I feel for you in that often one cannot use a tripod. Whenever I'm taking family or event shots it's totally free hand. I use a flash and modifier to create my light but drag the shutter to hold the background in my shots. When I'm taking landscapes or macro shots it's all with a tripod and using different focus points on the flowers but here I'm seeking the sun's long shadow light to give me the feel to the shot. But when I'm working alone, taking my time, I find it very satisfying to get shots simply impossible free hand where I take multiple shots and combine them or relax as I can take shots at 1.3 seconds and squeeze every bit of excellence out of a 20 mpx camera. I can shoot a scene with different shutter speeds and combine the best of each shot to express blur or freeze a splash in a part of a river picture. You really can do more in post to make a shot so much better. Even combining bracket shots in HDR software to achieve perfect blacks (no noise at all in very dark sunset shots). It really opened doors for me. If only I didn't have to go to work? LOL But really, I was unemployed for a year and a half and explored all of the photography tricks I'd dreamed of. It was truly a fun time but now a job came my way and I've been working ever sense January 6th. Maybe we all need some time off to explore all our photography adventures? Paul, thanks so much for making us think so much. You certainly got fantastic feed back. Cheers!

When you look at the 1:1 pixels, are you disappointed by lack of sharp details? If yes, what are you doing about it? Most every day here at UHH, some aspect of the solution is presented. I've had success with the following tips:

1. Place a single AF point (or group / zone) specifically over the subject of the image. Do not focus someplace else in the frame and expect the exact subject to be in focus by repositioning the camera after focusing someplace else in the frame.

2. Use the camera's AI Servo (Canon) / Continuous-servo AF (Nikon) focus setting always, without regard to whether the subject is moving or stationary. See BBF (Back Button Focus) below.

3. Shoot in short bursts of 2- to 5-images.

Some commentary before continuing. Idea 1 rejects focus and recompose via the center AF point. Idea 2 leverages the advanced capabilities of your advanced camera body and the system's electronic auto focus. Idea 3 is clearly spray and pray to most. If you care more about old school technique over new school results, fine. It's your camera producing your results.

Now for the rest of us, consider these additional ideas for sharply focused images:

4. Investigate the sharpest apertures for each of your lenses.

5. Keep IS / VR active 100% on your lenses, except if / when this technology is known to be an issue with your specific lens model.

6. Hold your camera properly and / or shoot from a tripod.

7. Configure your camera for Back Button Focus (BBF) to enhance the idea #2 for using AI Servo / Continuous-servo configuration.

8. When you can, shoot at your camera's base ISO, or at the lowest ISO possible for the situation.

Each example image, below provided as attached files in the replies below, shows the original crop from the camera, with a 1:1 crop of the details. The images all follow / demonstrate most (or all) 8 of the ideas above.

Regarding Spray and Pray

You might ask, "what do I need 5 images for?" You're right, you don't. You need only 1 sharp image, pick that 1 and delete the rest: they're digital, they're free except for the time needed to consider the individuals within the group and discard those unneeded.

Remember, we measure the results in photography, not the effort. So, if you go 0 for 1 in sharp focus, you are what your records says you are. When you present only your sharply focused images, it doesn't matter if these results are 1 for 10, 3 in 100, etc. Your record is undefeated at 1 for 1 or 3 for 3, and so forth. We all know: 1 is better than none when it comes to sharply focus images.

Investigate the sharpest apertures for each of your lenses

If you've read any lens reviews, you've probably seen some form of "sharpness improves in the corners at f/x". Different lenses and different reviewers have slightly different forms of this comment. Some lenses need to be stepped down just 1-stop. Some lenses are as sharp wide open as any smaller aperture. Many zoom lenses are significantly different at different apertures across the entire zoom range.

If you go through a testing exercise 'looking at the corners', the technique I want to mention is shooting your subject at a 45-degree angle. The example below takes a crop of the corner of an earlier image to show the difference as compared to where the lens was specifically focused. As a manual focus lens, the digital Sony didn't receive the aperture value from the lens. The lens was probably f/5.6, maybe f/8. The lens was not set to f/11 that is likely to produce 'sharp in the corners' result. The composition wasn't intended for 'sharp in the corners'. Rather, this composition was a more natural view where the image is sharp where your eyes are meant to fall in the frame and a natural softening away from that sharp point of interest.

As you test / consider your own equipment, consider this 45-degree framing to give yourself details in the corners of the image to consider, whether testing with building or landscapes. Your 'kit lens' is likely everywhere as sharp as any of the examples presented in the replies in this thread, your lens just has to be shot at an aperture that best demonstrates that sharpness. Use a tripod (or handheld with the VR / IS active) and create a series of test images to confirm which aperture(s) to use. View those images at the 100% zoom on your computer. Look at the details and make notes. Then, investigate and utilize the 7 other ideas presented above.

