How Sharp Do Your Photos REALLY Need to Be?

Tack Sharp, Tack Sharp, Tack Sharp !!!

Everyone tells you your photos should always be tack sharp at 100% (1:1).  

But is tack sharp really necessary?

My answer is: depends.

NOTE: I'm not proposing sloppiness or bad technique, just sometimes getting tack sharp photos may prove difficult.  That can be OK.


Your photo needs to be as sharp as it needs to be, and that depends on your plans for it.  Most people aren't going to zoom your photo to 100% (1:1) or zoom at all.

Viewing Photos Electronically or Sharing in Social Media

Tack sharpness is likely the least concern in these cases.  Does the photos look sharp on your monitor?  Good enough, in my humble opinion.  One caveat: photos of items you are selling online.  Potential buyers may zoom those photos, so zoom before you post, making sure the zoom looks sharp.

Printing

Most will insist tack sharpness at 100% (1:1) for printing photos.  Again, not necessarily.  Re-size a COPY of the photo to the intended print size, and view the photo at that size on your monitor.  Don't fill the monitor.  If you plan to print a 5x7 inch photo, view it at 5x7 on your monitor.  If it looks sharp, try a test print.  Look good, great. 

Selling Photos / Entering Contests

ALWAYS strive for tack sharpness at 100% (1:1) in these cases.  If selling, people assume you are professional.  Contest judges are very detailed and, yes I'll say it, picky.  Rightfully so in both cases.

Non-tack sharp photos sales or refunds.  Not only that, you risk a bad reputation as a professional photographer. Judges, among other criteria, WILL zoom your photo to 100% (1:1), maybe more.

In these cases, learn all the techniques for getting tack sharp photos and use them: top notch lenses, tripods, camera hand-holding, focusing techniques, etc.

Achieving Tack-Sharp Photos

Here's one link on getting tack sharp photos: PhotographyCourses.biz Technical Videos. Just open the site and check off Image Sharpness.  Oh, Mike offers NUMEROUS other free videos as well as excellent paid courses, but start with the free ones.

As usual, if you have any questions, comment on this blog or email me at Brett@BrettOssman.com.

What is the Perfect Selfie?

Had a friend ask me about writing a blog for the perfect selfie.  Thought that was an interesting idea, so here goes mine.

Current State of the Selfie

Let's face it, most selfies I see are nothing special really, from a photography standpoint.  People have been shooting photos of themselves for decades or longer.  They put their camera on a tripod, set a timer or grab a remote shutter, go get in place, and shoot.  To me, the term "seflie" is just a new fad name.  Although, I guess they do tend to be facial closeups.

Why Shoot a Selfie?

A selfie is just another photo, no more, no less.  Just like any photo, the first question is: "What do you want to accomplish?"

• Do you simply want to put your face on social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, Google+?
• Do you want a nice portrait?
• Do you just want family and friends to see a recent photo of you.
• Do you want to be funny?
• Do you want to capture a moment?
• Do you want some sort of response and reaction and what?
• Do you want something outside the norm, special effects, be different?

The Approach

To me the approach to taking a selfie is no different than shooting any other photo.  Want a nice selfie, think it through a little.  You don't need to use a professional type approach, unless you want to.  In fact, I recently posted an article: Three Easy Casual Photography Tips that apply to selfies as well as any other photo, so go check that out.

Also, try to be creative, so the response is more than, well there's another selfie.

Different Spins on Selfies

Self Portrait

To me, this isn't really a quick selfie like those you commonly see.  Get a nice clean scene or backdrop.  Set your camera on a tripod.  Use a camera timer or remote shutter release.

Casual Snapshot

Hey, just fire away, but try to make the photo somewhat interesting.  Maybe add something cool or different.  Nothing fancy here.

Funny Photo

Remember, funny is subjective and in the eye of the beholder.  So, don't be offended if you don't get the response your were looking for.  MAYBE, one way to be humorous is to do a composite, pasting two photos together.  Again, everything is subjective.  This one is VERY subjective. LOL

Special Effects

The above photo definitely fits into this category.  But here's a few more ideas.

