The Low Light Photography Field Guide

Defining Sharpness

Sharpness is almost always critical in low light photography, simply because the technical limits of depth of field and shutter speed are constantly being pushed.

First, however, it’s important to understand that sharpness is subjective—an overall, personal assessment from a combination of factors which can include the resolution of the lens, the focus, noise, contrast, motion blur, and how closely someone examines the image. Most of the time in photography, sharpness is an ideal, or at least a desirable quality, but by no means always. There may well be other qualities that override the importance of sharpness. Consider a shot that captures a particular gesture elegantly but is ever so slightly less sharp in some respect than ...