Five Habits to Optimize Image Quality

The first step in consistently capturing good images is to develop sound habits that you apply instinctively, each time you take pictures. We're not talking about understanding exposure, composition, or any other specific techniques just yet; the list that follows is more fundamental than that. Follow these suggestions and internalize them as habits. They can make the difference between a good shot and a great one.

 Hills Panorama
Nikon D2H,
1/250 sec, f/7.6
EV -1.33
Focal length 78mm

 Soft Sunset
Nikon D2H,
1/320 sec, f/9
Focal length 105mm

Clean Equipment

Make sure that your lenses, filters, and eyepieces are clean and free from dust, smudges, or fingerprints.

It sounds obvious, but because many digital cameras are smaller and easier to carry, they also become easier to smudge, scuff, and knock around. Keeping equipment clean is less of an issue with large and medium format cameras, in that their size (and cost) makes us approach them more methodically. Reach into your camera bag (or your pocket) to grab your camera, and you can easily fingerprint your lens or accidentally change the settings.

 Alberco
Nikon D2H,
1/125 sec, f/5.6
Focal length 92mm

The casual, portable nature of digital cameras turns their lenses into dust magnets. Dust on a lens translates into dust on the digital image, and cleaning up your dust spots in Photoshop is tedious and time consuming. Because of the immediate nature of digital technology, you're going to shoot a lot of images; retouching all those images is time consuming. In the long run, a dirty lens eats into your productivity.

Be especially careful with your lens because dust and fingerprints on the glass translate into soft spots and blurred image areas. Always carry a small bellows or lens tissue to keep the lens free of dust. In addition, make sure that you keep the eyepiece and LCD image display area clean. Many manufacturers seem intent on placing the image display area so that your finger or your nose leaves a smudge every time you have the slightest interaction with the camera. This obviously makes it harder to view the image you've just captured, and puts the onus on you to clean it more often. If you don't clean your camera regularly, all this dust and oil accumulates over time, making it even harder to clean, while impacting performance and reliability.

Tripod and Cable Release

Camera shake is perhaps the number one enemy of sharp pictures. You can have the highest quality lens and the perfect lighting conditions, but if your camera is moving as you take the shot, your images will be disappointing. Camera shake happens for two reasons: The most obvious is when you're shooting at a slow shutter speed and you move the camera slightly while the shutter is open. The second instance is movement created as you trigger the shutter. This can happen at much faster shutter speeds and tends to be slightly less noticeable, although it still impacts overall quality.

PHOTOtip: Tripods and Image Stabilization

So you want sharper images, but think tripods are too bulky and heavy to lug around on a regular basis. I thought about this a lot as I traveled through Tuscany shooting the images for this book. Although many tripods have attained "boat anchor" status, other alternatives can help stabilize the shot while being easier on your back.

If your budget allows, buy a tripod that's made from lightweight materials that still deliver strong, rigid support. I travel with a Manfrotto Carbon One tripod, which is made from braided carbon fibers and features a lightweight magnesium head. The result is a fully functional professional tripod that's super light, while still supporting bulky dSLRs and medium format cameras.

If your camera is lighter, consider a video tripod. These units are usually smaller, thinner, and much lighter than their traditional counterparts, and they work just as well as long as you don't try to support anything too heavy. You might opt for a tabletop tripod that is just a few inches tall, or a modified tripod that clamps to your car window (if you need to shoot as you drive). Finally, if you want stability and mobility, think about using a monopod. All these tools provide increased support and stability while allowing you to maneuver around your subject or recompose the shot with ease.

Many professionals also like using sandbags or beanbags to stabilize the shot, placing them on a stable surface and nestling the camera or lens into the bag. The bag conforms to the lens, minimizes any vibrations, is easy to carry, and features minimal set up or tear-down.

I have accumulated all these options over the years and find that the biggest challenge is anticipating which piece of equipment I should take into the field or location shoot. To be honest, I haven't figured that one out yet. I'm a bit obsessive and end up taking too much gear just to be on the safe side and to make sure that I get the shot. Sadly, it appears I've come full circle, lugging around lots of lighter stuff to ensure that the elusive shot doesn't get away.

