Improve The Sharpness Of Your Landscape Photos By Changing This Simple Camera Setting
#5 Mirror Lockup
If you’re taking landscape photos this quick camera setting will help you to get razor sharp images.
Does it bother you when you sit down to edit your landscapes and they just don’t seem quite as sharp as you think they should be? It’s frustrating to see these tack sharp images on photo sites like 500px and not be able to achieve that same level of sharpness. If you start using the mirror lockup setting you’ll get that extra level of sharpness you’ve been looking for.
GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR A 4 MINUTE VIDEO
Why can’t I see 4-7?
Debbie Alexander Morimoto There’s a link to the rest of the article at the bottom of the page
Here is mine…
Very helpful tips thank you
NO. Don’t use in-camera processing EVER
LOL @ “secret settings”
I totally agree. Discredits the article.
One secret the photographer could have used was removing airplane trails from his image. Ruins it. Great shot otherwise
🙂
Must be at the next level because none of these are new and few are of interest or use for what I do.
Marcus Marcus
DUMB AS PELOSI…….
I like what my friend and National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson says, “Want more interesting photos? Stand in front of more interesting stuff.” Plain and simple. Great photos were being made well before there were any menus on cameras. I doubt there are secret settings anywhere on any camera that take the place of knowing what you are doing and the ability to see photographically.
Indeed…
I shot weddings for many years before digital and did very well…the guy who processed my film and printed each shot called me BINGO…cause they were right on……SO !
does anyone know how to keep a lens from fogging up?
Easy, don’t breathe on it. 😉
let it get aclimatized to the ambient temperature … put it on the tripod and leave it alone for 10 minutes. Also make sure that you have a bunch of dessicant pouches in your camera bag during transport …. even more during storage.
or… find a way to keep it warm, since it only fogs on a cold surface.
Don’t go directly from a air conditioned hotel room to a hot humid day outside.
I learned this when shooting a wedding I. Aruba. We left our camera gear out on the balcony to remain acclimated to the environment. Otherwise – you will need to wait an hour or more. Depending on the extreme change from one environment to another. There is no magic answer here!
Good luck! ☘️
Richie Tel Jvictorino Teleron
Ok, Lazy Linda here…..any chance I can just get the 7 secret settings without going through all the video tutorials?
Arlan Hooley Lana Gail
These “secrets” are for the people that like to buy expensive cameras and hope it does all the thinking for them.
Star trails are fun. Here is mine.
I luv time laps
how about just learning the basics of photography?
Read later
Um… None of these are “secrets”… They are pretty well known. Just up to the user to learn them…
They look better without the Jet trails in the picture.
https://www.facebook.com/135713756623204/photos/a.135722093289037.1073741828.135713756623204/233887663472479/?type=3&theater
I’ve heard using hand warmers taped around the lens helps. Haven’t tried it yet but maybe after I get over being sick I’ll get a chance.
cool thank I’ve heard that. will have to try it
©2014 Photography By Piernot, LLC hello. Long exposure. Any tog who can’t figure this out should not be a photog. Time lapse long exposures.
Intervalometer, comes standard with all Magic Lantern installations 😉
Nicholas Loretta C
@adil – if your lens is fogging up from a temp change, let it adjust slowly. Especially from say, an air conditioned home to a humid outdoor setting. I let mine warm up or cool down for at least 30 min before I shoot.
whys that?
That’s gonna make it worse if you’re in a cold environment, you want to keep your camera at ambient temperature. If your lens is fogging, replace it with a weather sealed lens or stop shooting in environments on which you haven’t done your research.
Stephen Jesse please show Tori. i think it answers her problem. thanks.
Brandon nailed it. If you have a highly variable environment transitioning from warm to cold you may want to treat your lense with a product called “cat crap”. Can cause flares though
Very informative. Nice post!
Turn
On and Off
Thanks for sharing, Howard A Phillips.
Slide show left site immediately. Blocks this for news feed.
Lisa Cutner-Piernot, that’s not very nice to say “any tog who can’t figure this out should not be a photog” People learn from mistakes and not everyone is a “pro”.
The majority of exceptional photographs were created before cameras had menus.
My obligatory star trail photo. No “secret” settings or intervolometers needed for this – just 20″-30″ exposures with a remote shutter switch stuck in the “on” position. Then leave for several hours.
Lisa Gerrard Dillon John Bauer
Want to go camping?
