Blurry images. How to increase sharpness.

Sharpness is the amount of detail that can be perceived in an image. Extremely sharp photographs reveal a richness of detail, even more than you would normally notice in the original scene. If the image isn't sharp the details are blurred.


Photo 1. Blurry image.

Cause of blurry images:

Camera shake is one of the most common causes of blurry images especially at slow shutter speeds. Shake can be caused by the photographer due to natural body movement that is present at all times or by a jerky shutter button depression. Another cause is being buffeted by wind.

Resolution of image problems:

-Hold the camera steady. Stand still, legs slightly apart to take your pictures. Depress the shutter release smoothly. If possible, use a tripod, monopod or miniature tripod and the self-timer or remote control.

-If you can control shutter speeds on your camera, always set one which is 1/60 second or faster.

-Use flash

-Use faster film for poor light.

-Increase sensor's sensitivity (ISO) of a digital camera when low light .

Cause of blurry images:

Dirt and filth on lens and/or filter.

Resolution of image problems:

Clean with lens tissue and cleaning fluid. Use one drop of cleaning fluid on a tissue and clean lens in a circular motion starting from the center.

Cause of blurry images:

Not enough light to take pictures. (Dim light.)

Resolution of image problems:

-Turning up the room lights, if it is possible.
-Use flash.
-Use faster film for poor light.
-Use higher ISO With digital camera.


Cause of blurry images:

Main subject is out of focus.


Photo 2. Main subject is out of focus.

Most digital cameras have an autofocus system that automatically adjusts the focus to make the subject in the center of the viewfinder appear sharp. A common focusing problem occurs when you place a main subject off-center in the viewfinder frame.

Resolution of focus problem:

-Use focus lock to focus on a subject:
-Look through the viewfinder and position its focus point on your main subject. Press the shutter button halfway down, until the green focus-OK lamp in the viewfinder eyepiece glows steadily. Holding the shutter button halfway down, reorient the camera so that your desired composition appears in the viewfinder. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
-Use manual focus.

Cause of blurry images:

Main subject is out of focus.

Autofocus often has trouble focusing in scenes with little contrast, when the object in the focus point is brighter than the rest of the scene, when the subject is poorly illuminated, when both near and distant objects fall within the focus point, or when the subject is moving quickly.

Resolution of focus problem:

If the camera can't focus on a main subject, use focus lock to focus on a subject at the same distance.
Look through the viewfinder and position its focus point on subject at the same distance as main subject. Press the shutter button halfway down, until the green focus-OK lamp in the viewfinder eyepiece glows steadily. Holding the shutter button halfway down, reorient the camera so that your desired composition appears in the viewfinder. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.
Cause of blurry images:
Diffraction. Using very small f-stops create more depth-of-field but overall sharpness is lost. This is due to diffraction, caused by the way light passes through very small aperture opening. This creates softening of the image.
Resolution of image problems:
Avoid small f-stops if possible.

Cause of blurry images:

A subject is moving.

Resolution of image problems:

Shutter speed must be fast. The faster a subject is moving, the faster the shutter speed you need for a sharp image. To show a moving subject sharply, the shutter needs to open and close before the image on the sensor moves a significant amount.

Cause of blurry images:

Increasing the focal length of your lens has the same effect as moving closer to your subject. The higher the zoom level, the less a subject has to move in order to have its image blurred on the resulting picture.
Resolution of image problems:
Don't use zoom.

Cause of blurry images:

Shallow depth of field.
Even if you photograph a static scene, you can get an unsharp image in case you don't have enough depth of field.
Resolution of image problems:
A depth of field is the distance between the farthest and nearest points that are in focus. If you want a large part of the scene to be sharp, you can increase the depth of field. Several factors affect depth of field, including lens aperture, lens focal length, and subject distance. To control depth of field, switch to aperture preferred mode and select a small aperture for great depth of field or a large aperture for shallow depth of field. Zooming out to a wider angle of view increases depth of field. Zooming in decreases it. As you move further from the subject you are focused on, you increase depth of field. As you move closer, you decrease it.
Cause of unsharp pictures:
Camera is faulty.
Solution:
Check your camera.

Processing image:

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