Sierra Nevada from Torcal de Antequera

[MGH]

Hi...Another re-edit with PS CS5 and Silver Efex Pro. This is from the top of Torcal de Antequera in Malaga Spain, looking towords Granada with the 3400m snow coverd peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the distance.

C&C very much welcomed


Sierra Nevada from Torcal de Antequera by marcodemalaga, on Flickr

[kdoc856]

Mark,

Very nice image. Wondered whether you might have a version with slightly less sharpening, and some cropping of the left side- the left upper quadrant doesnt have near the impact for me that the rock formations have, and a crop about midway through te left foreground rock will accentuate the diagonal line of view through the foreground stone formations. have really enjoyed your series from Torca

Cheers,

Kevin

[MGH]

Kevin, thanks for your comment. I would very much like to know if anyone else thinks it´s over sharpened when viewed at original size, this small view you see here looks bad I know.

Thanks

[MiniChris]

I don't think so much over-sharpened as over-grained in SEP. I noticed a similar trait in one of Donald's recent prints whereas the foreground seemed overly grainier than the mid and backgrounds. Not sure if it is a specific filter within SEP or a result of some masking, but even blown up, the rocks have a decidely different grain texture than the background.

[Sahil]

Pretty nice shot, Mark. Lovely landscape. I don't find it over-sharpened at all. And the grains I think is the grittiness of the rocks. or I have a bad monitor

[Geoff F]

I see what Kevin mentioned here. Particularly on the left side background area.

Probably just a case of strange things happening during the resize and uploading procedure. I have noticed this sort of thing before, but when a cropped view of the area in question was shown it was perfect.

Just a thought, did you use Bicubic Sharpener when resizing? I have found similar problems with that method, so I now just use the basic Bicubic resize option then apply a little Unsharp Mask with settings which apply to each individual photo.

But we are digressing from what is an excellent shot.

[MGH]

Geoff...Thanks. No I don´t use Bicubic Sharpener like you I use basic Bicubic for resizing, I then sharpen with Smart Sharpen at 0.3px and between 50 and 100 strength.
As for capture sharpening I´ve started been more aggressive, I now use a noise reduction plugin so I have all this set to zero in ACR and do capture sharpening in PS CS5. Again I use Smart Sharpen this time at 1.0px at 200 strength.
What do you think of these amounts for a 15 MP file ?

By the way this is it in color


Sierra Nevada from Torcal de Antequera by marcodemalaga, on Flickr

[epmi314]

The color shot is pretty darn good as well. The B&W is a winner though. I agree the texture of the rock and whatever foliage is in the mid-left/upper background on the hills makes it look a tick over sharpened but it is the texture and not the processing in my opinion.

Reall nice image(s)!

[Donald]

Mark

I'm not looking at this on my own monitor, so am not commenting on the images, but on the points that people are making about sharpening ...... is it about sharpening?

Are you using 'Fine Structure' in SEP2? I find that if you over-use that, it can create the sort of effect that people might associate with over-sharpening. It's a brillaint tool for pulling put texture in such things as rock, wood etc. In that sense it's akin to applying Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE). But I've found that, as when applyiong LCE), you need to manage it carefully, especially when used in conjunction with the 'Structure' tool.

Don't know if you've been through the SEP2 online video tutorials from NIK, but there is one that shows the use of 'Structure' and 'Fine Structure' together (cranking up 'Structure' and cranking down 'Fine Structure'). Clever.

[Geoff F]

If anything, Mark, I think that effect is more noticeable in colour with regard to the foreground.

I have found that Smart Sharpen can cause this sort of problem sometimes. Which is why I always use the Advanced option and adjust the Fade control to suit.

Often, probably most times, I find that careful use of Unsharp Mask actually gives me better results.

But Donald's suggestion may be the cause.

Either way, we are discussing a rather minor point in a very good photo. Although, to some extent, that means it is more worthwhile to get everything absolutely perfect.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Mark,

I'm not an SEP user, but to my eyes, both the mono and the colour versions do have some foreground 'grittiness', but no halos.

What I see are odd pixels, or a few in a row, that are 'unexpectedly' 100% bright; have a look at the almost vertical face of the rock just right of centre (or 1/3 in from right hand side).

Capture sharpening at 1px radius does indeed seem 'aggressive', I'd only 'sub pixel' sharpen at 200%; e.g. 200 to 300% at 0.3px. Please bear in mind I am a 'USM freak' and don't use smart sharpen

Since the colour shot is affected also, I am wondering if the capture sharpening is the problem, since I assume the colour one didn't get near SEP?

Nice view, impressive when viewed large,