Joining a new camera club this year, and don't you know, their monthly competitions include prints. UGH!!! Don't know why, but printing my shots is so intimidating. Remember 10 or 15 years ago when we sent our rolls of film off and couldn't wait for them to come back? No problems at all with printing them. But now, it has taken on a new factor somehow, and I just lack confidence. And not only do we have to print them, but they judge them IN A LIGHTBOX!!!! Why not just use a microscope????
Anyway, for the Nature category for September, it's Birds in Flight. Found a few of these guys at Chincoteague the other night, and this was my best shot. It's in the running for the competition. Maybe it's not sharp enough, or maybe I over sharpened it. I don't know. I think the intimidation is probably overshadowing my judgement, so any critique and/or help will be greatly appreciated!!!
It does seem a little in-your-face sharp. Something you might try, it works nicely for landscapes, the Scott Kelby "sharp yet soft" look. Duplicate the final image on a new top layer, Filter | Blur | Gaussian Blur at a level such that the image blurs significantly. Depending on the size of the frame it could be 10 or 11 pixels. Then Bring the opacity of the layer down low, to something like 8-10%, maybe lower. It will soften the image, but still keep the (apparent) sharpness that final output sharpening put in. That's it.
Something to remember about "sharpening." You probably know it already but sharpening in an editor is not at all like the "sharpness" of a good lens. The editor will increase the contrast across significant edges. That's it. Often a small pixel edge of white is added to dark edge transitions, and black added to bright edge transitions. it looks "sharper" but what it really is, is that the edge transitions have been emphasized. Thus the term "apparent" sharpness, as distinct from "true" sharp edges from good glass. Painters have known about this for centuries. Lots more could be said, but I'll stop there. perhaps more later if you are interested.
Sometimes those sharpened edges, especially in final output sharpening, not the first input sharpening in the raw converter (Camera Raw or Lightroom) can be especially broad and "glowy." One way to soften this is to do your sharpening on a separate layer (I sould like a broken record about that), and then go to Blending Options and the "Blend if..." sliders. Go to the right of the "current layer," put your cursor on the left of the double slider, hold down ALT and pull just that left half slider to the left some distance. That will blend away some of the extreme glow. You can go to the dark sliders and pull the inside half slider to the right to do the same with oppressive "black" sharpening edges, but these are usually not so much a problem, usually.
If all else fails, you can grab a 2 or 3 pixel wide brush, magnify the image until you see the individual pixels as squares and then clone the glow away from nearby. This can be very effective, but it can be very tedious, and should be attempted only if all else fails...
@frankhymus I couldn't agree with you more. There is a definite difference between an image that has been sharpened and an image that is truly sharp. And this one was not tack sharp. That's a huge issue for me. I did pull out my tripod for this photoshoot and used it as a monopod. It helped, but obviously not enough. To be fair, I've not had that big lens on for over a month, and I could definitely feel my unsteadiness. I was hoping to get some more shoots in this weekend, but kinda looks like that parade will likely be rained on.
Something to remember about "sharpening." You probably know it already but sharpening in an editor is not at all like the "sharpness" of a good lens. The editor will increase the contrast across significant edges. That's it. Often a small pixel edge of white is added to dark edge transitions, and black added to bright edge transitions. it looks "sharper" but what it really is, is that the edge transitions have been emphasized. Thus the term "apparent" sharpness, as distinct from "true" sharp edges from good glass. Painters have known about this for centuries. Lots more could be said, but I'll stop there. perhaps more later if you are interested.
If all else fails, you can grab a 2 or 3 pixel wide brush, magnify the image until you see the individual pixels as squares and then clone the glow away from nearby. This can be very effective, but it can be very tedious, and should be attempted only if all else fails...
I'll jump back in to PS and try your suggestion.