This won't make up for poor focus, camera shake or the spherical aberration that often comes with shooting lenses wide open (these are all way too complex phenomena to correct this way), but it will give it a bit of a sharpness "kick".
I mean we zoom when we shoot long lens, we use fisheyes all the time, we shoot in any light condition, etc..
Don't hesitate to shoot your lens wide-open if you need it.
Don't shoot your lens at its widest aperture unless that's the effect you're looking for if you can avoid it.
If circumstances permit (and you don't want either an extremely shallow or extremely deep depth of field), then don't shoot your lens either at its largest aperture, and don't stop it down past f/11 or so.
defer.add img); Aperture-priority mode will give you control over your depth of field, and allow you to shoot your lens at the aperture at which it is sharpest).. Pick a focal length.
And without the option of adding more lenses, you're limited to what that one point-and-shoot lens can do.
What's more, viewfinders on modern digital SLRs don't even show the true depth of field even if you're shooting the lens wide-open with faster lenses (meaning ones with a larger maximum aperture).
That could be down to the fact that most street-style photographers during fashion week have wanted to, but also had to, adopt Tommy Ton's method of shooting: longer lens, pulled back, more candid than a straight up shot so you can't always tell you're being photographed.
If you're shooting on a very bright day and you don't have a neutral density filter handy, and you just want to grab the slowest shutter speed you can that won't max out your lens' minimum aperture (resulting in overexposure), then switch over to aperture-priority mode and shoot at your lens's smallest aperture (typically f/22 or f/32).
Ultimately, for shots that aren't space constricted there isn't too much difference, but it's still nice to shoot with the lens and get more content inside your shot.