If you really want to give your images the “wow” factor there is really only one step… become a better photographer. No amount of technology is going to magically make terrible photos good. This article would be more accurately be titled “seven minor conveniences on modern cameras”. Oddly enough they don’t even mention picture control settings which, with maybe the exception of custom white balance, would contribute far more to an images final “wow” factor. So sick of these stupid click bait articles.
http://memetogo.com/media/created/czdswt.jpg
Ty Nguyen learn
Thank you!
i don’t mind planes on occassion..makes for cool time lapse as well https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205300462970642&set=a.10205300456930491.1073741923.1219646883&type=3&theater
Lynzie A. Taylor Great info in here
Hillery Conroy Terenzi …. What do you think?
Travis Corriveau Al Goodwyn
.
Oh cool!!
I stopped at like page 4 because it was so annoying to keep switching pages and because I knew I’d have to do 14 pages to get through the article. I know you want some advertising money, but at least limit it to 7 pages…
Will look at This Lorraine Lamont. I want to learn it in the summer
I hear that! I’ll wait for thaw, too.
You might like this Laced Up Media.
Kevin Enenra Kevin R. Daniels
Good tips.
Yea the secret settings are called Manual Mode.
Most annoying article format ever. You care more about advertising than your readers obviously.
Nice Thanks!
Jenifer Harris, thought you might like this…
Arianna Evelyn McBride…you might find this interesting…I sure did.
*
I couldn’t make it through all the secret settings because a) the first three were not so secret and b) it’s annoying having to do all that clicking from page to page to get to the next and the next. What is wrong with putting the whole article on one or two pages instead of 14?
Nikai Nikai Gusta Babiecakes
Thanks for sharing…
🙂
Dru Dodd 😉
7/7
Just checking. 😉 x
Great tips !! Thank you…
Ah yes, the infamous “wow” setting. As elusive as it is actually existing.
Great tips. Thanks.
Secret? DO you need a magic p$#%&!@*word to access them? No? Then they are not secret.
Kayla, do you know these? BTW, I tried sharing this to your photography page, but couldn’t figure it out
Yep it is what works best and doesn’t take to long to master it
I’m pretty sure any legit photographer would know these.
Camera settings do not make you a photographer.
Understanding how to use your tools does make you better at whatever you do. Can you imagine a cabinet maker who didn’t know he/she could tilt the blade on the table saw?
#3
Or just photograph with a mirrorless camera.
How are they secret settings? They are DSLR basics. Saying that, I don’t know why back button focus isn’t enabled as standard anyway. Makes more sense.
What’s a camera menu?
Nice. Going to try it tomorrow.
Quite informative
its over too many pages…couldnt be bothered after the forth page with not much info on it…Try and halve them to keep ppl interested…Wont be going back to this sight
Weak
Same goes for the mirror lock up mode.
just wasted 15 minutes of my life..
And here I thought I was going to learn something crazy…
Try to use manual settings. So you can understand what a difference aperture and shutter speeds can make to a photo. Auto means the camera will make all the settings. Buy or borrow a tripod. Then you can use slow shutter speeds. Experiment! Making mistakes on digital is not expensive like film.
How many people really, fully understand their camera though??
Cool
Annie Mitaina.
Carl and Brandon
Those who read the manual and practice photography regularly, those people do fully understand their cameras.
Photography is all about menus.
It doesn’t tell me how to compose in my manual, shall I send it back?
Got to number two and left. Clicking 14 pages is just pointless. Have a word with your web monkey.
Have a look Emily Kernick
The auto focus button on the back is a secret? It’s right there on the camera!
Jesus, this is some basic stuff.
The structure of this article kills me, I made it to page 3.
That’s the worst thing i’ve read today….
Rd
You know what can take your photography to the next level? Set your camera to manual, then adjust your shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.
Well I’ll be darned. 🙂
All i got was page after page of bloody adverts, no info?????.
Sigh. . .
And the redirects… no thanks.
Where are the secrets?
Really appreciated this! I had never checked this feature out even though I always saw it on the back of my camera. Going to practice it now!
The layout of this article is horrible. I made it to secret setting #3 and gave up.
Good info
Agree, can’t stand pages that do this
You shouldn’t have a DSLR if you don’t know 6 if not all of these
Sure, let me go get some money from my money tree
Lol, try photoshop manual
Long exposure, white balance is pretty much the rest of it.
:S and further then that ?
Practice.
Oh yes, I might ask the man up the fish and chip shop too
…mirrorless are far cheaper than DSLRS…
Your WEBPAGE SUCKS Modern Lens Magazine completely SUCKS
Than stop looking at it …….. I can’t believe how rude people are! The comments on this page are nothing more than ignorant rude inconsiderate and most of all not necessary…….
