Correct handholding, the right shutter speed, good exposure and other constants are the key in getting the most from your new equipment. Proper handling of your camera at the time of exposure is critical, because if you don't do it here, all will be lost. Most D-SLRs today are erogonically designed to allow the shooting hand to grasp a pistol like grip on the right side of the camera. ( this holds tru for non D-SLR cameras as well ) Holding the camera in this fashion immediately places the forefinger on the shutter release and the thumb on the rear control wheel to assist in changing settings all without taking your eye from the viewfinder.The left hand goes under and cradles the body for additional control, which provides a stable platform for the camera and lens.
When you get ready to shoot, tuck both elbows into the sides of your body and never hold the camera out at arms length. When you're ready for the shot, squeeze the trigger down gently rather than pushing it down abruptly. ( as if shooting a rifle ) pushing down abruptly will certainly become a problem for sharp images at slower shutter speeds. Let the camera do it's focusing and exposure calculations and when you get the go ahead from your camera ( either a green light of a soft beep ) gently squeeze off the shot.
Along with proper handholding techniques, the correct shutter speed is also crictical and can partner with even the most basic techniques indoors and out. Indoor photography requires great care and attention to slower shutter speeds if you want sharp images. Too slow of a shutter speed with a wider aperture ( less light, minimum depth of field ) will result in deterioration of your image quality. Shutter speeds is perhaps the easiest to understand when it comes to sharp shooting techniques. If you have a 35mm lens on the camera, set the shutter speed no slower than 1/30th of a second. A 50mm lens would be set for 1/60th of a second and a 135mm is good at 1/125th. With a larger telephoto lens likea 300mm, I'd go at least to 1/250th or 1/500th of a second, depending on the weight or bulk of your lens, especially if you are handholding it awiting for a wild bird flyby.
Alternatives always seem to be popping up in conjunction with slower shutter speeds as one can always turn to stabilized assisted lenses. Image Stabilization ( IS ) lenses are Canon's name for it. Nikon calls it Vibration reduction ( VR ) and Sigma calls it Optical Stabilization ( OS ). But however you want to remember it by, it all different names for the same thing. They all depend on continous monitoring and movement of specialized lenses ( via small voice coil motors ) during shooting. To compensate for yaw and pitch, moving elements within the lens barrel work to supress any change ( related to sharpness ) while still delivering an in focus image to the sensor.
Stabilized assited lenses are design to shoot images in fading light. You will gain an average of three full stops over a non-stabilized lens. For instance if you were shooting at 1/125th of a second and the light value dropped, you could handhold the lens and keep shooting at 1/15th of a second if need be. Keep in mind, this type of lens is made to minimize camera shake and not made to compensate for the lack of fast shutter speed to stop action given the same lighting conditions. The only downside to this type of lens is you have to refrain from long exposures with the lens set to the "on" position. Sharpness may suffer because wind ( or other disturbing force )can cause the lens to compensate for motion while on the tripod. This can lead to degraduation to image quality. Regardless of what you may hear, the sharpness feature within the camera,s software of your D-SLR or advanced digicam will not help correct this minor shortcoming of stablized lenses.
Without pinpoint focusing, sharp images are not possible even under the best conditions. A common mistake is using the wrong sensor setting in the viewfinder.The use of an improper sensor setting that is either to the right or left of the subject is going to focus on the background of the subject instead rendering the immediate subject "soft" as compared to to rest of the pic.
Depth of field allows the photographer to control the proper degree of area sharpness for any given situation. For example, shooting at f/2.8 is good for separating your subject from the background. f/16 or f/22 is great for scenery where a range of sharp focus is desired from the foot of your tripod to infinity, but keep in mind the optimum sharpness of any lens is usually found two or three stops from wide open, which usually puts this at f/8 to f/11. On some lenses, shooting all the time at the smallest opening will guarantee the longest range in depth of field, which could also decay image quality. Running practical tests on your new lens is thew best way to find the "sweet spot" on your product. Remember, depth of field runs approx. 1/3 rd in front of your subject and 2/3 rds to the rear of the same subject.
No matter how you slice it, the right lens is the key to the overall sharpness in the final photograph. In general, wide-angle lenses will open up the area in front of you, a normal lens is the closest you'll find to the approximate angle of the human eye and telephoto depends on the right lens for pin point accurancy you desire ( so shop wisely )
If you really want to improve on the overall crispness of any image on a day to day basis, consider a tripod. Tripods come in a range of styles, models, prices, weight and height, so it bcomes a personal choice. Try to stay away from tripods with a long center post simply because it starts to become unsteady when factoring in the weight of the camera, wind and ground vibrations.
A portable flash ( either portable or built in ) is good on close-up or macro nature shooting when the light is low and sharpness becomes top priority. It's a good to use a portable flash unit set at 0.3 or 0.7 of a stop under full power to add just a bit of light and sharpness to your subject.
The ongoing saga of just how sharp an photo snapshot should be ( or will be ) rests on the person behind the camera. Emplying the right techniques and later putting it on photo paper stillremains a direct relationship between the photographer and his/her equipment. In the field, take your time, reason everything out and you'll be amazed how a photograph at just 1/100th of a second can last a lifetime on your wall for all to see.
