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If I were to ask you, what are the 3 things you look for in each of your photographs? I am sure that "quality" will be one of your answers.
Photo quality is something that obsesses all photographers: sharp photos, beautiful colours, as little noise as possible and the perfect focus. But why is it so difficult to find the perfect photograph? Because there are certain factors that photographers who are just starting out in this wonderful art tend to overlook.
In today's article we will review some of these factors or errors that, although they are usually easy to solve, can end up ruining your photos:
- Exploit the full potential of your camera
- The more information the better
- Keep noise to a minimum
- Eliminate vibrations
- Use quality goals
- If you use filters, they must be of quality
- Reach the sweet spot of your target
- Lose your fear of editing programs
HOW TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS?
Achieving the perfect quality in each of your photos is not as complicated as you might imagine, it just requires you not to lose sight of certain aspects that, if left to chance, can easily end up ruining your shots.
That is why I have prepared 8 simple tips and tricks so that the next time you go looking for your next photograph, you can give your photos a quality leap.
1. EXPLOIT THE FULL POTENTIAL OF YOUR CAMERA
The camera you have in your hands is much more powerful than you can imagine. How is it possible? Most photographers overlook one simple but powerful aspect: your camera manual. Although it is almost impossible to control the anxiety caused by having your camera in your hands for the first time, it is important that you take the time to read your camera manual. Because? You may have inadvertently overlooked some features that will help you achieve sharper photos, such as noise reduction.
Before shooting your next photos, pay attention to the following settings:
- Color Space: Color space is your camera's ability to capture and recognize color information. It is something like the “amount” of colors and color tones that your camera is capable of capturing in a photograph. You can work with RGB or Adobe RGB color space. I recommend using Adobe RGB as it is especially suitable for high quality images. Keep in mind that, even if you don't notice the difference on the computer monitor, you will if you send them to print.
- RAW format: this image format, unlike the well-known JPG, is a file format known as "digital negative" and it contains all the information of the image as you captured it at the moment of pressing the shutter. Why use it? Because the higher quality the file (photo) that comes out of your camera has, the less quality you will lose when editing it on your computer. The JPG format is a compressed image format, meaning it suppresses a lot of valuable information about the shot, so I don't recommend using it. Anyway, if you prefer to continue shooting in JPG, try to do it with the least possible compression, that is, with the highest quality that your camera allows you to configure.
2. THE MORE INFORMATION, THE BETTER.
The sensor of your photo camera converts the light that is reflected by the subjects and objects present in the scene and converts it into data that is stored in a digital file, that is, in a photo. So, light is information and the lack of light or darkness is not, so the more light you manage to capture, the more information will be stored in each of your digital files.
So how is it possible to maximize the amount of information in each of your photographs? Carrying out a correct measurement and exposure in each of the photos. Do not worry, it is not complicated at all, it will only require a little practice and that you read the following article: “ Detailed Guide: How to Perform Correct Metering and Exposure in Your Photographs ”.
If you want to achieve quality photographs, achieving correct metering and exposure will be essential, so I strongly recommend that, even though it is very comfortable, you abandon the use of automatic and semi-automatic modes (Auto, TV, PV, etc. ) since they do not take full advantage of the capacity of your camera's sensor.
3. KEEP NOISE TO A MINIMUM
In order to minimize noise in each of your photographs, it is necessary to make a correct measurement of the light present in the scene in order to be able to adjust the ISO sensitivity to the minimum possible:
"As low as possible" does not mean always keeping it at its minimum value, but adjusting it to the limit of what the lighting conditions of the scene allow. First try to compensate for the lack of light by slowing down the shutter speed or opening the diaphragm. But of course, always depending on what you want to achieve and transmit with your photographs. In this way we eliminate noise (Noise) and help the sensor to give us better resolution results.
If you are not yet familiar with the management of the ISO sensitivity of your camera or you want to refresh some concepts, I recommend that you read the following article: “ How to Use the ISO Correctly in your Photographs? ”.
In any case, although it is true that at higher levels of noise the sharpness and therefore the quality of the photographs decreases, noise does not always ruin a photograph, but often even the power. Always remember that the advice that you read here is just that, advice and in no way are they laws to be followed to the letter. Dare to transgress the rules.
4. ELIMINATE VIBRATIONS
Among the factors that can easily ruin your photos, unwanted vibrations are one of the main ones. No photographer is exempt from this threat, from an amateur to professionals, in a second of carelessness, they can lose a spectacular snapshot thanks to the trepidations. But don't worry, because as easy as they can appear, just as easy they go. It will only be enough that you take some precautions before preparing to shoot your camera:
- Holding the camera: the way you hold your camera when taking a shot greatly influences the possibility that it ends up being shaken or not. Try to hold it with both hands in a firm way but at the same time allows you to maneuver it comfortably. Use your body as a living tripod: lean on your elbows, knees and above all things, when shooting it is important that you feel comfortable and relaxed, otherwise, the tension will be transferred to your camera and therefore, to your photographs.
