TheEmrys Offline Upload & Sell: Off
|
Thanks to my slightly extensive convalescence, and the wonderful links given to me by members here, I came across a wonderfully thorough article about LR processing.
The article is here:
http://petetakespictures.com/blog/2015/5/4/fuji-x-adventures-in-north-america-finding-your-look
For me, I believe that sharpness and masking go hand-in-hand for my portraits and landscapes. Here is whatthe author had to say about both:
Now for sharpening. Pretty simple really. The Fuji lenses are already damn sharp, and if you slide detail up to full it fixes Adobe’s inclination to soften everything X-Trans sensor shaped. Detail maxed, only raise the actual sharpness amount by a little. I’m talking 30-35 with 40 at the maximum for slightly softer lenses such as the cheaper zooms and the 18mm. Please don’t go any higher than this. You really don’t need it. It’s an insult to a Fujinon lens. For radius, 0.8 is good for intricate landscapes. You’ll find 1.2 – 1.5 good for punchy portraits and architecture. Again, less is more and make sure you keep away from halo effects by going overboard with this. With the Bayer sensor I usually keep detail around 10-25, and with some primes from other companies, such as my old Nikon stuff, I sometimes cautiously push the sharpness up to 45.
Finally I’m a big fan of masking. I don’t believe everything should be sharp, only the important edges. I ramp mine up to quite high, even with landscapes. This can pick out rocks and paths nicely, leaving a pleasing rich tonal smoothness to the grass and foliage, whilst still leaving some sharpness. Pete Bridgewood recommends sticking around 10% most times, but for me – sick puppy that I am – I like to ramp it up to 50% for landscapes, and 80-90% for portraits. Holding down the control key as you do this is a great way of fine-tuning. Push the slider around until you see hollow boxes made out of brick work, and only the nose, mouth and eyes left in faces. Yum. You see, there's a plasticity to early film that I really enjoy. Gordon Parks had some beautiful Kodak moments in colour, and it almost looks as if the people and objects in his shots are thickly edged, with surface detail pretty low. I really dig this look. It goes against all the rules that say that every little hair and leaf should be super-sharp, but I want people's eyes drawn to the content, not to the texture. Hence the heavy masking and low detail, and with architectural and industrial landscapes I sometimes really push that radius up to as high as 1.5-2 to get a real punchy look....Show more →
|