• Serge: Thank you for these wonderful tips. I find your site to be very beneficial, and just being a novice helpful.
• Mark Woods: May I suggest the Beanpod - the tripod that’s full of beans?! Available from www.Beanpods.co.uk,...

The most important ingredient for a spectacular photograph is to be sharply in focus.Without sharp focus, a good subject, color and lighting will still not make a good picture.

Photographers have somewhat varying opinions on what constitutes a tack sharp picture, but generally, a tack sharp photograph has good, clean lines.The picture will have clear definition, instead of being blurred.

There are several things you can do to increase your chances of getting that coveted tack sharp picture.

Hand-Held Digital Photography Tips

If you’re hand-holding your camera, brace your arms against your sides to help steady the camera.This is the time to have your camera's anti-shake technology such as Vibration Reduction (VR) or Image Stabilization (IS) lens turned on.

You can also lean against a wall or tree or whatever sturdy object that’s handy, and help keep yourself and your camera steady.Another idea is to lean or lay your camera on some handy sturdy object to help steady the camera.

Steadying your camera by hooking the strap under your elbow and wrapping the rest around your forearm will also help stabilize the camera and hold it steady in your hand.

Getting those tack sharp photos while hand-holding your camera can be difficult, so to increase your chances of getting that perfect shot, use the burst or continuous shooting mode on your camera to take several shots at once.The series of picture will increase the chances of at least one being tack sharp.

Tripods For Better Focus

There’s no getting around the fact that it’s easier to get a tack sharp photo using a tripod.A tripod holds a camera much steadier than you can hope to.A tripod is like most things in life, and you get what you pay for.Cheap tripods are helpful, but won't hold the camera as stil as a more expensive tripod does.Buying the best tripod you can reasonably afford gets the best results.

The more expensive tripods don’t come with the head attached.It must be bought separately, but that gives you the opportunity to choose what you like best.Buy a good quality ballhead for your tripod. It will keep your camera firmly in place, so yoru picture will stay sharply in focus.

If you’re somewhere that carrying a tripod just won’t work, beanbags make a nice cushion for cameras in these settings.A beanbag can help in positioning the camera to get the right angle on the subject, then hold the camera steady so you get a sharp shot.

To improve your chances of a tack sharp photo even more, use a cable release instead of pressing the shutter.There’s enough movement when pressing the shutter, though it may not seem like much, to keep you from getting a well-focused picture.

If you don’t have a cable release, the self timer will also work.This means when you press the shutter, the camera has time to stabilize before it actually takes a picture.

More Advanced Digital Photography Secrets For Sharp Shots

If you have a digital SLR camera, there are even more ways to make sure your camera stays steady while taking pictures.

The first is to use mirror lock-up. This locks your camera’s mirror in the up position so when you take a picture the mirror doesn’t move until after the picture is taken, limiting the movement inside the camera.You have to press the shutter release button twice on the cable release or remote to take a picture (you surely aren't going to all this trouble and still pressing the shutter release on your camera are you?). The first press lifts the mirror and the second press actually takes the picture.

The second method is to turn off the Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization. That may sound counter productive, but when you’ve stabilized your camera with a tripod and other methods, the vibration reduction keeps looking for shakes/movements.When a camera is perfectly still, vibration reduction can cause some shaking while looking for movement.A good rule of thumb is to use automated vibration controls when hand-holding a camera, but turn them off when using a tripod.

One last way to increase the sharpness of your pictures is to have good glass.It makes a considerable difference which lens you use.You get what you pay for. A quality lens with good glass is expensive, but it’s worth it. Think of it as an investment in great photos.

Use as many methods as you can to steady your camera, and you’ll have a much better chance of getting those lovely tack sharp photographs.