 - Kelly Abernathy  Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Help When I'm submitting shots to the contest, they don't look as crisp or sharp when I pull them up from the contes gallery as they do in my files - even when I'm looking at the downsized 750x500 version in my files. I just resize the image and save it under a different name than the original. Am I doing something wrong?
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
Hi K, I'm not sure, but I think you mentioned in a previous Q&A that you are using a Nikon D100. I went through the same thing for a long time and was very frustrated. Here are some things to try that helped me - Without resampling the 750x500 versions of the image, try saving it at 72dpi (it's likely set by default at 300dpi). Also, if you are noticing a problem with colour, it may have to do with the embedded colour file settings. Check out the following for more details on that: http://www.betterphoto.com/forms/discussionDetail.php?threadID=99299
Eric.
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Thanks Eric - I'll give it a shot and see what happens. I appreciate all your help. By the way - I love your website. -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Eric - I resubmitted the redtail pic to the contest. I know it won't count for the contest, but I want to learn, so I had to see how it looked. What do you think of the comparison?(they're in animals) I do use a D100, but in just briefly looking into it, I wasn't sure how to do what you suggested, but I did find that I was saving it at a lower quality compression setting. :( Some days I think if there's a silly mistake I can make, I'll be there. Oh well, I definitely learn from them.:) I'm going to try to look into it more and figure out how to see about the dpi. (I've got such a learning curve!) Thanks again for the help. -K
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Wing Wong |
Hi KS, When you resize your images to a smaller size, you may want to keep in mind that you should wait on sharpening the image until after you have resized, then sharpen to a level suitable for that image size. That will result in a sharper image for any given size. (tip taken from luminous-landscape.com)
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
The newest upload is definitely the sharper of the two. What software are you using? My D100 came with Photoshop Elements 2.0, and it's easy enough to change the dpi through there. I may be wrong, but it also looks like you are shooting with the camera's factory default settings. Nothing wrong with that, but you might find it to your liking to try out different sharpening Modes, Colour Modes, Exposure compensation settings, etc. I found that the factory settings had most of these turned off, or on Auto, making the images soft and flat. Another option is to leave that stuff off, and adjust those attributes after the fact in Photoshop. A screenshot gives me a pretty poor quality image to work with, but it'll be fine as an example of the difference customizing can make (whether it's done via camera settings, or by Photo editing software). The above screenshot is from the most recent posting of your photo "Take Off!" (on the left), and on the right is the same screenshot with levels and sharpening adjusted in Photoshop. Again, a screenshot doesn’t give me a lot to work with, but hopefully you get the idea. Regards, Eric.
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Thanks for the tip Wing. I haven't sharpened the pics yet. I just got PS CS and am going to go through the book - I got the PS Classroom in a Book as well. I've heard people on this site talk about the unmask sharp feature, but I haven't had time to get into it yet. If only I didn't have to work! :) The mistake I was making was that as I resized them to the 750x500 and resaved under a different name, I had choices on compression. Originally the shot was saved under Low - which I though was a low amount of compression. It was actually low quality. I thought High was a high amount of compression. It is actually high quality, which is what I wanted. That is why when I pulled up my pic - the resized one - from my hard drive on my computer, it looked much clearer than when I pulled it up from the contest entries. I hope to get time this weekend to dive into CS and start learning. I should have waited to submit the pics to the contest until after I learned enough to do some minor clean up on them, but I just didn't have the