Bright Yellow and Contrasting Green Not There

[Ynez]

If I could get one more look would really appreciate it.
Here is edit #3. On edit #2 (above) my measure for increasing blacks and whites was my un-calibrated eye. This time I looked at the histogram as I adjusted taking the whites far right and blacks far left of course I also looked at the results on the image :-) I also did some reading on sharpening (in LR) and tweaked things there. I know it's not a stellar image but thought it was a god one to try and get the colors bright. I'm moving on to other after this. Much thanks - Ynez

[MrB]

Good work Ynez, but the assessment of the success of the exercise is - does the image now appear as you wanted it to look? (On a different minor point, I prefer the wider view of the original.)

Cheers.
Philip

[Manfred M]

+1 to Philip's comments.

The question you need to answer is exactly what he suggests. Is this the way you want your image to look, and if not, what would you want to change?

[Ynez]

Philip and Manfred – Love your feedback and thank you for the reminder – May I never forget it <3

It looks a lot brighter on my computer – the brightness is good – I like it (the brightness) on my computer and very much want to keep it looking real and bright.

I cropped it down a bit to focus on what was the sharpest (which leads me to another lesson), but I do prefer the wider/bigger view. What I don’t like is the lack of crispness/focus. I don’t expect to change that here in post-process. I did use a tripod and my memory says wind was not my excuse. I’ve looked at/studied many an awesome image (from others) and aside from the light and composition it is the focus that always leaves me asking – How do I get my images sharper?

So the answer for this image is no it is not the way I want it to look. It was a grand view of a big yellow mountain with a tiny green roof poking out among all that gloriousness. I had to find a place to turn around and find a place to capture it. I would keep the original size for the big feeling of the scene, keep the bright yellows (I see on my computer) but alas the focus/crispness is not there.

Cheers
Ynez

[Manfred M]

When I look at the metadata attached to the image I see nothing that would indicate that you are doing anything that would impact the sharpness of the image:

You were shooting at base ISO (100) using an aperture that would tend to be in the "sweet spot" of the lens (f/9) and a fairly fast shutter speed (1/400th) with a decent camera and lens. You should have gotten a very crisp image, even had you hand-held, you should have gotten a good crisp shot.

If you are shooting raw, then you do need to add a sharpening step when you import the image. I do all of my sharpening using Photoshop's Unsharp Mast. Sharpening must always be done with the image at 100% size. This step is often referred to as "input sharpening" and overcomes the inherent softness associated with digital capture. I will also sharpen specific parts of the image during post processing work (this is referred to as in-process sharpening) and I will do a final sharpening step when the image has been resized for output.

I just ran your image through Photoshop's Shake Reduction filter (in case you were mistaken about the tripod) and did a bit of import sharpening. I think it is oversharpened, but that is my view and not necessarily yours.

[Ynez]

Thanks Manfred I appreciate your time and information on my question. I'm headed to PS with these notes (and more) for some sharpening exploring. I'm sure I'll be back with more question. Cheers

[xpatUSA]

. . . What I don’t like is the lack of crispness/focus. I don’t expect to change that here in post-process.

If you are seriously seeking "crispness/focus" it can still be gotten in post even with slightly OOF shot. As has been suggested, Unsharp Mask in two steps can do it,as I've already mentioned here:

Bright Yellow and Contrasting Green Not There

Another candidate for really serious acutance is de-convolution sharpening. This is an option in RawTherapee (an adventure in itself) or in Abode Camera Raw when you set the 'detail' slider all the way to 90+ . . .

[MrB]

Ynez, you might also find it helpful and useful to experiment with the ideas suggested in the tutorial about Local Contrast Enhancement here on CiC:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...nhancement.htm

Cheers.
Philip

[xpatUSA]

Ynez, you might also find it helpful and useful to experiment with the ideas suggested in the tutorial about Local Contrast Enhancement here on CiC:

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...nhancement.htm

Cheers.
Philip

Indeed, Philip. Earlier I tried:

I applied two-stage sharpening for local contrast, 2.7px and amount = 7, followed by 0.3px and amount = 23.

Numbers are for FastStone Viewer's USM.

Here's a comparison before/after:



Quite a difference, eh?

[chauncey]

Photoshop...that is software that has a learning curve measured in years. But gawd is it great!
There is no image that it hasn't been used it in my workflow.

As an FYI thingy, here is a thread that shows what can be done only in LR...http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=315590

[MrB]

I agree, Ted - LCE can often make a truly positive difference to an image.

Cheers.
Philip

[Manfred M]

In my view, one of the nicest new features in Photoshop CC 2015 is the "Shake Reduction" filter. It is in with all the Sharpen filters. It works extremely well and quite intuitive to use.