I enjoy nature photography, but sadly I am not really a nature photographer. More of a hobbyist. Don’t really have the right gear for real nature photography and only got my first big zoom (300mm) last year. I do enjoy capturing birds and animals out in the wild when I come across them in our travels. My biggest problem is I am not super quick, but the animals are and I often miss the mark, just. So the problem then becomes How to fix a blurry bird photo?

Topaz Sharpen AI

As long as the image isn’t too blurry, you still need to be able to tell what it is, I have found that Topaz Sharpen AI has come to my rescue on more than one occasion. Subtle tweaks that really can sharpen those pixels and bring your image back into focus. Check out this before and after below

Before

After

Accessing Topaz Sharpen AI

I often access Sharpen under the Filter menu in Adobe Photoshop. I recommend using a duplicate layer. Try the Auto settings, but try your own settings as well. Sometimes I found I had more luck on Motion Blur than Out of Focus, but on other images Out of Focus worked better. Sometimes sharpening the image also brings in more noise, so don’t forget to suppress the noise in your image as well.

Getting it right in camera

Obviously, nothing beats getting it right in camera. Using a longer lens can help (I currently have a Tamron 70-300mm), which means I sometimes need to crop in a little. I would love a 600mm, but really can’t justify as I would rarely use it. Remember to have the shutter speed high enough. You really should have your shutter speed 1.5x the length of your lens. So a 300mm lens needs a shutter speed of approx 1/450 second or higher. This keeps the image sharp, avoids camera shake and can help capture the motion. Of course, if trying to capture birds (or other animals) moving quickly you need much faster than that. Eye tracking, is great to have turned on and use. Practising pan and shoot is a big help as well. I have been practising and my bird photos have improved dramatically, but still needs work. Sadly I am sometimes a spray and pray shooter with really fast birds.

Thankfully I have Topaz Sharpen to come to my rescue on the images that otherwise didn’t quite make the cut and allow me to fix a blurry bird photo or two.