patience. It's fun and helpful to get feedback on them now. I appreciate all the help you give. I've learned alot from your and Eric's responses (as well as everyone elses) to the Q&A column. Thanks. -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Eric - I went ahead and got PS CS, but I haven't used it yet. Image Expert is what came on my computer and that is what I've been using to download my pics. It's very limited and that's why I'm looking forward to seeing what options PS will open up. I haven't adjusted the factory settings on the D100 yet. I'm finishing reading the back half of the manual now. When I got into some of the advanced settings, I found I needed to go out and get a basic book on photography and read that first so that I can understand the rest of the manual and what settings I want to choose for what shots. I also had to get out in the field even though I hadn't finished the manual and setting the camera up because the eagles were wintering here and only going to be here another day or two. (In fact, I only had an afternoon and a morning to shoot them before they were gone) (I've learned so much that I wish I knew then that next year I'll be ready for them!) Anyway, once I finish the manual and setting up the camera and experimenting with what I've learned, then I'll be ready to dive into PSCS. How about you? How long have you had the D100 and how do you like it? How about lenses, filters and software? Did you just dive into PS and start experimenting? Also, what's a screenshot? There is a huge difference between the two above, but you made it sound very simple. Thanks again. I really appreciate your time and your sharing. -K
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
Hi K, I've been using versions of Photoshop since the mid 1990's when my sister in-law had her own Desktop Publishing Business. I learnt by trial and error, and even today I still backup my original photos before bringing them into the photoshop, so I've got nothing to lose by playing around. I recommend you do the same, dive right in, and if you find you don't like the results, you can always go back to the original. What I did do to the above image was as simple as I made it sound. It took me less then 2 minutes. I used the most basic features of Photoshop. I adjusted brightness & Contrast using the Auto Levels which is achived simply by pressing Ctrl + Shift + L at the same time. If you don't like the result, press Ctrl+z to undo. You can also try the AutoColor adjustment by pressing Ctrl+ Shift +B. If you don't like the result, press Ctrl+z to undo. I then adjusted the sharpness by using the “UnsharpMask” by selecting the Filter>Sharpen> UnsharpMask., then I picked the settings I wanted. After that, I saved and was done! I’ve had the D100 since May 2003 and it’s been every bit a valuable tool I’ve required of it, and I can honestly I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth out of it. This is not to say I wouldn’t like the competitor products just as much, but I had already a big investment in Nikon Lenses and equipment so it was the right choice for me. I’m not a person that pushes one brand over another, they all have strengths and weaknesses, and it’s all about which system is right for you. In general terms I believe you get what you pay for regardless of the logo stuck on it. Cameras and accessories are tools, and should not get any more credit for the images made with them, than the credit a saw or hammer should get for making a cabinet. A Screenshot is basically a way to capture whatever is displayed on your monitor as image on to the clipboard, which can be pasted into a image editing software (like Photoshop) and saved as a file. This can be used to bypass website copy protection, so I won’t explain how just in case someone with ill intent were to read this. But if you want to know more on this, you can send me an e-mail. As far as lenses and equipment is concerned I’ll include a complete list below so that you can (and anyone else) can ask questions or my opinion on it. Some of it we’ve been happy with, other pieces not so. If you are considering similar purchases for your uses, I’d be happy to share my impression of it. For most of it I can also provide links to images on my website that were used with each item. It’s important to note that more than just I use this stuff, it’s in fact is a paste from my Studio inventory file, and is typically more “stuff” than most hobbyists would need. List to Follow.....
