Use This Technique to Get Tack-Sharp Focus Every Time

Getting your focus right is a critical aspect of photography. But unlike other critical aspects of the art form, which can be “corrected” in post, the same cannot be said for focus. If your scene is out of focus, you’re out of luck. If you’ve been struggling with taking tack-sharp landscape images, we have photographer Henry Turner to help you out. In this video, he shares the technique he uses to get sharp photographs every single time:

With landscape photography, a common challenge that arises is where to place the focus point. Unlike other genres like portrait photography, you don’t have just one particular subject in landscape photography. So where should you focus?

Turner has two approaches to this challenge. First, you can try placing your focal point one-third of the way into the scene with the aperture slightly stepped down. This way, you’ll be focusing very close to the hyperfocal distance, which will result in most of the scene being in focus.

The second approach is to choose a particular area in the scene you most want viewers to notice. Using this second method, Turner shows how you can get razor-sharp focus every time. Using the LCD screen on the back of the camera, magnify the area where you place your focus point. Then press the focus button to let the camera focus. Since you’ll be viewing a magnified portion of the focus area, you can then judge whether or not the camera has done a good job. If you’re not happy, you can either refocus or manually override the focus to fine-tune it. Once you’re happy, you can magnify all the way back out and take the image.

This is a great technique to guarantee the focal point is going to be pin-sharp. If you’re tired of getting soft-looking landscape images, be sure to give this method a try.

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