The solution is to use a tripod whenever possible; if your camera accepts a cable release, you should buy one and use it to trigger the shutter. I know it sounds like a pain to carry a tripod around, but there are ways of coping with it (see the PhotoTip on tripod options on the previous page). The cable release is easier than the tripod to carry and works wonders when combined with the tripod. An added benefit of using a tripod and cable release is that it slows you down and makes the process of capturing the image more methodical. As a result, you will find that you're a bit more thoughtful regarding composition and framing, and just a bit more discerning in general when you approach a potential image ("…is this shot really worth setting up my tripod for?").

 Alley Composition
Nikon D2H,
1/180 sec, f/6.7
Focal length 75mm

 Palio Patch
Nikon D2H,
1/80 sec, f/4.5
EV +1
Focal length 75mm

Focus Control

Although autofocus capabilities have matured in recent years, the systems can still lock in on the wrong area or be fooled by an absence of sharp edges. If your camera allows it, consider changing to Manual Focus mode and focusing by hand. This is sometimes the most direct way to ensure a clean, sharp image, especially if you're shooting close-up images or are using a narrow depth of field (see Chapter 3, "Focus and Depth of Field," for more on depth of field).

Exposure Options

Develop an understanding of how your light meter works and plan your shot accordingly. Consider shifting to spot or center-weighted metering to optimize exposure or explore exposure alternatives. Also consider exploring various f-stop and shutter speed combinations to optimize sharpness and depth of field. For more on exposure, see Chapter 2, "Digital Exposure."

On the other hand, if you have only one shot at the image; bracket, bracket, bracket. Manual focus, cable releases, and tripods are great when the subject isn't going anywhere. When you have to react fast, set the camera to bracket all exposures. Remember that you can also go into the digital camera's setup menu and specify the degree of exposure variation from shot to shot, allowing you to fine-tune the process to the lighting conditions. See the section, "Bracket in Uncertain Light," later in this chapter, for details on bracketing.

JOURNALentry: Tourists at the Duomo

Tourists at the Piazza del Duomo

The Piazza del Duomo is one of my favorite places in Florence. It's a bustling square that features some of the most stunning architecture and monuments the city has to offer. There's the Duomo itself, also known as the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, her majestic dome and carved façade holding court as the center of attention. Opposite the cathedral stands the octagonal baptistery, with the magnificent bronze doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti and sculptures depicting John the Baptist. Flanking the cathedral is the magnificent bell tower (campanile), which rises majestically above the Piazza.

Add to this a healthy dose of gift shops, cafes, and street vendors and you have a tourist magnet of the highest order. The broad steps of the cathedral invite people to come and sit, rest their feet, and nurse their gelato. So they sit for a minute and then pull out their camerassome trying to capture the aesthetic beauty, others just looking to record the fact that they were there. Most would swoop in, looking at maps or clutching guide books, look up, and impulsively snap a picture. Many who had a digital camera would shoot and move on without even looking at the preview screen, as blind to their results as their film-based compatriots. In the 30 minutes I sat watching, I didn't see a single person study the scene, consider the lighting conditions, or use a tripod or any other camera support. I know a half hour isn't that long, but I still was able to watch hundreds of people pass by during that time.

The fact is that I wasn't there to do a behavioral study, I was evaluating the scene to determine what lent itself to a good photograph. I was looking for shooting angles, patterns in how the light cast shadows, close-up and panoramic compositions, and details that might reveal themselves with just a little more looking. I have to force myself to do this sometimes because there's a part of me that's just like the other touristswanting to impulsively react to capture the object, recording the moment as a souvenir. When I go to a new place, I have to consciously slow myself down and get past the tendency to record objects and places.

In the end, I decided that the square was currently too crowded for wide shots and complete buildings (I'd have to come back early in the morning for that). Instead I looked up and shot the sculpted façade of the Duomo, and close-ups of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise portal. I chose a spot in the shadow of the baptistery, set up my tripod and 600mm lens, and pointed the camera skyward. The shots were tack sharp thanks to my cable release, and more compelling thanks to patient and thoughtful framing.

Sculptures gracing the façade of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore and the adjoining baptistery.

Use a Laptop

If you're doing an important shoot that will be very hard to replicate, hook the camera up to a laptop and review your images on a big screen in real time. I carried my PowerBook with me on several shoots in Italy and was thankful that I could zoom in to check exposure and image sharpness in real time. This allowed me to see the full image and fine-tune the results as I was shooting. The result: no surprises. I knew what I was getting while the camera was still set up. If an image wasn't right, I recomposed, waited for the wind to die down, or made some other revision in order to get it right.

 Pienza Chapel
Nikon D2H,
1/60 sec, f/4.5
Focal length 75mm