Trying to Sharpen Better

[Don Schaeffer]

I'm trying to focus the camera as carefully as I can to reduce the amount of pp processing. That focussing magnifyer really seems to help.

Vivitar 28mm f2.5 lens

[Frog]

Don, what software are you using to sharpen?
The trees look pretty sharp but not the flowers.
Don't know if it's sharpening or focus problem.

[n8]

I'd be curious to see them sooc

[mjs1973]

I have often thought that your images look a bit over processed for my own tastes but it seems to be the style that you have developed for yourself so if it works for you, stick with it.

What is your sharpening/PP workflow?

[Don Schaeffer]

It's complicated. I use Paintshop Pro X4. I often use local tone mapping, high bandpass sharpening, outline filters, sometimes noise filters.

[Medley]

Don, I spent the better part of a year concentrating on pp sharpening techniques. I've narrowed my workflow down to a few techniques that achieve visibly sharper results. If you ever want to strike up a conversation......

[Don Schaeffer]

What techniques do you use?

[mjs1973]

I use High Pass filter to do my sharpening in Photoshop. I create a duplicate of my background layer, then go to Filter > Other > High Pass. I adjust the Radius so I have a faint outline around what I want to sharpen and click OK. Then I change the blend mode of that layer to either Overlay or Soft Light depending on what I'm looking for. Soft Light is a little more subtle than Overlay. Then I will add a layer mask to that layer and brush away the sharpening in areas where I don't think it needs it. In the case of this image, I would remove the sharpening in the grass behind the turtle and maybe the are foreground at the bottom of the image as well.

It might be kind of hard to tell with these low res images, but the difference is there. It's subtle, but there. To me, that is one of the keys to sharpening. Getting it sharp without making it look like it's over-sharpened.