Regarding Back Button Focus (BBF)

For the BBF, you have to reprogram a button on the camera. On more advanced models, almost every button on the camera body can be set to something else via the camera's menu options. For the entry-level models, such as the EOS Rebel line, the options to change the functionality of the external buttons are limited to “custom functions”. Consult your camera model or u-tube for your specific model for the reconfiguration / customization process. If you have the focus ‘beep’ active on your camera, you’ll likely need to disable this feature.

After configuring your camera for BBF, you'll grab the camera and use your thumb to enable focus by pressing and holding the a button on the back the camera with AI Servo. You release the shutter with your index finder as normal.

This is BBF. You begin to use your camera as follows:

a. Grab camera.
b. As you raise the camera your eye, enable focusing with your thumb pressing the BBF button.
c. Frame / zoom and release the shutter with your index finger. Keep pressing the BBF button the entire time.
d. Release your thumb when you lower the camera from your eye.

Keep in mind your eyes operate in continuous (AI Servo) focus, whether you're following a moving subject or look at a static subject. You're updating your camera to operate in the same manner so where the AF point / zone is positioned, the camera is continuously focusing there.

No one needs to update to BBF. The key point is updating the camera to the 'continuous' focus mode, whether you use your thumb or index finger to focus.

Will these techniques rundown my battery?

In a word: No

Your camera, specifically the DSRL, and camera battery are optimized for shooting. The main drain on your camera's battery beyond the basic operation of capturing and storing images is the display playback and / or shooting in live view. Running the AF and IS has no material difference on battery life. Chimping your images, culling in the field and / or shooting in Live View is what burns your battery life.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. It's incredible. This is the first post I have bookmarked. It's better than any book I've read.
I do have one question about back button focus. After reading your post I tried to set up my Nikon D500 for BBF. I followed the steps:
1. Turned off AF activation
2. Set it to AF-ON only
3. Out of focus release: Hit Enable
4. Set Focus to AF-C
5. AF-C priority selection: Release
Then I attempted to shoot with BBF.
I focused with the AF-On button and hit the shutter to take the shot.
However, I also was able to focus and shoot with the Shutter button. I thought the shutter was supposed to be only for shooting and the AF-ON button was dedicated to focus. Did I miss a step?
Thank you
Bela

When you look at the 1:1 pixels, are you disappointed by lack of sharp details? If yes, what are you doing about it? Most every day here at UHH, some aspect of the solution is presented. I've had success with the following tips:

1. Place a single AF point (or group / zone) specifically over the subject of the image. Do not focus someplace else in the frame and expect the exact subject to be in focus by repositioning the camera after focusing someplace else in the frame.

2. Use the camera's AI Servo (Canon) / Continuous-servo AF (Nikon) focus setting always, without regard to whether the subject is moving or stationary. See BBF (Back Button Focus) below.

3. Shoot in short bursts of 2- to 5-images.

Some commentary before continuing. Idea 1 rejects focus and recompose via the center AF point. Idea 2 leverages the advanced capabilities of your advanced camera body and the system's electronic auto focus. Idea 3 is clearly spray and pray to most. If you care more about old school technique over new school results, fine. It's your camera producing your results.

Now for the rest of us, consider these additional ideas for sharply focused images:

4. Investigate the sharpest apertures for each of your lenses.

5. Keep IS / VR active 100% on your lenses, except if / when this technology is known to be an issue with your specific lens model.

6. Hold your camera properly and / or shoot from a tripod.

7. Configure your camera for Back Button Focus (BBF) to enhance the idea #2 for using AI Servo / Continuous-servo configuration.

8. When you can, shoot at your camera's base ISO, or at the lowest ISO possible for the situation.

Each example image, below provided as attached files in the replies below, shows the original crop from the camera, with a 1:1 crop of the details. The images all follow / demonstrate most (or all) 8 of the ideas above.

Regarding Spray and Pray

You might ask, "what do I need 5 images for?" You're right, you don't. You need only 1 sharp image, pick that 1 and delete the rest: they're digital, they're free except for the time needed to consider the individuals within the group and discard those unneeded.

Remember, we measure the results in photography, not the effort. So, if you go 0 for 1 in sharp focus, you are what your records says you are. When you present only your sharply focused images, it doesn't matter if these results are 1 for 10, 3 in 100, etc. Your record is undefeated at 1 for 1 or 3 for 3, and so forth. We all know: 1 is better than none when it comes to sharply focus images.

