@nguyenfamily, wow you have so many great questions! @musicgal and @cheesestick gave some great answers to your questions already, but I thought I’d chime in on this thread as well!
How does everyone get such sharp images (especially for close up shots of flowers)? Do you use a tripod?
It took a while for my eye to develop in recognizing what exactly “tack sharp” looks like. Keep observing it and you’ll develop a recognition of sharpness, and what factors deter from it: motion blur, out of focus, noise, etc. A tripod (or similar stable surface) is really only necessary when your shutterspeed is slower than what you can hand hold for clear images. Personally, I rarely use a tripod, however others like @jamesstaddon use them all the time.
I am curious to know if you would consider these images to be sharp enough to print and/or submit to the monthly photo assignments.
Do submit your best work for assignments, but that’s just what it should be – your best work. That may look different from someone else who has been shooting longer and learned how to take professional level photos, or someone who has been shooting for a shorter period of time and is not at the level you’re at. That’s one place that the photo coaching webinars come in really handy. 🙂 I learned soo much through submitting photos that were my best work (which now I look back and see they’re not all as good as what I might take today), but just learning and growing each month along the way!
One more thing: on the forum guidelines, it says that you are limited to only posting 2 photos per topic/reply. The website allows me to add more than 2 photos to a post, but is this not allowed?
@cheesestick summed up an answer very well!