Tips for Getting Sharp Photos

Having your photos sharp and in focus is vitally important.  Sharpness can make all the difference in a photo heading to the trash bin or the print lab/sale.  While many may add actions or textures to make a photo soft, the original photo should have clean sharp edges.

 

1.  Tripod - A good tripod will be your most useful camera accessory.  Keeping your camera still and steady is a tripod's only job.  This will really help you to obtain those sharp images we are all after.

2.  Cable Release - Now you have the tripod and your photos are sharp but could be sharper.  Try using a cable release.  Without one, when you press the shutter button on the camera, it makes the camera move just enough to keep your photos from being tack sharp.  And now your photos are that much sharper.

3. Turn off Vibration Reduction (or IS) - Works wonders for times when you can't work on a tripod.  Just follow this simple rule:  When you're hand-holding your camera turn VR or IS to the on position.  When you're using a tripod turn VR OR IS to the off position.  There are some Nikon or Canon lenses that will let you leave it on, so check your paperwork that comes with the lens.

4.  Good Glass can Make a Difference - A quality lens is an investment and they will give you crystal clear photos that the inexpensive lenses just can't deliver.

5.  Sharpen After the Fact in Photoshop - Sometimes you get that photo that is just a little soft on the sharpness.  Camera shake or just off focus can be the cause of this.

I am going to give you a sharpen action set that lets you sharpen more without creating nasty halos and color artifacts which might occur if you use a lot of sharpening.  Using this action will sharpen just the luminosity areas of your photos and not the color areas.  This helps avoid color halos and other pitfalls of sharpening a color image.

  Download:     Sharpen Action

There are 3 actions in the set.  1 for general everyday use, 1 for people and 1 for landscapes/cityscapes/travel

Hope you like them.

How to Install Actions in Photoshop

Actions are used in Photoshop to speed up processes where you have to complete a process multiple times like resizing a batch of images for example. They can also be used to achieve specific effects such as a photographic style or filter. You can create your own actions by recording the process once and then playing the action back when you need to use the process again but you will also find many pre-built actions available to download online, often for free, enabling you to skip a lot of trial and error if you are trying to create a specific look or if you are in a hurry and working to a deadline!

Before you install your actions it is recommended that you save them in a folder on your hard drive.  I have an actions folder and put all my actions there for easier access, if needed.

Installing your Actions in Photoshop CS (any version)

Open Photoshop and go to your action palette.  If it is hidden go to >Window>Actions

 (Option +Alt F9).  You should see an added panel.  There is a drop down menu for Actions under the develop button.  Select Load Actions; browse your Action folder on your hard drive.  It must be an .atn file.  Click on it and it will instantly be installed.

To use your action, have your document open that you wish to use the action on.  Highlight the action in the panel and hit record.  You may adjust the opacity by using the opacity slider to get the best results for your edits.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kim