Investigate the sharpest apertures for each of your lenses

If you've read any lens reviews, you've probably seen some form of "sharpness improves in the corners at f/x". Different lenses and different reviewers have slightly different forms of this comment. Some lenses need to be stepped down just 1-stop. Some lenses are as sharp wide open as any smaller aperture. Many zoom lenses are significantly different at different apertures across the entire zoom range.

If you go through a testing exercise 'looking at the corners', the technique I want to mention is shooting your subject at a 45-degree angle. The example below takes a crop of the corner of an earlier image to show the difference as compared to where the lens was specifically focused. As a manual focus lens, the digital Sony didn't receive the aperture value from the lens. The lens was probably f/5.6, maybe f/8. The lens was not set to f/11 that is likely to produce 'sharp in the corners' result. The composition wasn't intended for 'sharp in the corners'. Rather, this composition was a more natural view where the image is sharp where your eyes are meant to fall in the frame and a natural softening away from that sharp point of interest.

As you test / consider your own equipment, consider this 45-degree framing to give yourself details in the corners of the image to consider, whether testing with building or landscapes. Your 'kit lens' is likely everywhere as sharp as any of the examples presented in the replies in this thread, your lens just has to be shot at an aperture that best demonstrates that sharpness. Use a tripod (or handheld with the VR / IS active) and create a series of test images to confirm which aperture(s) to use. View those images at the 100% zoom on your computer. Look at the details and make notes. Then, investigate and utilize the 7 other ideas presented above.

Regarding Back Button Focus (BBF)

For the BBF, you have to reprogram a button on the camera. On more advanced models, almost every button on the camera body can be set to something else via the camera's menu options. For the entry-level models, such as the EOS Rebel line, the options to change the functionality of the external buttons are limited to “custom functions”. Consult your camera model or u-tube for your specific model for the reconfiguration / customization process. If you have the focus ‘beep’ active on your camera, you’ll likely need to disable this feature.

After configuring your camera for BBF, you'll grab the camera and use your thumb to enable focus by pressing and holding the a button on the back the camera with AI Servo. You release the shutter with your index finder as normal.

This is BBF. You begin to use your camera as follows:

a. Grab camera.
b. As you raise the camera your eye, enable focusing with your thumb pressing the BBF button.
c. Frame / zoom and release the shutter with your index finger. Keep pressing the BBF button the entire time.
d. Release your thumb when you lower the camera from your eye.

Keep in mind your eyes operate in continuous (AI Servo) focus, whether you're following a moving subject or look at a static subject. You're updating your camera to operate in the same manner so where the AF point / zone is positioned, the camera is continuously focusing there.

No one needs to update to BBF. The key point is updating the camera to the 'continuous' focus mode, whether you use your thumb or index finger to focus.

Will these techniques rundown my battery?

In a word: No

Your camera, specifically the DSRL, and camera battery are optimized for shooting. The main drain on your camera's battery beyond the basic operation of capturing and storing images is the display playback and / or shooting in live view. Running the AF and IS has no material difference on battery life. Chimping your images, culling in the field and / or shooting in Live View is what burns your battery life.

CHG_Canon

Very nice post, and good read... Good Info

I would offer one consideration... In Item 5, you state

----
5. Keep IS / VR active 100% on your lenses, except if / when this technology is known to be an issue with your specific lens model.
----

I have read offerings by a number of pros that IS should not be considered under some circumstances when you equipment is mounter on fixed surface, such as Mono-Pods or Tri-Pods

What has been your experience on this ??

Tks for you input

Cheers
GeoVz
------------------

Thank you GeoVz!

For the VR / IS, the stabilization technology continues to advance, as well as different vendors deliver different results. Even within the same vendor, Canon for example, the best practices of Series II / III lenses are different from older designs.

My experience it that a monopod is not a fixed shooting platform. I keep stabilization active, enhancing the stability this tool adds. A gimbal head on a tripod also is not a fixed platform, where I keep IS / VR active, the same as when handholding.

Regarding a tripod, it depends on the equipment. Canon's series II IS-enabled lenses are not impacted by a completely steady, fixed tripod. The example below was captured in near dark at 1/10 sec at an extended 700mm using an EF 500 f/4L IS II, from a tripod with remote cable release. The IS was active / unchanged from using this lens outdoors and handheld. Although 'from tripod' isn't something I mention in my posted work in Flickr, there's no difference in the results for the many images from several of Canon IS-enabled Series II lenses, always with IS active regardless of with or without a tripod (and regardless of shutterspeed).

If the individual photographer encounters issues with a tripod and IS / VR for their specific equipment, they should update their technique and disable the stabilization and confirm their own results. That personal experience does not automatically extend to universal pronouncements to all cameras, lenses and situations. I tried to allow for this variation in my phrasing of idea #5.

Madagascar Golden Orb Spider by Paul Sager, on Flickr