How To Keep Telephoto Shots Really Sharp

Nature photographers are often working with telephoto lenses that allow them to get close-up shots with plenty of detail, because animals rarely let you get too close on your own. But one of the issues that rears its ugly head when using long focal length lenses is image blur.

As the focal length increases so does the importance of maintaining the stability of the lens as it is almost impossible to keep it rock steady by hand-holding alone. So here are a few tips that I have found that help keep your images sharp even when using a long telephoto lens.

• One thing that really helps is using a fast shutter speed. The faster the better. This is simply because the shorter the amount of time that the light reaches the digital sensor, the less chance to record any movement of the lens, and vice versa.
  
•  Of course, there are times when using high shutter speeds just isn't practical when you are shooting outdoors. This is made even more problematic since really long telephoto lenses usually require more light for good exposure anyway. You can get long focal length lenses with lower minimum f-stops, but you have to spend a fortune to do it, and they weigh a ton, which also introduces more possibility of camera shake and blur unless securely fastened down to a high-end tripod. So here is where having some form of image stabilization is a great idea. In the Nikon and Canon world, that means buying lenses with image stabilization built into the lens. In the case of Sony cameras such as the ones I use, the IS is built into the camera itself. An important reminder is that although IS can help you use slower shutter speeds and still get fairly sharp results, it is no miracle cure for camera shake and will not be very effective beyond about 1/60 second.
  
• The ultimate way to make sure your long shots are sharp is to use a stabilization device, usually either a monopod or tripod. The bigger the lens, the more sturdy the device has to be to hold the camera and lens firmly in place.

For me, I use all three of these methods frequently. Sometimes, depending on the shooting conditions, I use a combination of a couple of these methods together to get the results I want. Generally, it is best not to use image stabilization and tripods together though as the IS will sometimes introduce a measure of blur when it doesn't detect any movement in the scene. So image stabilization is mainly for use in situations where you are hand-holding the lens or using a monopod.

So if you want sharp nature photos, start practicing the use of these methods to get the results you want.

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www.duanelipham.com
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