Shooting Tack Sharp: Help Please!!

[bsodmike]

Hi folks,

I've been trying to shoot some 'tack sharp' shots with my setup and am getting there...but not quite. The equipment is a Canon 20D with 24-70 L f/2.8 lens with Hoya UV filter (for protection really). I shoot on Av (aperture priority) and after reading a digital photography book, tried shooting at f5.6 and f8 with mirror lockup on my SILK PRO tripod.

The best I have been able to get, without any additional lighting and shooting without flash was:



A professional photographer I know has taken these two photos, although I'm not sure about this setup, just that he uses Canon equipment and various L lenses:



What is amazing is that the above photo is print quality with everything completely in focus... any tips?!?

[kalniel]

Your scene needs a significantly larger depth of field than the professional example. It looks like the watch and corresponding depth of frame is sharp in your photo, to get the rest of the frame sharp I think just requires larger depth of field, ie stop down the aperture further. I'd consider getting rid of the filter too.

[bsodmike]

Thanks, I'll give that a try

[YorkieBen]

well from my limited experience, if you are shooting from glass you are going to struggle. Try a polarizing filter maybe (this can cut of reflections from glass etc plus they are nice for really punching up the sky in landscapes etc)

this first photo was shot through a (very dirty train window) on a sunny day last week:



and this is what they can do to the sky, plus it cut down on the reflections from the windows:



again from last week.

And this is from a cheap polarizing filter, looking from your camera, lens and watch I'm guessing you can afford a better quality filter than I have (these were shot on a Sony A200 with second hand sigma 24mm prime that cost me about £50 - a very cheap setup as far as dslrs go!). The only thing to remember with polarizing filters that you can't use them on lens where the front element rotates when you zoom or focus.

Your autofocus may have been fooled slightly the reflections etc

Also it looks like the watch case is catching relfections from a window etc, this could make things harder? Do you know the lighting etc when the professional shots were taken?

[Bobster]

ditch the filter..

[brammers]

I think your problem is to do with perceived sharpness Vs actual sharpness.

Your shot is probably just as sharp technically as the product shot - but the product shot uses some very nice lighting to bring out the texture. Try it yourself - in a dark room shine a light directly against a curtain, then rake it across at an angle. Which brings out more texture?

The product shot uses a very large light source (as evidenced by the large highlights) outside the angle of reflection of the glass (you can see the watch because the glass isn't reflecting the light back into your eyes). It's fairly contrasty - this also helps with the perceived sharpness. In fact your eye is drawn so well to the sharpness of the watch that you've not even noticed that the sharpness does in fact tail off towards the edges of the frame as the subjects drop out of the plane of focus...

Ditching the UV may help a smidgen, but to really work on 'sharpness' you've got to stop taking snapshots - however technically sound they may be - and start working with the light.

[sys-req]

I would have suggest that you need to play around with your F stop. Looking at the pro shot most of it is in focus except the top edge. I would guess that they are using quite a F stop to gain the depth of focus, there is also a good chance it is a macro lens which you will have difficulty matching.

Try getting something like some oranges, walnuts, conker or anything small with different textures and try to do some still lifes. Start with your lowest f-stop and work up to your highest see what effect it has.

Likewise with your UV filter, depending on the quality it may affect things, try it with and without to see what happens