Reflections

Long Exposure

 

Props

Of course, the main idea is to have fun. :-)

Three Easy Casual Photography Tips

Are you happy with your photos?  

Are they what you want or hope for?  

If so, no need to finish reading this. :-)

Many of you don't want or need to learn a bunch of photography stuff.  You just want to capture the moment, and avoid a crappy photo.   

These three simple techniques will make a ton of difference.

Remove the Clutter
Remove the clutter from around your subject.  Keep the surroundings and background as simple as possible.  Too much stuff is distracting.  If need be, simply move to a different location or angle.

Check the Lighting
If it bothers your eyes, don't bother taking a photo.  It will likely be worse.  As with clutter, move to a different location or angle.  Keep the contrast between scene's bright and dark areas to a minimum.

Move Off-Center
Move the subject off-center.  Think of a tic-tac-toe board, and move your subject to one of the intersections.  You'll figure out which one.  Also, have your subject look into the photo, not out of it.


These three techniques may be all you'll ever need or want.  However, if you want to go to the next level and really learn photography, I recommend a structured course.  Trial and error may get you there one day, but a course will get you there MUCH faster.

I highly recommend PhotographyCourses.biz.  The FREE videos are organized both by subject and skill level.  Just watch one, and you'll come back.

Photo Finishing or Editing - Example

Thought some of you might be interested in me finishing a photo.  I'm going to use Adobe Lightroom, but you can accomplish many, if not all, of the tasks in other photo processing programs, some FREE.  The key is to learn how to use the program you have.

I'll try to keep this one generic and simple, hopefully applicable to any photo processing program.

You'll notice very subtle changes as I go.  Sometimes that is all you want.

I'm starting with the following photo out of the camera.  It's an Anole lizard crawling across our lanai screen.

Yuck, ugly.  Going to get better.

• Cropping- basically any sizing, straightening/rotating I want.  I wanted to fill the frame more.

• White Balance - I shoot camera RAW, so I set White Balance to Daylight
  
  
  
  
• Exposure Adjustments - brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows

•  Color - saturation and/or vibrance, I typically use vibrance as it is not so over-powering

• Contrast - Decided I wanted a little more contrast at this point.

• Sharpening - Next is some sharpening and noise reduction.  NOTE: This will NOT fix a blurry, out of focus photo.  Just crispen it up a bit.  Is crispen a word? LOL

•  Vignette - Finally a little dark vingette around the edges to make it pop a bit.

 

This is a pretty basic finish, but many times, this is all I do.  Hopefully, it shows what you can accomplish in a few quick steps.

Learn Photography through YouTube

Don't underestimate the value of YouTube as an informational resource.  I'm sure quite a few, if not a lot, of people think of YouTube as cute or funny videos that go viral.  YouTube offers far more serious resources for virtually any topic, including photography.  Have a look around.  Just go to:

YouTube and do some searching.

HUGE TIP: Subscribe to folks on YouTube, if you like what they offer.  Getting an e-mail notification of a new video is an EASY way to keep up.

Also, a little reminder of mine for watching videos that I love:

Another Way to Watch YouTube

Having said all that, to help get you going, here are a few of my favorite YouTube subscriptions for photography:

Adorama

BH Photo Video

Anthony Morganti

OK Got a Great New Camera, but Same Old Photos

You bought a nice, new, high-end camera with all these fancy features.  But, your photos don't look any better than before.  The problem isn't the camera, it's your skill level.  Will buying the fanciest cookware make you a master chef?  Will buying the best art supplies make you a master artist?  Will getting the best race car make you win a race?  Of course not.  So why expect a fancy new camera to make you a master photographer.

You can have the best tools in the world, but to be a master, you still have to learn the craft.  Instead of worrying about fancier cameras, invest some time and maybe money into learning photography.  There are plenty of resources out there for the picking.  Heaven knows I've been through a zillion.  Find one that suits your learning style, and maybe try more than one.

One free resource I happened to find very helpful is:

PhotographyCourses.Biz

But check around.

As usual, any questions, just fire away.
Click on the blog title (Brett's Photography Tidbits) at the top to see all my tips.