Getting sharp photos was the biggest challenge for me when starting out photography.

I was always confused as to why they weren't sharp - and I missed many great moments because of the lack of knowledge.

Today, I wanted to teach what I wish I had known in the beginning.

I'll share the tips I use nowadays to maximize the chances of nailing the focus every time.

And what do I do to fix a blurry photo.

Let's start, my friends.

1) Aperture plays a big role

Do you wonder why a part of your photos is not sharp?

It might be because you're using a low aperture, also known as low F-stop number - such as F/4.

This will make a part of your photos blurry.

What F-stop should you use?

That depends entirely on your vision.

Sometimes I use F/2, sometimes I use F/22.

When it comes to understanding what exact F-stop to use in a given scenario, you must think of depth of field.

It's affected by 2 things:

1) The F-stop

The higher the F-stop number, the more will be in focus.

Such as F/11 compared to F/2.0.

If you intentionally want something to be out of focus, you can decide to lower the F-stop to get that effect.

But if you want everything sharp, go with a higher F-stop.

But, you don't want to use F/22 ideally - because it'll result in a less sharp image.

P.s. Know that every lens has its sharpest range.

Such as, I know my Sony 16-35mm F/4, is sharper at F/4 compared to F/22.

Therefore, I shouldn't use F/22 (unless there's a unique scenario for that).

I recommend Googling it to find out what's the case with your lens(es).

2) Focal length

What this means, is that if you shoot at 100mm compared to 16mm, with the same F-stop, you'll have less in focus.

When you're shooting wide, you don't need to worry as much about will everything be sharp.

When shooting at 16mm or wider, I often use F/2 to F/4 - and I get sharp photos.

But if I'd do the same with 70mm, I'd have a lot not in focus.

How to understand what aperture to use in that moment?

What I personally do, is I take test shots with different apertures to see what is enough to get what I want in focus.

I haven't bothered, at least of yet, to calculate what aperture to use.

It sounds quite boring to me, to be honest.

But - what you could do - is to get Photopills. (A great app - I use it for other things.)

There you can find a section called DoF (for Depth of Field).

There you can set the:

1) camera you use

2) focal length you're about to use

3) How far is the nearest object you want to be sharp

4) F-stop you're about to use

Once you put in those details, you'll be given numbers.

What 1 of the numbers tells you, is where the nearest point of focus is.

Let's take an example.

Let's say we're shooting at 70mm with Sony a7 III.

Our subject is 10km away.

We want everything to be focused after 22 metres from where we're taking the photo from.

Let's say we want to use F/8.

With these numbers combined, we know our nearest point of focus is at 20,47 metres.

Everything after that is in decent focus.

We could be good to go.

But indeed, "nearest point of focus" doesn't necessarily mean it's "amazingly" sharp. But it's fairly sharp.

What we could do - is to double it.

So, in our case, we'd double the 20,47 metres.

We'd say we have everything in focus in 40,94 metres and beyond.

Now we'd have everything very sharp.

(As long as our shutter speed is correct, which we'll talk more in a bit.)

Now we know whether to adjust our F-stop or not.

And indeed, we want to adjust it - because now we'd be well focused to 40,94 metres and beyond. And we want that number to be 22 metres and beyond.

Let's see, if we adjusted it to F/13, our nearest point of focus would be 12,92 metres.

Let's double it. Now we're at 25,84 metres. Still not enough.

What about F/16? Now we'd be at 10,26 metres.

Doubling it gets us to 20,52 metres.

Now, we'd have reached our goal.

Everything is very sharp from 20,52 metres onwards.

See, it's the combination of:

1) The focal length

2) F-stop

3) How far is your subject - and what do you want to be in focus.

Using the Photopills app can be useful for this.

But honestly, what you can do is just take test shots to figure it out as well.

2) Focus stacking

This means, you take multiple photos and combine the sharp parts of them in Photoshop - resulting in 1 sharp image.

Sometimes, you just can't get everything in focus. So then it can be useful to do this.

Or - perhaps you know your lens is sharpest at F/4 - and don't want to use something like F/16 to get all sharp at once.

This is how focus stacking works:

Let's say you have an icicle in the foreground. And a person in the background.

1st, you focus on the icicle.

You take a photo.

Then, adjust your focus to the background.

Take a photo.

Now you have 2 photos.

Once home, put them in Photoshop.

Teaching Photoshop is outside the scope of this Letter - but there are 2 ways to go about this.

