Sloppy Technique Got me! What Was I Thinking?

At first glance, this image appears in sharp focus, but closer examination it is not.  What happened?

Evidently,  I wasn't thinking and I paid a price in the name of poor image quality and, therefore, unusable images.  Let me explain.

As I edited the 2200 or so images I made on my recent road trip, I noticed that several of them (probably 20 or so) were not in sharp focus or suffered from camera movement.  What?  With the E-M1's 5-way IBIS, the best in all of photography, and contrast detect focusing that focuses directly off the sensor, how can that be?  Was there something wrong with my camera?  Did I accidentally have the IBIS turned off?  Was my lens focusing mechanism faulty? Immediately, my first inclination was to blame my gear. Well...sheepishly, I came to the conclusion that is was me, not the camera or lens.  I narrowed it down to sloppy technique.

No excuses for not getting sharp images.  With my experience and knowledge it was just poor technique, not paying attention and photographing too fast.  These are my mistakes and there is no going back for a "do-over."

The first images I noticed were not sharp.  The image at the top of this post is one of them to which I am referring.  I made this image for stock purposes to illustrate the 18th and 19th century technique of building a stone fence without mortar.  The several images I made looked sharp on my 24" monitor in Lightroom at the normal viewing size.  But, zooming in to critically examine the detail of the photographs, these particular images were not at all as crisp as they should be.  (I have to look at my images at 1:1 for stock purposes as that is the way the editors look at them to decide if the image quality is sufficient for their clients.  Otherwise, I recommend looking at your images at 1:2)  Detail was soft.  I'm not sure how I missed the focus, but I did.  I really can't blame it on the camera as the Olympus E-M1's focus has been spot on.  I have to believe that it was me and I focused on the wrong part of the image.  I suspect I pointed the focusing spot on an area with no significant detail and low, if any, contrast.  I remember "ripping off" a few exposures as I was walking by this wall.  Big mistake.  I was not really paying attention, I was rushing and assumed that I had gotten what I needed.

Examples of handmade, wooden buckets as would be used
in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries

The second image, an example of 18th, 19th and early 20th century hand-made buckets, is also not in good focus.  Well, the wall is, but not the buckets.  Evidently, and again being sloppy in my technique, I inadvertently focused on the wall and not the main subjects.  Like the first image, I blame myself for not pointing the focusing spot in the right place, then not checking my images, highly magnified, on the camera's LCD.  Again, I was not taking my time and concentrating on my photography.

I took for granted that these images would be in correct focus and that was another mistake.

The third example I will give you is a different type of mistake.  In the image, below, the photograph is not sharp due to camera movement and using too slow a shutter speed (1/15th sec.).  Could I have successfully handheld the camera to make this image?  Yes, I have done it down to 1/6th of a second.  But, I wasn't paying attention to my shutter speed.  Even with Olympus' famous 5-way in-body image stabilization (IBIS), one still needs to us good technique to get a sharp image.  In this case, I didn't steady myself as well as I should or I should have used a tripod.  Again, my error.

An example of 18th century carpentry showing the framing of the underside'
of a second floor porch

Lessons Learned:  Even though I have been photographing for over 44 years, I was over confident and took for granted that the photographic technique I was using was good.  What technique is that?  Being casual about my photography as I was touring through this historic site.  I found out that I rushed, wasn't thinking and paid the price.

I can not go back and retake this images.  They were made over a thousand miles from my home.

Even though my unacceptable images were less than 1% of all of my images, it makes me angry that I didn't do as well as I should have.  I have no excuse.  I know better.  Next time, I won't fall into the trap of being casual when trying to make images.

Don't make the mistakes I did in this small illustration.  Take your time, think, use proper technique, double-check your work and don't take for granted that you have the experience to never make mistakes.  Don't let hubris be your guide.

Thanks for looking.

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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