Sharper photographs – easy!
If you’re fed up of blurry street photography images, here’s Philip’s simple TIP for sharper photographs. It’s easy to do and it costs nothing.
Now, while this may not be the answer to all your unsharp images – there are a whole lot of reasons why a picture might be unsharp; it could be out of focus for one thing – I’ve noticed a particularly common fault among many of the photography students who come to me for tuition – especially for street photography.
They start to lower the camera from their eye immediately after they press the shutter button – wrong!
Blurry images
Lowering the camera too quickly and too soon is the cause of many unsharp photographs.
The habit may be something to do with those natural – and very common – inhibitions when taking pictures in the street. I am aware that some photographers don’t want to be spotted taking a picture, so perhaps they feel that the quicker they can lower the camera and get it out of sight, the less chance there will be of being caught in the act. I see it very often, and I know it leads to some blurry images.
So what can you do about it?
Simple! Slow down. Press the button and wait for just one second before moving. Press and wait. Press and wait – every time.
Good camera technique
If this faulty technique is not spotted and corrected at an early stage, eventually the whole movement of pressing the button and lowering the camera becomes one. It becomes a bad camera technique habit and finds its way into all your subjects, not just your street photography. Most of your pictures will suffer some lack of definition or actual blurr, especially at slower shutter speeds. So remember, for sharper photographs – press the button, wait, then lower the camera. That’s good camera technique.
Over time and with practise, your natural inhibitions about pointing a camera in the street will fade. You will gain confidence with your street photography. You will realise that once you have pressed the shutter button and got your picture, it’s in the bag – there’s no panic. Relax – and then press the button again rather than lowering your camera.
You will get sharper photographs – and more of them.
Read more about this subject in my post ‘When you are spotted taking a candid shot’ for more in-depth information.
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