(After these I'll continue with easier examples to make photos sharp.)

1) Use masks

Put the photos above each other as layers. Mask out the parts that are not in focus.

And you have a sharp photo.

2) Let Photoshop do this automatically for you.

What you can do, is:

1) Select both photos (that are layers and neither are Smart Objects)

2) Go to edit -> Align Photos Automatically (select automatic)

3) Once done, go to edit again -> Mix the photos automatically (or something alternative in English)

4) Click on "Stack photos"

And you're done!

You have a focused shot now.

(I know it's not a perfect example. I could've still taken a shot of the 2nd icicle. This is how I'd have got the sharpest image.)

Focus stacking is a great tool to have in your own toolkit.

Let's continue to some other ways how to get sharp shots.

3) Have image stabilization on

Many cameras have some sort of stabilization in them.

If you do have, great. This will help you a lot.

Every camera has it at a different place, so I can't say where you can find it. But it's in the settings somewhere.

On Sony, this is called Steady Shot.

On Canon and Nikon, Image Stabilisation.

By turning this on, you can get sharper photos...

But, they could also ruin your photo.

If you're using a tripod, it can be beneficial to take this setting off.

When you have a camera on a tripod, it's still, obviously.

How image stabilization works is that it tries to compensate for the movement "happening."

When the camera is still on a tripod, the stabilization might be trying to compensate for non-existent movement.

This can lead to a blurry photo.

Have I noticed this happening to me?

Honestly, no. But I have heard this is the case for some.

But I did have a challenge with my Sony a7 III a few years ago.

It started to shake weirdly, and my long exposure photos looked like I was moving the camera.

But it was just that my Steady Shot was broken.

Then it got fixed.

So be aware that Image Stabilization might be also ruining your focus.

Overall though, it's extremely useful and I recommend it.

4) Shutter speed = double the focal length

This is a simple rule I follow when I shoot handheld:

Let your shutter speed be double the focal length.

What this means, is that let's say I shoot at 30mm.

In this case, my shutter speed should be at least 1/60.

If I shoot at 50mm, my shutter speed should be 1/100.

At 70mm, 1/140.

Can you be fine with a faster shutter speed too?

Yes, you can.

Especially if you have a great stabilization in your camera.

But I always go for double the focal length if it's not dark.

If it's dark, I might risk it.

But I do make sure to check did it come out sharp on-field.

Then I can still correct the mistake.

5) Hold your breath - and have the camera close to you

We want to take inspiration from snipers.

When they take a shot, they're holding their breath.

This is how they get an accurate shot.

They get an accurate shot because they are still.

How this applies to us photographers, is that we want to stay still to get a sharp photo.

If we move, our camera moves too.

When taking a shot handheld, hold your breath for a bit.

That's how your shot will become sharper.

And make sure to hold your camera close to your body.

Don't extend your hands to get the camera far away.

This way, it's much harder to keep the camera steady.

Keep the camera close to your body.

6) Support your lens

This might be obvious, or then not, but support your lens with 1 hand.

Don't just hold the camera body with both hands.

This is especially important when you have a heavy lens.

By holding the lens with 1 hand, and the camera body with another - you'll get sharper photos.

7) Use manual focus

Often I use the autofocus.

Autofocus is so good nowadays - so I find it a bit weird many are scared to use it.

But - if you want to maximize the chances of nailing the focus, use manual focus.

What I do recommend, is that you activate "peaking" in the camera.

This means the area that is in focus will be highlighted with a colour.

For me, it's in red.

Why red? It stands out better for me compared to yellow for example.

This makes focusing much easier.

Here are a few tutorials for each camera brand, on how to activate peaking:

Sony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VemUev-CIpM

Canon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI95vqOIvww

Nikon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auBqCn9RdLo

Fujifilm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJIOiPOUvqk

If your camera brand wasn't mentioned here, just type in "[CAMERA BRAND] Peaking Level" to YouTube. :)

8) Use a tripod

Alright, finally this option - just use a tripod.

When you have a tripod, your camera will be still - and as long as you have either:

1) Autofocused correctly - or

2) Manually focused correctly

You'll get sharp photos.

I highly recommend getting a tripod.

Is it necessary?

No.

But it's helpful.

And when you get one, make sure to invest in a good one.

You don't want to spend like €50 on it, considering if your camera costs hundreds, if not thousands.

But make sure to keep in mind - that if your tripod isn't sturdy enough, you could still get blurry photos.

