workflow??? not sure what you mean byt that. i have only done a few shoots. pretty new at all this. i love to do and i am trying to learn as much as i can!

thanks for replying.
romina

Romina,

On the Nikon you may want to also check to see what AF setting you're using; AF-C, AF-S, etc. I am not sure if the D40 has those settings but it should have something like that such as on the D80. Use the AF-C for shooting subjects in action, and AF-S for stationary subjects, such as for portraits.

When I shoot portraits I also shoot in the single AF zone setting so I can manually select the AF zone I want properly focused, usually their eyes.

Along with what others have replied, these settings will assist in getting properly focused shots.

Good luck

joshhuntnm

I have a cheap long lens for my Canon and it is never that sharp. I just bought a prime 1.8 85mm. It is great. It costs about $350 on b and h. It doesn't zoom, but it is great for portraits. I am new to this too, but if you want sharp and you don't have a lot of money to spend on glass, consider a prime lens.

bellaphoto

lens
Thank you, this Helps alot. simple things like that, wow. haha
thanks again. i will practice practice practice!

J.T. wrote:

Romina,

On the Nikon you may want to also check to see what AF setting you're using; AF-C, AF-S, etc. I am not sure if the D40 has those settings but it should have something like that such as on the D80. Use the AF-C for shooting subjects in action, and AF-S for stationary subjects, such as for portraits.

When I shoot portraits I also shoot in the single AF zone setting so I can manually select the AF zone I want properly focused, usually their eyes.

Along with what others have replied, these settings will assist in getting properly focused shots.

Good luck