- Use a tripod: If you want to make sure that almost no vibration ruins any of your photos, taking a tripod with you may be the solution. Don't have one? Don't worry, after reading the following article you will be in a position to make one yourself using materials that you would commonly throw away: “ DIY Photography: How to Assemble Homemade Photographic Accessories ”.
- Stabilizer: nowadays almost all lenses come stabilized. This is a great advantage since by activating this function, the possibility that vibrations can ruin your photos is considerably reduced. However, stabilized lenses, by adding moving elements (glasses) inside, also reduce the quality of the photographs.
- Focal length rule: There is a rule in photography that says that if you want to avoid blur in your photos, the shutter speed should not be less than the focal length you are using. That is, if you are shooting with a focal length of 50 mm, the shutter speed should not be less than 1/50. Again, this is more than a rule, it is a guide since it will depend on the situation and conditions in which you are shooting for it to work or not.
- Remote shutter releases: If you use very slow shutter speeds, you will most likely need other ways to trigger your camera to prevent pressing the shutter release from shaking the camera causing vibrations. Try to get a remote trigger to prevent this from happening.
5. USE QUALITY OBJECTIVES
While it is true that the quality of your lenses is limited by the budget you can allocate to purchase them, this does not mean that you should spend money on the first one you have on hand. Before you buy a lens, do some research on how it performs, find sample photos, download manuals, and read reviews from other users.
The lenses are primarily responsible for the quality of your photos, not the cameras.
If you want to maximize the quality of your photographs, it is very important that you pay attention to the resolution of each lens at its different focal lengths, the number of elements (glasses) with which they are built, the aberrations they produce and whether their distortion is compatible with what what do you expect from this The best way to choose a lens is by comparing and reading the reviews of other photographers.
Zoom lenses or with highly variable focal lengths, such as an 18-200, although they are very comfortable thanks to their versatility, are usually much less sharp than, for example, "prime" or fixed focal length lenses such as a 50mm. Because? Because the greater the amount of crystals (elements) the quality of the photographs is reduced.
Dare to use fixed focal lenses: thanks to their much simpler systems and with fewer elements, these lenses allow you to take much sharper photos than zoom lenses. In addition, they are usually brighter and, as if that were not enough, much cheaper. Of course, they are less versatile than zoom or variable focal lengths.
6. IF YOU USE FILTERS, THEY MUST BE OF QUALITY
This is a much more common mistake than you might imagine, especially since low-quality UV filters have become commonplace to protect the front lens of very expensive lenses. It will be of no use to have a goal of thousands of euros if in front of it you will place a filter of dubious quality.
If what you are looking for is to achieve the highest quality and the photos you are trying to take require the use of a filter, I recommend that you get one that honors your objective, even if it is expensive. It is not worth "investing" the money in super cheap filters that all they will do is add halos, reflections and aberrations to all your photos. He who pays badly, he pays twice.
If you want to know which brands I recommend, take a look at the following article: “ 8 Ways to Improve Your Photographs Thanks to a Filter ”.
To protect your lenses, all you have to do is be careful and put their protective cap on each time you finish using it, you don't need any filter that reduces the quality of your photos, no matter how expensive it may be.
7. THE "SWEET SPOT" OF YOUR GOAL.
All lenses, regardless of their price or brand, have a spot called the "sweet spot." What is this? It is the opening of the diaphragm in which the performance of the lens is maximized, that is, in which you can obtain its maximum quality point.
You can usually find this point by halving the maximum aperture: If your lens has a minimum aperture of f/22, around f/11 you will get its best performance and sharpness.
Keep in mind that this will limit the amount of blur you can achieve, since by using smaller apertures (f/11, f/16, etc.) the depth of field will increase and therefore the blur will decrease.
I recommend that you take a moment to read the following article: “ Everything You Need to Know About the Focal Length of Your Lens ”.
8. LOSE YOUR FEAR OF EDITING PROGRAMS
Once you have taken the shot, you can correct or improve the quality of your photographs by editing them on your computer. Keep in mind that editing is not the same as retouching: in editing one adjusts certain parameters of the shot, such as sharpness, contrast or white balance without altering or adding elements that were not taken into account or, they did not exist at the time of taking the shot, unlike retouching, which is where the photographer modifies or alters the original photograph, affecting it in its entirety.
By editing your photographs, you will be able to improve certain aspects that make up the resulting quality, such as focus, contrast, sharpness, lights and shadows, etc. You will only need to use editing programs such as Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom or the programs of each of the camera manufacturers, which allow you to edit these parameters.
Here is a short video to give you an idea of the possibilities that this type of program allows you to improve the quality of your photographs:
We've just gone over some of the easiest ways to improve the quality of your photos considerably, but these are not all. There are as many ways as there are readers on the blog, therefore, I invite you to share with all of us in the comments how you manage to improve the quality of your photographs.