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
Camera Bodies: Nikon FE2 *Looking to add Nikon D70 Camera Lenses: Sigma 2.8 EX 15mm 180 Degree Diagonal Fisheye *Looking to add Nikon 85mm/1.8 AF D Accessories: Manfrotto Ball head tripod (2 of these) Digital Image Processing: Desktop (Main Studio Machine) Power User Laptop (Alternate Studio Machine, Mobile Studio) Ultra Light Laptop (Remote location/Wilderness Studio Machine) - 1.6 Pentium M Centrino Canon 9900F Flatbed/Film Scanner
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Wow Eric - Thanks for all the information. I'm learning alot. I'm going to work on an eagle shot I have tomorrow morning and see what I can do with it (before I enter it this time). I'd love to get your opinion on the before and after. I entered one eagle pic the day before the redtail, but without editing it. The day was dark and stormy, so it can definitely be improved in PS. My attempt for a weekend project is to join a 7 shot series of a bald eagle fishing - he caught the fish and I caught the strike - into one panoramic pic. It may turn into more than one weekend, but I think it'll be worth it. I'm excited to see what it can come out like. Your equipment list is impressive. I've got the camera and two lenses. My next purchases will be a tripod and wide angle lens, so I'll definitely email you. I agree about the equipment - everyone has their preference, all good. But this works for me now. I'll be in touch. And thanks again. I'm learning alot from you. -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
Hi K, Thanks so much, I was very excited to see that I had made the finals! This excellent capture! I do see a massive improvement in the before and after of this photo. Well done! Actually, I do most of my adjustments manually too, but I always do the Auto Adjustments first, to see what the computer "thinks" it should be. I then "undo" it, and make the manual adjustments to see if I can do better. The computer is generally very good, but sometimes it misses wildly! When I find I can't get the results as good, I'll then go back to the auto adjustments. The only issue with doing manual adjustments is you need to make sure your monitor is properly calibrated, otherwise what you see will not be what everyone else sees when they look at your photo (assuming they have a properly calibrated monitor too). While very slight, I'm detecting that the corrected version of this eagle photo may be tad washed. Again, this is only slight. There are a lot of sites that help you through this process of calibration found easily via a Google search. One such site is below: http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/ If you are using a Windows PC and installed Photoshop with the default location, you can access the cablibration feature of Photoshop by double clicking the following file You can also find it by doing a searh for files and folders, for - Adobe Gamma.cpl Taking good photos is the first challenge. Getting them to look right on the web is another BIG challenge in itself...if fact, it was a nightmare for me! I hope this helps, and I look forward to seeing more of your photos in the future. You are learning very fast, and I suspect that it won't be long before I'm congratulating you on making it to the finals!
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Hi Eric - I'm excited for you. Your shots are beautiful. And thanks for the compliments. I'm so addicted to this that I'm studying very hard to become better. I'm anxious to get out this weekend and shoot some more and see what they come out like. I'm going to adjust the settings in my camera this evening - they are still on the factory defaults - so that should help. (Thanks for that tip) Okay, here's the next question. First of all, thanks for the reference to epaperpress.com. It was helpful. Between that, and my PS manual, I got my monitor calibrated through Adobe gamma. Here's the question. The eagle example above now looks less washed out than it did. When I originally posted it above, I thought it looked a little washed out, but now that my monitor's calibrated, it looks less so. I'm going to give it another try, but when I was working with it originally, it seemed that when I tried to balance the "washout" that the eagle's color became very dark and the white became distracting and lost its' detail. What am I doing wrong? Thanks -K
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Bob Cammarata |
Hi K, As Eric mentioned, manual adjustments are usually better than the "quick-fix" that the computer software provides.(I usually check this first also, and usually cancel it.) If you tweak the brightness, contrast, sharpness, saturation, etc., manually you will, more often than not, improve upon the computer's version of image correction with less loss of detail. Great shot, by the way....That eagle with talons outstretched is one heck of a capture!
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Thanks Bob - I appreciate it. And congrats to you on the finals as well. If I can adjust it a little more, I think I'll enter this one as well. The day I took this was so much fun. The eagles were wintering in this area and I just happened to drive by a river where several were fishing. I spent the rest of the day there and came away with several hundred shots. The fish in the foreground was hit by another eagle that couldn't come away with it and floated there instead of sinking, so it made a neat shot to catch the next eagle coming to clean it up. I entered another eagle fishing shot on Tuesday, but didn't edit it beforehand since I hadn't gotten into PS yet. I think I may give it a try and enter it again. I'm having a lot of fun learning what the camera and PS can do. And I'm also learning alot from this column and looking at the great shots and websites. Yours is beautiful. Thanks again. Hopefully I'll be able to post tonight. -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
The best yet. You're really getting there!! Suggested areas of improvement? - The grain is very strong. Was this a high ISO setting or was a really big section cropped? If not, may be a result of too much UnsharpMask, which is the best situation, because it’s the easiest to correct. It's a fine balance. Second, there looks like a loss of detail in the white areas. Hopefully it's not the exposure, which means you should be able to fix it by not setting contrast as high. This image is dramatic and has massive potential. See if you can work on those two areas and it will really turn some heads (do it when you're not cross-eyed anymore) :-)
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Bob Cammarata |
I can see why this was your favorite! This is great! Clear, and well focused. The grain might be due to a large file.
