They say my photos are not sharp enough

[ypurcaro]

Some people said my photos are not sharp and asked me why can't I take sharp photos like others. They even blame on Canon T1i
I told them it's not the camera, it's my own problem, i don't have the skills and experience.
Do you think this photo is overexposure? This photo has not been edited.

Should I have a slower shutter speed and increase the f to maybe 10 to make it sharp? I didn't use the tripod on this one. what do you think?

Thanks!
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 194 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[WVCoalMiner]

Looks to me as if your focal point is dead on!! Are they commenting on the out of focus background?? Apparently whoever is telling you this is used to looking at a snapshot out of a point and shoot. I wouldn't put to much worry into whoever is telling you this. It looks dang near perfect to me, might be overexposed a tad right at the tip of the bloom but it's quite nice, you even managed to get some nice bokeh in there!!

[MrJones]

it's hard to tell if the flower is fully in focus, end to end.
it does seem like the bottom part is a bit off but that an artistic matter all together.
if you do want to get it all in focus at nearly 200mm - you'll need to use a smaller aperture.
again - it's your choice - I like narrow DoF

[RLucas]

It looks a little soft to me. Shooting at 1/125 at 194mm may be your problem. Longer focal lengths will compound camera shake. You may either want to get a tripod, or adjust your hand holding technique to compensate.

Edit: Upon looking at your image in full size, there appears to be quite a bit of CA around the high contrast areas between the petal and the background. There is a thin cyan line around the whole perimeter of the flower. This could be contributing to the apparent softness.

[PrimeTime]

Some people said my photos are not sharp and asked me why can't I take sharp photos like others. They even blame on Canon T1i
I told them it's not the camera, it's my own problem, i don't have the skills and experience.
Do you think this photo is overexposure? This photo has not been edited.

Should I have a slower shutter speed and increase the f to maybe 10 to make it sharp? I didn't use the tripod on this one. what do you think?

Thanks!
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 194 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV[/QUOTE]



Do you think this photo is overexposure? ............................It is just slightly overexposed at the top of the flower, but not too bad.

It looks like you were very close to the flower. The closer you get, the shorter the depth of field gets. If you want the whole flower in focus, try using a tripod and stop your lens down somewhere between f/11 and f/16. It really depends on the lens and how close you are ,as to how much depth of field you will have.

I don't think you have a sharpness issue . This lens/camera combo looks like it can produce sharp images to me.

One more thing, all digital images need to be edited to get the full potential out of them.

[LeeR]

Ansel Adams was fond of saying that most image problems are not the fault of the camera or what is in front of it, but rather in the 12" behind it. That is certainly the case here. I always use a tripod for this kind of shot but you have not been hurt by not using one; camera shake is not your problem here. The little white tips of the flower are razor sharp, so we know the lens is capable (not to mention the Canon name which is synonymous with high quality glass.) No, I think the problem here is that not enough of the image is in focus. You have very shallow depth of field leaving the very top of the flower in focus but nothing else. With this particular composition, I think people want to see the whole flower in focus. Would stopping down to f10 have fixed your problem? Probably, and owing to the fact that the top of the flower is overexposed, it would have fixed that problem, too, provided you kept the shutter speed the same.
So what can you learn from this? A) Be careful when you are shooting a background that is much lighter or darker than your subject as this will often fool your camera's meter, B) be careful about depth of field. Somewhere on your camera their should be a way to do a depth of field preview. This will close the aperture down to what it will be when you make your exposure (making the image darker) and this will allow you to see exactly what is going to be in focus in your finished image.
I agree that some post processing would improve this image a great deal to the point where your friends may not even notice the sharpness issues. If you don't have the money for one of the Photoshop programs I would suggest you download and master GIMP. It's free and you will be amazed at what you are able to do with it.

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by LeeR

Ansel Adams was fond of saying that most image problems are not the fault of the camera or what is in front of it, but rather in the 12" behind it.

LeeR, what does it mean by "12" behind it" ? Is it a rule?

I have Adobe Photoshop and the Adobe Bridge. Sometimes, I edit my photos with those softwares but I don't know why I always feel guilty because I feel like that is cheating.

Thanks for the detail information as always!

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by PrimeTime

Some people said my photos are not sharp and asked me why can't I take sharp photos like others. They even blame on Canon T1i
I told them it's not the camera, it's my own problem, i don't have the skills and experience.
Do you think this photo is overexposure? This photo has not been edited.

Should I have a slower shutter speed and increase the f to maybe 10 to make it sharp? I didn't use the tripod on this one. what do you think?

Thanks!
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 194 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV

Do you think this photo is overexposure? ............................It is just slightly overexposed at the top of the flower, but not too bad.

It looks like you were very close to the flower. The closer you get, the shorter the depth of field gets. If you want the whole flower in focus, try using a tripod and stop your lens down somewhere between f/11 and f/16. It really depends on the lens and how close you are ,as to how much depth of field you will have.

I don't think you have a sharpness issue . This lens/camera combo looks like it can produce sharp images to me.

One more thing, all digital images need to be edited to get the full potential out of them.[/QUOTE]
Yes, a friend of mine thinks that is overexposed to the point that it shouldn't even be posted on flickr. I didn't want to edit this photo so people can see my original outcome. Thanks for your feedback.

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by RLucas

It looks a little soft to me. Shooting at 1/125 at 194mm may be your problem. Longer focal lengths will compound camera shake. You may either want to get a tripod, or adjust your hand holding technique to compensate.

Edit: Upon looking at your image in full size, there appears to be quite a bit of CA around the high contrast areas between the petal and the background. There is a thin cyan line around the whole perimeter of the flower. This could be contributing to the apparent softness.

Rlucas, thank you for your comment. What is CA if you don't mind.

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by MrJones

it's hard to tell if the flower is fully in focus, end to end.
it does seem like the bottom part is a bit off but that an artistic matter all together.
if you do want to get it all in focus at nearly 200mm - you'll need to use a smaller aperture.
again - it's your choice - I like narrow DoF

That is my biggest problem -- can't tell if the flower is in focus. I personally like this photo a lot, but from a professional stand point, this is a failed photo.