Tips for Creating Sharper Images With Any Camera

There is little more frustrating than one of your best shots in any given shoot being slightly blurry. While sometimes it's all but unavoidable, there is often lots you could have done differently to capture the shot without any blurring. In this video, an expert bird photographer discusses how he keeps his images so sharp.

Jan Wegener is a staggeringly good bird photographer, with a mouth-watering portfolio. However, while the tropical birds make his images extra interesting, one of the most impressive features of his work is just how sharp they are. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that he is photographing creatures that are famously agile and quick to move.

Sharpness is the result of a lot of factors, so an image appearing a little soft could be anything from equipment through to technique. Most modern equipment is pretty damned sharp when used properly, and even if isn't equal to the best lenses and cameras on the market, it will typically be enough to get a good shot. Whatever the case, poor technique can ruin shots even if you're using a camera and lens combination worth the same as a house deposit.

In this video, Wegener goes through some of his tips for ensuring his results are the highest quality achievable. Although equipment upgrades may not be actionable for you, the tips on technique and post-production could prove invaluable.

Rob Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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IMHO everything he says in the video is spot on. Jan Wegener is a guy who gets terrific results and then just tells us all how to to exactly that, in plain language. No BS and solid advice.