Anna in the Magnolia

[Geoff Shapiro]

This is the same Anna's Hummingbird that I'd posted some pictures of several months ago. It's been consistently resident about my home and has afforded me many photo opportunities - tough ones to be sure as I'm still working on trying to get some decent in flight photos.

Now, with the magnolia trees starting to bloom out, and with this male Anna's enjoying a high perch in one of the magnolias, I'm able to get some comps with the hummer and the flowers, like this one.

20D, 300/4L IS + 1.4x, ISO 400, 1/200 @ f/7.1, fill flash


http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/ffoegs/_MG_080316_9081.jpg


I also would like to pose this question to others viewing this image. I use a CRT monitor when doing my image processing. I have noticed that when I sharpen so it looks good on my CRT that the images often look too crispy to others viewing my images on LCD screens. OTOH, if I sharpen for an LCD the images look too soft on a CRT. Have others experienced this? If so, how do you hit that "sweet spot" that allows the image to look good on both display mediums?

[Doug Brown]

I have an LCD and it looks quite oversharpened on my monitor. Do you find that it looks different depending on the type of monitor that you view it on? I wasn't aware that LCD vs. CRT mattered all the much with comparable resolutions and calibrated monitors. What program do you use, and could you please describe your sharpening technique? Also, post a straight RAW to JPG conversion and let some forum members play around with the image.

[Geoff Shapiro]

I do know that when I view my own images on the LCD displays at my work they can tend to look oversharpened compared to how they look on my CRT at home. On another forum a person viewing my image on their LCD said it looked fine but another said it had an oversharpened appearance on their LCD. Apparently some LCDs can be configured for amount of sharpness and other factors may also contribute. The whole issue is starting to drive me slightly nuts.

I will try and post a conversion without any sharpening.a little later when I have the extra time to work on it.

I use PSCS2/ACR and do all sharpening in PS. I convert from raw, process in PS and save to TIFF. My web versions are then downsized and converted from the TIFF. I don't use Publish to Web, choosing to instead export to a jpg instead when I save.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Nice head angle and setting. The angle is a bit steep and I agree that it is oversharpened and there is a sharpening halo.

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Geoff -
monitors do affect perceived sharpness when working in PS. it has to do with native resolution of the monitor (pixels per inch (ppi)) : take a ruler and measure you screen's width and divide by the actual number of pixels you've got it set up for
most LCD's will work at 72-96 ppi , newer HR LCD's and laptops can work at 105-120ppi and CRT's can be set up as high as 120-130 ppi

an image sharpened on an LCD working at 72-96ppi will look soft on a CRT with a higher resolution as you've noted

you could try and proportionately adjust USM or Smart Sharpen amounts when working in PS - but easiest solution would be to lower the resolution on your CRT to match that of your LCD

hope this helps
Peter
PS - enjoyed the picture

[Geoff Shapiro]

Peter - thank you for the LCD versus CRT explanation. That does help! I will try and use that advice for any future postings for sure.

And thanks for the comment about the photograph!!