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Okay - Here we go again. After this I'm going to go research in the PSCS book if I can add any shadows in the white, to see if I can save that if possible. I may have cropped it to tight - I loosened that up. And I lightened up on the unsharp mask - also played around with levels, contrast and saturation some more. Whatcha think? And I'll be back after I see about what I can do about adding some detail int the white areas - hopefully without messing it up. That's what copies are for right? -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
This looks better to me. What do you think? I'm still not happy with the detail in the white areas, but I'm just going to have to do some more reading and get to it tomorrow. Any tips you guys have on correcting white areas like these would be appreciated. I'll work on it more tomorrow and be back in touch tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the help - I love this pic and want to get the white looking right if possible. Talk to you tomorrow. -K
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
Hmmm.... this is a tough one. I'm really like the crop on the first one. It really focuses dramatically on the catch. Also, I'm looking at each of these, and am thinking there may not be anymore detail to be had in the white areas. Which is fine, may be just a result of how the light was hitting the eagle or something. Here's my suggestion: Start with the original photo (One more time, sorry!). Adjust the Brightness/Contrast, & Saturation to your desired levels, but I recommend that you keep the contrast just slightly lower than the first one. Oh, and don't do any use any UnsharpMask yet. Resize the photo as close to 750 X 500 to get it ready for upload. Then convert it to 72dpi. Now use UnsharpMask, setting the Amount to 25%, the Radius at 0.5, and Threshold at 0. Repeat the UnsharpMask again with the same settings as above. Now use UnsharpMask one more time with setting the Amount to 25%, the Radius at 0.3, and Threshold at 0. You can probably repeat this setting one more time too, if the image still looks a bit soft. Doing much more than this will start to have a real negative effect, however. UnsharpMask tends to work best in multiple small steps. Good Luck!!
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- Eric Highfield Contact Eric Highfield Eric Highfield's Gallery |
Just a side note: UnsharpMask settings have a different effect on images of different sizes. The above settigns would have a negative effect on an image of 3000 x 2000. Personally, I never apply PhotoShop enhancements "generically" to an image for all purposes. I wait until I have a specific need of that image, and adjust how I apply settings accordingly. If I'm going to upload an image for web veiwing I use very different settings then if I'm about to print the image. Of the images on my website that have also been printed,I have 3 copies of each; The original, the "Press Master" which is optimized for printing, and the Online copy which is optimized for web viewing. (I know, I'm probabbly just being overly picky and wasting a lot of money on storage!)
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
I agree - I like the first crop as well. I'm going to give it another shot now that I've gotten away from it for a night. I didn't know that unsharp mask tends to work better in multiple small steps - I've been doing it all at once, so thanks for the tip. Okay, here goes another try, I'll post soon. Thanks -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
First one looks blurry to me - I'll work on it after the meeting. Second one is a little smaller size, but sharper. Your opinions? -K
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
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- Kelly Abernathy Contact Kelly Abernathy Kelly Abernathy's Gallery |
Okay - I think I'm closest with this last one. I'm not going to have access to my photos or PS for 2-3 business days. The fan failed in my computer, so it won't stay on and I don't want to take the chance of it getting overheated and doing any damage to that hard drive. I will be checking in through my laptop to the contest and Q&A, so any advice and critiques are more than welcome. Hopefully the fan will make it here Friday and I can wrap this one up over the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed! Talk to you soon. -K
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