Digital Photography For Beginners - Tack Sharp Shots Are What You Want! Here's How To Get Them

Over the years I think I've become an accomplished photographer. Composition was a strength, long before I knew it was referred to by such terms as the 'Rule of Thirds' or 'Repetitions'. However, one thing that took me longest to master was how to get really sharp shots every time. This Digital Photography for Beginners piece looks at this crucial element of any successful photograph.

When I first dabbled in this excellent hobby, I would take what I thought at the time was a superb shot, and show it off to my admiring family and friends. But as I began formal training, and my images were open for critique from professionals, they would tell me things like "yes this IS an excellent shot - it's a pity it's let down by how 'soft' it is". Basically, when reviewing up close, you could make out parts of the image that were just not sharp enough - and if I was to move down the pro route and have my shots enlarged into decent size enlargements, the quality would suffer. Put bluntly, I needed to 'sharpen up'.

So what can you do to make sure you get 'tack sharp' shots every time (that's what the pros call it - so start thinking like this and you're moving in the right direction already)! Here's a few digital photography for beginners tips to think about.

* If you haven't already, get yourself a tripod. Certainly, if you are taking landscapes, you will almost certainly be using slow shutter speeds (mainly because the really good light occurs at dawn and dusk). If you are serious about your photography, you want the best you can afford. Make sure you get a ballhead attachment for it too, as it will give you ultimate control when the camera's on the tripod

* Even though a tripod will eliminate nearly all your camera shake problems, when you place your finger on the shutter, you're re-introducing some shudder. So you need to do one of two things. Get a shutter release cable - this plugs into your camera and allows you to depress the shutter 'off-camera'. Or simply use your camera's self-timer option - set it to either 5 or 10 seconds, stand back, and let the camera do its stuff

* What can you do to improve hand-held shots? One trick is to switch your camera to continuous shooting mode and burst off a quick series of photos. This give you multiple opportunities to get at least one super sharp shot. This works well in low-light situations, by the way

* If you're in good light, make sure your ISO is low (100,200) to ensure you don't get 'noise' in your image. You can also use the shutter priority option and choose a fast shutter speed to reduce the effect of camera shake. For instance, if you are using a zoom lens at the far end of it's 200mm limit, try shooting at 1/200 second.

I hope these few digital photography for beginners tips help you to get razor sharp photos every time. You could even consider following a formal course. You should find that this takes you out of your 'comfort zone' and pushes you to achieve more satisfying results. It certainly did for me.