Berries

[Welly]

Trying out some close-up/macro photography. The problem I have with this is it's not REALLY sharp. I'm unsure if the lens isn't clean or it's due to the lens itself (a Nikon 28-80mm f3.3-5.6 kit lens) or something else? Focusing perhaps?

[Saralonde]

For focusing issues, it could be a slight wind that moved your subject ever so slightly or if your shot was handheld, it could be camera shake. Did you manually or auto-focus? If you used auto focus did your lens "hunt" ? Sometimes being a little too close can cause your lens to mis-focus, too.

[wulf]

Outdoor close-up shots can be plagued by wind (or just the tremors caused by brushing against another part of the plant). If you increase the ISO, you can then also increase the shutter speed and get the same overall exposure; the faster speed reduces motion blur from any source.

It could also be the lens. Some lenses are sharper than others and that also varies as you make adjustments. Typically a lens will be sharper two or three stops down compared to when it is wide open (and then dropping off as you start to stop smaller and smaller).

You will need to experiment - indoors, in good light, is probably an easier environment, especially if you also have a tripod.

More generally, even if the berries were so sharp you could cut yourself, don't forget to watch the background. Here, the blurred berries that are further away act as a distraction because they are similar in colour but much softer.

Wulf

[Welly]

It did "hunt" - I was using autofocus - and there was a little bit of wind, so I suppose that all makes sense. It was only taken at about 1/80 as the light wasn't fantastic.

Cheers guys!

Welly