Nikon D60 Photos

[KeenTeen17]

I have noticed that when I take photos on my Nikon and I view them in the field, they appear sharper on my camera. But when I zoom in on them or view them on the PC they are nowhere near as sharp as I thought.
An example is this grape hyacinth

Is it because I resize the photos in paint to 25% by 25% so that theyll fit on WAB or is it just because my photos are rubbish? The idea of buying the camera was to get better photos than I did with my Kodak Z650. I noticed that by using flash on plants like the hyacinth, it appears sharper and the colour is more pronounced.

I was just wondering why the quality and sharpness of the photo is so low

[ron1863]

Slow shutter speed? camera shake?

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Slow shutter speed? camera shake?

Aah! Didn't think of that! I have a small tripod but for some plants its too big and tall for the plant - e.g bittercress or maidenhair fern.
But I rarely use it because I get really annoyed when people stare at me and wonder what I'm doing

And I have also been told to use F/22 or similar when photographing plants / fungi with my small tripod but this has no effect and gives no extra sharpness like in most of those in the Gallery.

Changing the aperture only just makes the photo a different colour

[ron1863]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

Aah! Didn't think of that! I have a small tripod but for some plants its too big and tall for the plant - e.g bittercress or maidenhair fern.
But I rarely use it because I get really annoyed when people stare at me and wonder what I'm doing

Buy one where the centre column can be swung up and around through 180 degrees, enabling you to take shots close to the ground. Check the following link and play the video. You can pick the tripod up for under £70.00.

Giottos MTL9351B Giottos 9351B 3 Section Pro MT Aluminium Tripod with 2 way column £80.95, SAVE £6.91 on Giottos from Red Door VR Ltd, UK.

[NJP87]

Pictures always look sharper on the LCD screen, are you sharpening the pics after resizing?

Are you shooting in RAW or JPEG?

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by NJP87

Pictures always look sharper on the LCD screen, are you sharpening the pics after resizing?

Are you shooting in RAW or JPEG?

I only ever shoot in JPEG because the RAW image are simply too big to upload to the PC and I usually take so many that its not worth editing them all and I don't even know how to edit to begin with. And when going through a lot of RAW images, they take a long time to preview so it takes a long time to actually go through a days photography

[NJP87]

Are all of your pics turning out the same?

What settings are you using?

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by NJP87

Are all of your pics turning out the same?

What settings are you using?

Pretty much

Some are turning out OK like these


I would just want my photos to be that little bit sharper like those in the Gallery

[pressld2]

Nothing wrong with your grape hyacinth shot that a little unsharp mask wouldn't help - pics always need sharpening after resizing.

F22 will get you maximum depth of field but NOT maximum sharpness. All lenses have an aperture at which they are sharpest and this is usually around the middle of the range - f8 to f11. For example, if I use my Sigma 150mm macro at f11 the results are so sharp I could cut myself. But if I go to f22 for extra depth of field the results are still good but noticeably softer. Even f16 is visibly less sharp than f11. Experiment with wider apertures and see how you get on.

Dave P.

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Nothing wrong with your grape hyacinth shot that a little unsharp mask wouldn't help - pics always need sharpening after resizing.

F22 will get you maximum depth of field but NOT maximum sharpness. All lenses have an aperture at which they are sharpest and this is usually around the middle of the range - f8 to f11. For example, if I use my Sigma 150mm macro at f11 the results are so sharp I could cut myself. But if I go to f22 for extra depth of field the results are still good but noticeably softer. Even f16 is visibly less sharp than f11. Experiment with wider apertures and see how you get on.

Dave P.

Hey Thanks Dave I have noticed that lots of your photos in the Wildflowers section are the sharpness I am after. I'll do a bit of experimenting while I'm out next. I have noticed that using the flash has improved the sharpness on many occasions because it helps in all lighting. Will this effect the outcome of the aperture changing?