MegaPixel 101

One of the things photographers strive for is sharpness. This can be hard to achieve. Just because you focus on the subject doesn't mean that you picture will be sharp. Here are some factors that can affect the sharpness of an image:

Bad or Poor Focus: This may seem pretty obvious, but it is the easiest way to not have a sharp picture. Poor focus can be caused by many things like shallow depth of field, focusing on the wrong thing or even just taking the picture too fast without checking the focus.

Subject Movement: If your shutter speed isn't set correctly for the amount of movement, you may get blur if your subject moves. If this happens when you didn't want it to, the easiest fix is to switch to a faster shutter speed.

Camera Shake: You can also get movement blur in your photos if you move your camera while taking the picture. This may be fixed by changing your shutter speed or holding your camera tighter. A tripod or monopod can help keep the camera still.

Noise: If you are using a high ISO setting you are going to get digital noise. Noisy shots are ones that are pixelated and look like they have lots of little dots over them (get up close to your TV and you’ll get the same impact).



Here is a list of 10 easy things you can do to get that sharp picture.

1. Hold Your Camera Well
2. Tripods
3. Shutter Speed
4. Aperture
5. ISO
6. Image Stabilization
7. Focus
8. Good Lenses
9. Check your Vision
10. Clean Equipment

I'll be going over each of these in more detail in future posts. For the time being, don't forget about the contest. It is open to anyone so give it a shot.