Judging sharpness of photo

J
Posted By
jhjl1
May 25, 2004
Views
295
Replies
11
Status
Closed
When deciding if you have a good sharp photo at what viewing size do you use? I am making a judgment based on the converted RAW file prior to any sharpening being applied at all. I have gotten to where I delete anything that does not show good sharp focus when viewed at 100% pixel size even if it looks sharp and perfectly focused when viewed at a print size of 8×10 or 5×7. Am I being overly critical? Please share your criteria for deciding what you keep and what you toss. Thanks.

—
Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
http://www.myeyesviewstudio.com/
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GD
Grant_Dixon
May 25, 2004
James … James … James never, ever, throw image away.

Resolution limits, circles of confusion, and consequently depth of field are (and to an extent what is a normal lens) all based on viewing an 8" x 10" photograph at a distance of about 12" This distance is derived so that the print’s diagonal sustains an angle of 43º (normal non peripheral viewing angle). If your image is sharp under those conditions then it is sharp.

G.
JF
Jodi_Frye
May 25, 2004
Ya James, don’t be like me and hold the print 3 inches away from your nose looking for the slightest imperfection. My hub always gives me hell for doing that. Oh well.
J
jhjl1
May 25, 2004
They never make it to print. If they were not right at 100% pixel size they got tossed even though they looked fine when viewed at print size.

—
Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
http://www.myeyesviewstudio.com/
wrote in message
Ya James, don’t be like me and hold the print 3 inches away from your
nose looking for the slightest imperfection. My hub always gives me hell for doing that. Oh well.
LK
Leen_Koper
May 25, 2004
Same with me.
If it is not sharp at 100% pixel size I will look for another image. One of the reasons why I always shoot the same subject at least twice, sometimes even, when in doubt, about 10 times or more.

Leen
SS
Susan_S.
May 26, 2004
Because I use and take images for different purposes it depends… You have to look at 100% or 50% or 25% in Elements anyway or you can’t make an accurate assessment, in my experience (other sizes have issues related to the way the images are resized for display which means you can’t assess sharpening clearly). On my camera anyway, at 100 per cent, RAW with no sharpening applied looks a little soft, compared to straight out of the camera jpgs with in camera sharpening.
I burn pretty much all but the most dreadful images to CD before I start editing so that if I change my mind it’s not irrevocable (dreadful being defined as something that is blurry even in the thumbnails in the file browser). The survivors then get opened and edited in PE, and judged at 100 per cent and fifty per cent. If they are crisp at fifty per cent on screen then they are fine for the prime purpose of screen and web display and small prints. If I have an alternative shot that is crisp at 100 per cent then I junk both the iphoto version and the original file on the hard drive – I still have it on on CD if I want to go back and alter history. If I don’t have an alternative version then depending on how bad it is and what the subject is I may keep it or lose it. The fleeting expression on a childs face is much more likely to be kept even if out of focus than a blurry flower or bee!
Susan S.
J
jhjl1
May 26, 2004
Well I’m in good company then. I tend to take several shots of the good opportunities as well.

—
Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
http://www.myeyesviewstudio.com/
wrote in message
Same with me.
If it is not sharp at 100% pixel size I will look for another image.
One of the reasons why I always shoot the same subject at least twice, sometimes even, when in doubt, about 10 times or more.
Leen
J
jhjl1
May 26, 2004
Thanks for the info Susan.

—
Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
http://www.myeyesviewstudio.com/
wrote in message
Because I use and take images for different purposes it depends…
J
jhjl1
May 26, 2004
Thanks for the help. I will have to research theses two. As you can tell I have no formal training in photography.

—
Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
http://www.myeyesviewstudio.com/
wrote in message
James … James … James never, ever, throw image away.
Resolution limits, circles of confusion,> G.

JB
John_Burnett_(JNB)
May 26, 2004
Oh, heck. Enhance that softness and make it sepia. Works more often than you might think. 🙂

Yes, I always LOOK at the image at 100%. Even if it’s not as sharp as I would like but it looks OK at, say, 25% (on my screen, close to what a typical web-size would be) I might end up working on it. I just know that it isn’t ever going to be a big print.

Sometimes I’ll just quickly resize to between 640 and 800 pixels in the longest dimension and then do a quick USM routine. Just to test.

Of course there are some images where it doesn’t matter if it is tack sharp or not. There’s something more important in them.
LK
Leen_Koper
May 26, 2004
Sharpness is not the only reason for shooting more images than just only one. As a portrait photographer I want to capture the moment with just the right look and the twinkle in the eyes. One never can predict when this will happen.
When I ‘m doing landscape photography I usually take just only one shot, unless I am not quite sure about exposure.

Leen
J
jhjl1
May 26, 2004
Thanks for your input John.

—
Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
http://www.myeyesviewstudio.com/
"John_Burnett_ (JNB)" <@adobeforums.com> wrote in message
Oh, heck. Enhance that softness and make it sepia. Works more often
than you might think. 🙂

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