How to take Sharp Photos

I'm so pleased to be back now in 2019 with a bunch of fresh video ideas. I hope today video about methods I use to take sharp images assists you:-RRB-.

These are techniques I use on my 5D mkiv.

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See you next Wednesday!

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Dan @ I Make Films.

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VLOG CAMERA SETUP//.

a7s mkii + Sigma 24mm f1.4.

CAMERA SETUP//.

5dmkiv.
Sigma 24mm f1.4.
Canon 35mm f1.4.
Canon 50mm f1.2.
Canon 85mm f1.2.
Canon 135mm f2.

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Thank you a lot for seeing! xx.

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33 Comments

  1. It might help to use a depth of field calculator when practicing. It might help realize that 2m away from the subject at 1.2 on an 85mm gives only a depth of field of only 4cm (i.e. the length of a nose). Might be good sometimes to take a step or two back and maybe think about cropping the photo in post for better/safer results. The other mistake I was making: not enough shutter speed. I thought I could be steady enough to shoot at slow speeds but it doesn’t work. The faster the shutter, the more frozen in time and sharp the photo will be.

    1. so the size of the depth of field can change depending on how close the subject is?

    2. @Remarkable Media Yes absolutely. A bit tricky to explain in a YouTube comment but it works the same as your eyesight. If you hold something very close to your eye, you can’t see as well in the far distance. The more you put distance between you and what you’re watching, the more you get things in focus. Hope this helps.

    3. Would be smarter to just stop down instead of walking back, thus losing resolution and sharpness (since still at 1.2)

    4. ​@Remarkable Media lens, distance and f stop all have an effect on DOF. so there’s no “one solution”

  2. Yes, please do a video on the focus modes and what they are used for! That would be so helpful!

  3. Also: autofocus micro adjustment for every lens. This is a must for those using a DSLR.

  4. Thank you so much Julia! This is exactly was I was needing! Cannot WAIT for the rest of your content this year!

  5. Since I mostly use manual focus lenses, and don’t have any of the focus assists that live view mode can offer, I have to rely heavily on my eye. to help with this, I replaced the focusing screens in my 5D and 6D to be more sensitive with brighter apertures (sweet spot is f/1.8-2.8 rather than f/2.8-4 with the original screen). that really gives me an advantage especially in low light where autofocus would struggle or fail. It’s still not as nice as the prisms in older film SLR cameras, but it allows me to cut out a lot of the guesswork

    1. I can definitely relate to your favor of the old prisms in film cameras. My old Nikon F5 is so clear and sharp and noting really compares.

  6. I love this video! I just wish you’d shown all of your settings and everything you talked about on your actual camera like you did at the beginning or like shown you actually on site implementing what you were talking about. Sorry I’m a visual learner over here 🙌 but still a great video! I learned a lot! ❤️

  7. Hello Julia. thank you very much for all your advises and tutorials; Learning with you is so easy! Is there any way you can do more tutorials about using flashes for portraits? (indoor and outdoor) i’m starting using flashes and was wondering 🙂

  8. Hi Julia-thanks for another great video. Would love a more in depth video on all the focus modes. I’ve always used focus and recompose as I am still a beginner and it is so intuitive. However, I feel like I should probably practice using my focus points. Thanks again for the info.

  9. Thank you for this video, Julia! 🙂 finally a more honest video about sharpness! I would love to watch a second video about focus modes and also about the ideal distance between the lens and subject while shooting something.

  10. Hi Julia, do you use single point auto focus for couple shots?

    How do you take sharp photos there is more than one subject?

    Do you increase the number of auto focus points?

    Can you make a video on couple or group photography?

    Thank you!

  11. I love your videos! So informative every time. I would love to learn more about focusing modes.

  12. Thank you Julia ,, love your channel and great to see you back. Excellent content and a reminder for how to / settings for achieving better photo sharpness. Cheers !!

  13. Thank you so much for this! This was immensely helpful and inspiring! 💖💖💖

  14. With single point AF, the “focus and recompose” technique prevents you from using Servo mode. So if you’re interested in using Servo for movement, and you’re attached to “focus and recompose”, then the only way to get both is to switch to “back button focus”.
    This is all assuming you’re using single point AF. Interesting, right? I wish someone had told me earlier.

    1. I know I’m 2y late, but still… For portraits I mostly use Servo and back button AF, for the reasons you described. It’s easy to recompose even with Servo.
      In my experience, One Shot works better if you press it several times before taking a crucial shallow DOF picture. It’s almost like camera is analyzing the focus 2-3 times to get it more precise… So I thought, why not using Servo then, since it’s constantly monitoring the focus point? I get more tack-sharp images that way anyway. Plus, it corrects slight movements of you or your subject.

  15. Could you do close ups of your camera when youre talking about all of these settings? Beginner here and its quite overwhelming hearing about the camera settings but not knowing where to find them or adjust them!

    1. Claudia Goodwin just write down what you don’t know and google it specific to your camera. Eventually after googling 5,000 times you’re gonna learn everything on your camera.

    2. YouTube search your camera model. Lots of camera specific tutorials out there. I found that technique very useful.

  16. I fell in love with Sony full-time Eye-AF when it was introduced with the A6400. Now I also use the Sony A7iii… The Sony system really brings portrait photography into the 21st Century!
    However, I shot for years without Eye-AF and I used most of the techniques that you so succinctly described in your video. My one big PITA was that the Canon 6D Mark-2 had its focus points crammed into the center of the image…

  17. Love your work and videos, Julia! 
    Would love to see another video on focus modes and to see a live shoot !

  18. Thanks for another great video Julia! When it comes to shooting family photos with say a family of four rather than just person and one face to focus on, where do you suggest having the focus point? I know to use a larger f-stop but interested to hear what you recommend when it comes to the actual focus point. Your videos are super helpful and I love your presets too! I purchased the Amalfi one not long ago and plan to get a couple more soon 🙂

    1. Thank you and that makes me so happy to hear you like my presets! Thank you for supporting me 🙂 Yeah so I would definitely start with a larger f-stop and then I would put the focus point on whoever was the “main” person in my composition. So for example if there is a couple sitting together holding their kids, I would put my focus point on one of the adults, if the kids are sitting in front of them, I would put it on one of the kids. If everyone is sitting in a row, I would put it on the person’s face who is sitting in the middle. For each composition though I would double check on the back of my camera zooming in to the photo and scrolling to each of their faces to make sure my aperture is sharp enough to get them all in focus. If it is, then it generally doesn’t matter exactly who the focus point is on as long as it is on someone’s face! My general rule of thumb is to keep it as close to the middle as possible – aka don’t put it on someone who is sitting on the far left of the shot, etc. I hope that helps!

  19. Just a recommendation, please remember that different cameras call things differently. “One shot”, for example, doesn’t mean anything to a Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax shooter. It might be a good idea to research ahead a time these setting you refer to list off a few for each as you talk about them, e.g. “One Shot, AF-S mode, or Single Auto Focus”, “Servo, AF-S, or Continuous AF”. This tutorial which is aimed at beginners should help beginners better with identifying different modes among different brands or say this How to take Sharp Photos for Canon cameras. not trying to be too critical, just remember your intended audience and teach accordingly.

    1. A quick google search can help translate the terms from one camera brand to the other 😊 I wouldn’t want this video to be 30 min long if I had to list all of them haha

  20. Thank you for this! I have a question – what do you mean when you say (at 1:43) you put the focus on someone’s face for a full-length portrait, rather than the eye like you do for headshots? For full-length portraits, would you put the focus point on the cheek, and why would you do that rather than the eye? Thank you! 🙂

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