I tried this setting at a children’s festival over the weekend and the results were very good. It takes some getting used to, however.
Sheesh there’s a lot to click through to find the meat. Maybe when I’m on my desktop. 🙂
Good stuff.
Very good advice!
I would like to read this but the links seem to be full of ads and no content
My camera has no damn menus! I shoot film!
Debbie Bebb
Tracie Guttenfelder new tips
Thnx
Annoying to have to keep paging to read. Gave up on third page.
Im guessing there is some interesting info that would be helpful to know. But I DO know that I’m not going to scroll thru this advertising ridden & frustrating post! Really!
Put it all on a couple of pages in text, that’d be great thanks
Randy Edwards
“Secret Settings” ???
To which I can only say: R. T. F. M. *
* Read The Fine Manual
Thanks 🙂
How can they be secret settings if they’re in the menu?
Yawn….
If this is what is in your magazine, it sucks.
considered liking this page. However decided agast it. Too many ads. takes FOREVER to read an article!
Why do I have to click through seven different pages? Too much trouble to read. So no I won’t even bother.
Michelle Alksne
great points there 🙂
HATE having to click-click-click-click-click-click-click!
this isn’t working for me – these things from Modern lens just go to a page FULL of ads, and I can never find the article – just a copy of the same photo and a crapload of ads…
This is spam, link just take you to a page of ads,, phishing. Modern Lens maybe is fictitious?
I always adjust mine in between Capra-Steiglitz and Adams-Feinstein. It’s beside the “P” setting on your DSLR.
your page is horrible to navigate, i’m gone
Who doesn’t know these things about their DSLR? Seriously read a manual.
wow finlly a post from you guys
This was some pretty cool video lessons…thanx!!
Jamie-lee Lawson
Dylan Lallier
O yea it’s the lens settings lol
So tired of the click bait
This is not a secret
In fact… this is a pure pub site, you see more pub than real photo tips.. and on many, many pages with lots of pubs lolll
I guess my shots are as good as they’re ever gonna be! I see no secret revelations here. I think it’s also pretty diabolical how they position the ‘click-bait’ links to make it nearly impossible to navigate the pages on a phone or iPad without accidentally hitting an ad link.
Eddie McAnnally
Pretty good.
Wow, scroll through 15 pages of ad farm for 7 tips. No thanks.
Jason Hernandez
Like Dave Oplinger said…..I didn’t see this till I found out the hard way…..to many clicks an not much info….I stopped half way through….stupid
Too many ads.. keep your secrets!
Site layout sucks. Click click click….
Click bait. Boo.
Shirley Zukowski. Tim Chalifoux
Sorry, I see nothing but ads…
Too many clicks!
Bobbi-Jo Robertson-Tosetto
‘Secret’ settings? Rofl. The click bait title and having barely-a-paragraph on each page before you have to go to the next; also infested with more ads than content is just obnoxious. Perhaps it’s different on a desktop over mobile but I couldn’t justify going past the second page.
Exactly what I came to say lol
what a load of horse shit..useless.
Most of these are only useful for landscape photography but still good stuff.
7 secrets to get people to accidentally click an ad while searching for content perceived as useful.
The basics! A lot of people need to read this.
Hey Tony thanks for the heads up. I’ve used the servo focus but I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with the back focus technique. Just goes to show we never stop learning. Thanks again.
Good job dude, you made an article for invalids who have never touched a camera.
There is no magic bullet for making your photos look good, it’s in your eyes, not in your gear.
The pitiful folks who complain about too many pages would also complain that their page loaded too slowly if it were all packed into one or two pages. Those who complain that the site (not sight!) is concerned with making advertising dollars evidently don’t mind performing their own work for free. Folks, if you don’t like it – don’t read it. If complaining about everything makes you feel good then you’re in the minority because for most folks it shows they’re miserable in their lives.
Personally, I found the article to be mostly interesting and I can definitely see how it would be helpful to non-seasoned photographers or to many who are new to digital. I’ve been a photographer for close to 45 years and I even found some of it very useful.
Why not just use Live-view?
Enough hype. If the settings are on a menu, they are not secret. Try writing headlines that properly reflect the content of the article.
Do you have to do your hands like that when you’re shooting? Using an ND10 or ND 12 filter will give you the same effect with much better results. You can do an 6-8 second exposure in broad day light, and yes you get the “Cotton Candy” effect.
what a bunch of jaded, ignorant comments on this post
Something that wasn’t brought up in the custom white balance: Flash: Is it possible to do a custom white balance in a studio or location where strobes/speedlights are in use?