Improving Focusing and Sharpening in LR4

donkeymusic

donkeymusic

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Carlo
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Hello,

Looking for some advice to improve the output of my photos, which are portraits.

When shooting in the studio i am focusing on the eyes and using F8, so everything so DOF isn't an issue.

What i am finding is that photos are looking blurred when i output from LR4 as jpeg.

Basically, my workflow in LR4, consists of importing the RAW file and converting to DNG, with which i make my edits, working down the settings in the develop module. Within this i apply sharpening using amount:25, Radius:1.0, Detail: 25 and masking approx. 80.

These settings all look fine on the screen, so i have been exporting to jpeg, but the photo is looking blurred and no sharpening that has taken place on certain areas, like eyes appears to have been applied.

I have been reading about Capture, Creative and Output sharpening, im not sure how to apply any capture sharpening or to apply any during import. I guess i am doing the creative sharpening and not sure what is best for output.

Any advice would be great, thanks
 
If you can find a copy of real world image sharpening by Jeff schewe you will be well on your way :)
 
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Using Lightroom, I use the detail section to apply CAPTURE sharpening. For CREATIVE sharpening I use the adjustment brush and then I use the sharpening settings in either the print section or the export section for OUTPUT sharpening.

It's worth noting that the output sharpening algorithms are quite sophisticated and are based on the sharpening programs written/produced by Jeff Schewe and his colleagues at Pixelgenious and as such, adjust to the size and type of output being created.

Try this link...

http://www.pixelgenius.com/tips/schewe-sharpening.pdf and bear in mind Jeff is talking about Photoshop - the principles are sound though

Anthony.
 
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Also check on export where you have the "Sharpen for" make sure its screen (if thats what you want) and you have the choice of low to high to apply output sharpening.

For me at least a value of 25 on the capture sharpening is a little low - i normally base on 55. Masking 80 is going to only do the really sharp edges as well - try holding down ALT and dragging masking to see what areas are and aren't affected.
 
Silly question but how blured is blured, and what size are you looking at, a 100%? are you using any noise reduction as well?
I've never had any issues with the sharpening in LR, do you get the same effect if you export say a tiff and view it in the same viewer?
 
Anthony.Ralph said:
Using Lightroom, I use the detail section to apply CAPTURE sharpening. For CREATIVE sharpening I use the adjustment brush and then I use the sharpening settings in either the print section or the export section for OUTPUT sharpening.

It's worth noting that the output sharpening algorithms are quite sophisticated and are based on the sharpening programs written/produced by Jeff Schewe and his colleagues at Pixelgenious and as such, adjust to the size and type of output being created.

Try this link...

http://www.pixelgenius.com/tips/schewe-sharpening.pdf and bear in mind Jeff is talking about Photoshop - the principles are sound though

Anthony.
Click to expand...

Read that this weekend and had a play, although exporting to PS each photo will take additional time, a LR solution would be better
 
gnirtS said:
Also check on export where you have the "Sharpen for" make sure its screen (if thats what you want) and you have the choice of low to high to apply output sharpening.
Click to expand...

Tried these settings, yesterday, screen matt print and gloss print, all set to high to see the biggest change, however on screen couldnt see any difference between on the same image between the three settings
 
swanseamale47 said:
Silly question but how blured is blured, and what size are you looking at, a 100%? are you using any noise reduction as well?
I've never had any issues with the sharpening in LR, do you get the same effect if you export say a tiff and view it in the same viewer?
Click to expand...

At times i think its the imported image has slight blur, or even out of focus, which is strange as when i am shooting the subject and the preview appears to be focussed correctly.

I am converting to DNG when importing, wouldnt have thought this was an issue
 
donkeymusic said:
At times i think its the imported image has slight blur, or even out of focus, which is strange as when i am shooting the subject and the preview appears to be focussed correctly.
Click to expand...

Remember that viewing on the camera is actually viewing a JPG produced internally that has been sharpened by the camera itself.
The RAW hasn't been so its quite normal for a RAW to look softer and they do need sharpening.

It's also quite hard even zoomed in to 100% on a camera screen to see exact focus and softness - it often needs a bigger screen to detect that.
 
Just processing another batch of photos and the focuses looking soft again on several shots, not sure why this is happening or where I am going wrong. The only thing is that a lot of my photos are of children and I encourage them to move around so there is slight blur there, but when I get the child to sit and pose, I am finding the out of focus is occurring then as well
 
How much would the diopter being set wrong make a difference?
 
The viewfinder diopter wont affect the photo taken at all (as long as you're not using manual focus).
Are you noticing softness on the RAW or the JPGs ? (There is *supposed* to be some on the RAW - thats why you sharpen yourself).

What sort of depths of field are you using?
It's not impossible the focus missed or maybe the lens slightly front or back focusses.
 
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