6 Reasons Your Photos Aren't as Sharp as You Want

Sharp images are the desire of every photographer, but there are many factors that can derail that pursuit and leave you with frustratingly soft photos. If you are struggling to get crisp shots, check out this helpful video tutorial that discusses six reasons your photos are not as sharp as you would like them to be and what you can do to fix those issues. 

Coming to you from Julia Trotti, this awesome video tutorial discusses six reasons why your photos might not be as sharp as you would like and what you can do to fix them. By far, one of the most common causes of soft photos I see is using too slow of a shutter speed for the chosen focal length or subject motion. Most people do this when they are already using the widest aperture available and are trying to avoid bumping up the ISO any further. The important thing to remember, though, is that you can do quite a lot (especially with modern software) to reduce noise in post, but if a shot is soft from camera shake or motion blur, there is not much you can do to bring it back. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Trotti. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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8 Comments

1. Dirty lens
2. Using a filter on your lens
3. Lens isn’t sharp
4. Shooting wide open aperture
5. Motion blur
6. Using wrong focus settings

What, no timestamps? :P

Lol this video was painful enough just getting the list. I've decided my purpose on this earth is give more info on these videos that are posted with minimal commentary, but even the greatest heroes have their limits :)

Thank you for your service!
These videos are very obnoxious as they stretch out simple subjects in to 10 minutes of pain. as if they were imparting ground breaking never heard before reasons.

I think ol' Eddie was being sarcastic. Would you really want to go view the video to figure out what "Dirty lens" is all about?

Hilarious!

Ok, Ok......
I'll take one for the team
1. Dirty lens 0:31
2. Using a filter on your lens 1:15
3. Lens isn’t sharp 2:00
4. Shooting wide open aperture 3:52
5. Motion blur 5:35
6. Using wrong focus settings 8:42

(I need a stiff drink)

Haha, awesome!