Needing help with the sharpness of my photos . . .

[Kathy O]

Please ignore the composition and the subject of these photos, I am working on my sharpness of my photos and I am not getting the results that I am wanting, so I need some advice on what I am doing wrong. Every photo I have taken today seems real soft. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

Kathy

First photo shot at: 30mm, iso 100, f10, 1/320 sec. Nikon D5000




Second photo shot at: 30mm, iso 200 f10, 1/500 sec

[Carl in Louisiana]

Hey Kathy,
It would help if you stated what if anything you did in PP. in the mean time this tutorial should get you started in the direction you want to go. There is a list of tutorials when you get there. I hope this helps you out.
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu.../sharpness.htm

[Ryogenetic]

Might I suggest some research on the 18-55 f-stop, but I am going to guess its between 7.1 and 9.0 for tack sharp image. Also ISO 100 tripod mounted 1/250-1/320.

Ryo

[Kathy O]

Hey Kathy,
It would help if you stated what if anything you did in PP. in the mean time this tutorial should get you started in the direction you want to go. There is a list of tutorials when you get there. I hope this helps you out.
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu.../sharpness.htm

very little pp, a little sharpening and a little clarity not a whole lot of each. Thanks for your help.

[Carl in Louisiana]

very little pp, a little sharpening and a little clarity not a whole lot of each. Thanks for your help.

You are welcome Kathy,
Colin has probably one of the best post I have seen to date on sharpening as I still read it and try to take it all in and apply it as I learn as best as possible. Here is the link to that post and I am sure if you did a search on the forum you would find many more. I am still learning also so hope I have been of some help to you. I see in the exif data that your are using LR3 that also helps for others that are more skillful with Lightroom than I am.
When/How to Best Sharpen a Digital Photograph

[Stagecoach]

Hi Kathy,

You say that every photo you have taken 'today' seems real soft. Are you suggesting that this is something specific to today only ? Are you testing a new bit of kit or are you suspecting a problem with an existing bit ?

For testing or experimenting with respect to sharpness perhaps the subject you have used is not the best choice. I have always found using an item with hair on it such as a dolls head is a good subject for sharpness tests of both camera and PPing.

Grahame