Year old black bear cub signalling for a little quiet!

[Steve Uffman]

From just completed Chas Glatzers Black Bear plus workshop.

Having problem coordinating sharpening through LR, CS6 and Nik as images have been way over sharpened. Purpose of this post is trying to figure out a good sharpening Strategy.

Feedback very much desired as I try to figure this out.

On this image, sharpening on import into LR4 was turned off. In LR4, cleaned a few things in the hair and toned down the green luminance of the grass.

Exported as Smart object to CS6, then called Nik define, Color efex 4 50% of default values for TC, white neutralizer. Then Detail Extractor selectively on eyes and to lighten dark areas. Saved image

Back in LR4 RC2, Selective sharpening on bear only using adjustment brush at 50%

No sharpening applied when exported for the web using LR4 export with BPN preset. (comparing results from Save for Web in CS6 as had been suggested to me previously)

5d mark III with 500mm f/4
1/200 f/8 ISO 800
Manual with exposure taken earlier off the grass similar to where bear chose to lie down and scratch.

as a Postscript, it was Great workshop with Chas freely offering his fountain of expertise. Great field of Photographers that are more than willing to help me climb the ladder... and shooting opportunities galore. Special shout out to Sid Garige who I met for the first time. Very talented and gracious in offering help. Cites the many that helped him become the fine photographer he has become so he is giving back.

[Rachel Hollander]

Steve - I can't really help with the sharpness, although the head looks pretty good here. I've been using the sharpening actions posted by Morkel in the stickies at the top of forum with some success. Unusual pose here and good low pov. If it were mine I would reduce the blues on the bear and still pull back on the sat of the greens in the bg even more. Looking forward to more from your workshop.

TFS,
Rachel

[Grady Weed]

As Rachel mentions, the greens are too green. I do notice the bear is somewhat off in tonal color too. That aside, I do like the scratch, the eye placement in frame and the expression captured. Anice different perspective offered overall. Please keep these images coming. I hope you have more to share from Chas workshop. Looks like the money was well spent.

[Ken Watkins]

Steve,

Firstly I agree that the colours are slightly off. The green looks a little rich but then it sometimes is, the bear seems to have slight magenta cast and insufficient black but I am no expert in Bear colours.

With regards to the sharpness, I think that the most likely culprit is shutter speed, there is always movement when animals scratch and the most notable lack of sharpness/detail is around the leg/head.

I find that Nik Detail extractor can usually remedy both colour ( via saturation) and add some sharpness, I would experiment just with this and a final round of sharpening using Smart Sharpen, which I have found to be the best other than Focal Blade.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Steve, Sharpening is a 'bug bear' for most people and personally one way may suit you, but not another, so I think it might be trial and error, although I would suggest you sharpen to a degree in whatever RAW converter you are using, before exporting to PS, but you DO need to sharpen for web and again, depending on how much you apply you may need to apply a couple of rounds before it looks right, use the preview screen/window, don't look at the image itself, and each will differ. But once you get something you like in the workflow it's then just a matter of slight adjustments.


On this image, sharpening on import into LR4 was turned off.
Not sure how you turn it off as it's set always to a default setting, can you expand on this as it would be good to know, but again it's the last thing you do, hence where it's located in the module.


I've been using the sharpening actions posted by Morkel in the stickies at the top of forum with some success.
Good point raised by Rachel, but again, I think you need to look at things and adjust, don't use it as is, personal POV.


No sharpening applied when exported for the web using LR4 export with BPN preset.
You need to apply some form of sharpening for web, definitely!!! What is the BPN preset?

Steve, I working off site so it's perhaps not as accurate as it might be, but it might give you a steer hopefully.
This only applies to the bear, NOT the grass as Chas has mentioned quite often how lush the colour is:
- I pulled back the Blue & a hint of magenta on the fur.
- Sharpened a couple of times, plus some selective on the nose
- Tried to pull out some more detail, but this may have added a bit more black

Like the image, the 5DMKIII should give you some outstanding images, especially in low light.

TFS
Steve

[Dumay de Boulle]

Steves repost looks spot on re sharpness...Nice moment you have captured here

[Harshad Barve]

Steve U ,
Lovely image indeed and RP is spot one
TFS

[Steve Uffman]

Thanks Steve for the repost...Certainly is better...The original image did not have the cast you and others spoke of...It came when I added the white neutralizer in Nik....I had that in my recipe for bird images that I had been processing...I have since adjusted and the color cast seem diminished ont he other images I have since processed.

I have been experimenting with several sharpening processes to find which one I like and since it appears personal taste comes in, I am trying to find the middle ground. I have experimented with importing in LR4 with sharpening set to 0 and the default. I have sharpened with Nik Sharpener Pro and also the LR4 adjustment brushes for selective sharpening (I don't do both)....I also have turned sharpening for screen on and off in the Lightroom export function..I have been comparing the images and asking others for their opinions of which images they like best .

My BPN preset on export simply has the dimensions, size limitations and folder name where the images go.

And yes Chas is right. The grass is as lush as I have ever seen....almost if the critters are adding Ammonium Nitrate Daily ;}

[Steve Kaluski]

I also have turned sharpening for screen on and off in the Lightroom export function..I have been comparing the images and asking others for their opinions of which images they like best .

I'm not convinced Steve your workflow in terms of sharpening is the right way to go, but if you are still experimenting... all I would say is keep things simple, don't get too bogged down with using huge amounts of software as you may find you go too far away from the original image.

cheers
Steve

[Steve Uffman]

;=} that is my point. I don't have a workflow for this and am trying to pick the right one....all I know is my images were being oversharpened and I want to pare it down to a simplified process so I don't get so far away from the image!

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Steve,
I am a bit late to this crit, but you have the makings of a wonderful image. I like the POV and the detail and Steve's repost shows what can be done. I had a problem with my work flow last year until a friendly person on another forum helped me with my images. My problem was the sharpening in the RAW image and the control thereof in ACR. I now don't sharpen in ACR at all and my high resolution master tiff has no sharpening applied until I decide on the specific output, whether it be for a BPN post or a print for a RPS meeting. I use USM for most of my sharpening following a round of noise reduction and on occasions will use NIK sharpening for specific areas of an image that may require a wee bit more of sharpening. As Charles has mentioned, the use of surface masks for noise reduction and edge masks for sharpening are worth further investigation and in some cases are of value using USM as the sharpening filter in CS5.
Thanks for sharing and should you want to ask more feel free, best wishes,
Mark.
:cheers:

[Steve Uffman]

Hi Steve,
I am a bit late to this crit, but you have the makings of a wonderful image. I like the POV and the detail and Steve's repost shows what can be done. I had a problem with my work flow last year until a friendly person on another forum helped me with my images. My problem was the sharpening in the RAW image and the control thereof in ACR. I now don't sharpen in ACR at all and my high resolution master tiff has no sharpening applied until I decide on the specific output, whether it be for a BPN post or a print for a RPS meeting. I use USM for most of my sharpening following a round of noise reduction and on occasions will use NIK sharpening for specific areas of an image that may require a wee bit more of sharpening. As Charles has mentioned, the use of surface masks for noise reduction and edge masks for sharpening are worth further investigation and in some cases are of value using USM as the sharpening filter in CS5.
Thanks for sharing and should you want to ask more feel free, best wishes,
Mark.
:cheers:

Thanks Mark...I think you understand my dilemma and why I am driven to get over this hump. I plan to put the spotlight on the things you and others have mentioned so I can get this issue behind me and focus on more fun things!..and I likely will take you up on asking more...I am not shy about that as I have found BPN to be a wonderful fountain of knowledge and help from the best in the business.