Sharpness is one of the most fundamental and crucial aspects of a good image, and there are a lot of aspects and techniques you need to have down pat to ensure consistently successful photos. If you are new to photography, check out this awesome video tutorial that discusses some important tips and techniques for ensuring you get sharp photos every time.
Coming to you from Photo Genius, this great video tutorial discusses some helpful tips and techniques for getting sharp images. As you will see, the video discusses the usefulness of image stabilization. Image stabilization is, no doubt, extremely helpful, but a common mistake people make is confusing its benefits for mitigating camera shake with compensating for subject motion. Of course, nothing your camera or lens can do will make your subject move any faster or slower, though it is easy to be lulled into confusing the two unconsciously (I certainly did this several times when I was starting out). Image stabilization is generally most useful for dealing with camera shake when using lenses with long focal lengths, especially since these lenses tend to be heavier and push more weight farther away from your grip, but the shutter speed required by your subject's motion will always be independent of that. Check out the video above for the full rundown.