Random photos C&C please

Hi all, I am new to this forums & came across this forum about few days ago & got hooked on. I've only recently started indulging in digital photography, Posting 2 photos & would like to know how can I improve as I see most of my photos are soft & not sharp in 1:1 view in LR3

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Welcome to the forums. It's a great place to learn.

Sharpness is a tough issue for many reasons. What was the focus point, what does the exif look like, was it hand held or tripod? And then couple that with the small size allowed on the forums and it can get tough to diagnose.

If you are concerned about your equipment get in a controlled environment with a good target subject. There are free targets you can download and print. Mount the camera on a tripod and use a delayed timer to take the shot. Take shots at several focal lengths and multiple lenses if you have them. That should eliminate you from the problem. And my personal experience is that once I'm out of the picture my images get a lot sharper. User error or poor technique.

Your posted images look a bit soft but they are small and with no exif it's tough to say much.

What do you process them with? What post processing has been done? Are you shooting raw or jpg?

Hi Titus, thanks for taking a look, sorry for the delay in posting the EXIF due to some issues at home

EXIF for the first photo

TV: 1/13, AV: 18, Metering: Spot metering, Exposure comp: -2/3, ISO: 200, Focal length: 39mm, AF: one-shot AF, Picture style: Standard (Sharpness 6, contrast 1, saturation 0, color tone 1), color space: sRGB, Peripheral illumination correction: Enable

this image was slightly edited, however the exif info is intact

EXIF for 2nd photo

TV: 1/1000, AV: 3.5, Metering: Evaluative, ISO: 100, Focal length: 18mm, White balance: Auto, AF: one-shot AF, Picture style: Standard (Sharpness 6, contrast 1, Saturation 1, Color tone 0), Color Space: sRGB, Peripheral Illumination correction: Enable

the 2nd photo is unedited I saved it as JPEG to upload to Flickr & post it here

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance to fix the soft photos coming out.

#1 - 1/13 of a sec is way too slow unless you used a tripod and remote release, even with image stabilization.

#2 - Parts of it are in focus. Your depth of field was narrow due to f3.5, so the close flowers and the background are going to be out of focus.

In general, shoot in RAW. Even if you don't have a 'regular' post processing software you can still get a lot of control using the Canon DPP that came with the camera. Start with something like a vase full of flowers and take a lot of shots at a lot of different settings / lighting to see the different effects. Pay attention to composition, lighting, contrast, background, depth of field, etc.

Shoot a ton of pictures and analyze what you like and dislike about them.

As Jon C says, 1/13 is too slow for hand held shots IMO. No matter what the focal length might be. This will give the appearance of a soft image since any shake/motion blur will be seen through the entire frame.

One the second shot your wide angle helped cover the focus with a wide DOF. Make sure you are using one AF point that YOU select (don't let the camera select AF points).

And the rest is getting use to the equipment and understanding what it will do. Post processing will require some sharpening.

isolate the subject. use a tripod.

Thanks for the useful tips, I currently do not own a tripod however gathering up some $$$ to buy one soon. I am currently using the center AF point for most of my pictures with Spot Metering, should I stick with Evaluative metering till I understand what settings to use in different light scenarios.

There was another picture I took of a bright red SUV in that too I found the details are soft. I would like to know if this is a regular thing that happens with kit lens or should I check with some other lens (borrow from a friend) & see if the soft images are because the lens? There is one other thing I observed which is Chromatic Aberration however I guess that can be fixed with PS.

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I'd not use the UV filter - just make sure you have a proper lens hood on when you are shooting. Buy yourself a large Giottos Rocket Blower to clean the dust off the lens.