I have a fairly sturdy one (Manfrotto BeFree Advanced Tripod).

But in very windy conditions, I might get blurry shots.

What I do then, is that I have the stabilization on, and I either:

1) Use my hands to steady the camera and tripod - or

2) I increase the shutter speed after I have noticed it's not sharp.

Sometimes, I do both.

Also, check how stable the platform your tripod is on.

Ideally, you'd have it on something such as rock.

Sometimes, this isn't possible, of course.

But try to make sure your tripod has the best chance of not moving around.

The key is to check the sharpness every time you get a photo taken.

That is how you can adjust.

Bonus tip: If you do use a camera strap whilst a camera being on a tripod - remove it if it's windy.

That might cause movement in your shot.

9) Use a timer

When you're using a tripod, this is SO helpful.

With your camera, you can set a timer to take a photo for you.

This means you don't need to press the shutter button yourself at that moment.

And that's good - as it can create camera shake. (Especially if you use a long lens).

When I use a wider lens, such as 35mm and below, I use a 2-second timer.

When I use a lens above 70mm, I use a 10-second timer.

This way, the camera has time to settle down after I've left it alone on the tripod.

I don't have a lens between 35mm and 70mm - but I'd perhaps use the 5-second timer for that range.

10) Use a remote controller

I have done this - but I nowadays do not use one.

But I thought to include it for you.

You can use remote controllers to take the photos for you.

These controllers might be entirely "remote" or then be connected to your camera via a cable.

This could be useful as well.

Especially if you need a precise shot - and want to avoid the camera shake.

This way, you can capture the shot without using a timer to avoid the shake.

11) Clean your lens

It could be as simple as this.

Make sure to clean it if it's not clean - this can affect the final look and sharpness of your image.

12) Megapixels don't equal to sharp photos

Don't get this confused, my friend.

More megapixels simply means that there's more information.

It doesn't mean the sharpness will be increased.

I say this so that you understand you can get sharp images with lower megapixels.

Of course, if you're printing HUGE, you'll see a difference.

But even then, the sharpness isn't different. The photo just has more information.

A sharp image with low megapixels is always better than a blurry image with high megapixels.

13) Fix your blurry photos

There's actually a way to make blurry photos sharp.

Now, if they're entirely blurry, then maybe not.

But in many cases, TopazAI Sharpen can help you.

That's what I use when I have missed a focus on something.

It's not free. But I do believe it's worth every penny.

Check it out here.

14) Don't oversharpen your photos

This is a mistake I see SO many photographers make.

You want your photos to be sharp. But not too sharp.

How to avoid this?

What I do, is I increase my sharpening in Adobe Lightroom - often to around 60.

However, that can always depend on the shot.

But once I have decided the amount of sharpness I want, I'll mask out what I don't need more sharpening to.

(There is a simple masking option in Lightroom in the "Detail" panel - where you can also do the sharpening.)

Let's take our icicle & person image as an example again.

We might want to add further sharpening to both of those parts of our photograph.

But perhaps, we don't want to sharpen the dark part of the sky.

There's nothing that needs to be in focus.

So - we can mask out that part of the photograph.

If we wouldn't, there would be some noise we wouldn't want there to be.

Simply, to see what's going to be sharpened in Lightroom, do this:

Hold ALT and start dragging the "Masking" slider.

The photograph will turn to black and white for the moment being.

Everything in white is going to be sharpened.

Everything in black won't.

This is how you can decide where to increase sharpening.

But indeed, don't overdo sharpening.

Many photos just look too sharp, they look bad as a result - no matter how beautiful the colours or composition were in the 1st place.

Don't make the photos bad by making this mistake. :)

Last words

I hope you enjoyed this Letter, my friends!

I mentioned a lot of gear & tools I use - and what you could use too.

This week, I released a free Photography Toolkit.

It has all the gear & tools I use to create my images.

Click here to get it for free - if you haven't already. :)

If you did enjoy this Letter, feel free to forward it to your friend.

If you were forwarded, you can subscribe here.

I know this was many people's 1st Letter from me. So I hope this gave you a great 1st impression. :)

I'll send you another one next week on Saturday.

Till then, your teacher,

Hugo

P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 4 other ways I can help you:

#1: Ready to crush it on social media in 2024? Click here to apply to my 1-1 Social Media Coaching Program.

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#4: I have a lot of free resources out there. Read the past Letters here.

How to Never Get Blurry Photos Again