Wild
cactus - Arizona, CA - D30,
ISO 100
What
makes an image appear to be sharp? According to David Blatner,
writer of Real World Adobe Photoshop 6, "The human visual
system depends to a great degree on edges. Simply put, our eyes
pass information into our brain, where every detail is quickly
broken down into "edge" or "not edge." An
image may have great contrast and color balance, but without
good edge definition, we simply see it as less lifelike."
As a photographer, I strive to produce images that replicate
the moment that occurred during the time it was taken. My goal
is to make my pictures as lifelike as possible, and therefore
sharpness is always an essential element.
A
majority of photographers still use some sort of unsharp mask
filter to increase the appearance of sharpness in their digital
or scanned film images. Many of us know how Photoshop's unsharp
mask (USM) works and how to get the best results from it. Although
USM is a valuable tool in our digital darkroom, there are alternative
tools available to us that not only provide better results,
but are easier to use.
You
may already know how to use USM settings for portrait, landscape
or high ISO pictures. But, have you ever wondered if there were
a few steps you could follow or even a Photoshop action you
could apply in order to sharpen your subject and keep irrelevant
parts of the composition unsharpened? Well, there is. The answer
is called EdgeSharpen.
EdgeSharpen
is a technique that I use as a part of my daily workflow. It
sharpens your images without sharpening noise and/or artifacts.
This action is very effective with high ISO shots, or with cameras
that produce noticeably noisy images. There is even a version
that works in 16-bit mode, for those who have high end digital
SLR cameras.
Here is how it works.
Instead
of globally sharpening your image, this technique sharpens the
edges of the main subject without increasing image noise and
therefore avoids getting that terrible "digital look".
Some people who have used this technique report that their images
look more natural as if the sharpness is a consequence of the
use of a high quality lens.
I
offer a Photoshop action called FM
EdgeSharpen Pro 3.0 on
the software page. This action works with 16-bit files and
it's compatible with all version of Photoshop (Except Photoshop
Elements)
This
action will convert your 16-bit file to 8-bit if necessary
and
provides a more natural result because of the anti-halo steps.
Photographers
put tremendous effort into getting sharper pictures. We are
always in search of that perfect piece of glass that will
produce
keener images with high contrast and resolution. Hand in hand,
only the right photographer, the right lens, and the right
settings can produce a work of
art.
And, just in case your photo is a little ruff around the edges,
now there's the EdgeSharpen to help you get closer to your goal.
