Difficulty in getting really fine detail in the feathers (1 Viewer)

tdodd said:

I just found this tutorial about the issues caused by downsizing, especially when it comes to losing detail and creating false details....

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-resize-for-web.htm

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Thanks for posting Tim, an interesting read.
I have always used Bicubic sharper for reductions as per the CS4 recommendation but if I am reading this correctly it looks like the standard Bicubic method could well be best for fine detail like birds feathers as it is more likely to cause Moiré artifacts when reducing. It could also be that for images with very fine detail some pre-blurring could be advantageous prior to the reduction (followed by some sharpening after after which I usually do anyway).
What do you think, I am reading this correctly?

I can only take the article at face value, and I know no better than you, I'm afraid. It is worth noting that in the recommendations....

All of this analysis is directed at explaining what happens when things go wrong. If resizing is artifact-free, you may not need to change a thing

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....so I wouldn't worry unduly unless you do see artefacts that cause you problems.

Since my processing is performed in Lightroom I don't have the luxury of choice when it comes to sharpening after downsizing. I do think it might expain why I have been underwhelmed at the results of downsizing some of the best (sharpest) images I have taken recently, but unless I find a whole new workflow I'm out of luck. Fortunately most of my images are pre-softened or pre-blurred straight out of camera, so I'm ahead of the game there

I have noticed on occasion that Lightroom does turn out conversions that do look oversharpened, which I'm sure is not my fault, so I have now adjusted my workflow to leave sharpening strength at defaults within Lightroom, and to apply a mask so that sharpening is applied more to edges than small details. In my output sharpening options I have lowered the sharpening from "standard" to "low". This seems to work quite well enough on images that were sharp to start with. I don't really like adding extra sharpening in order to patch up an imperfect file. Of course, sometimes that is a necessary evil.

I hear that demosaicing, sharpening and noise reduction are all improved in the forthcoming Lightroom 3, so maybe my salvation lies there. I really do not want to have to resort to Photoshop simply to resize and sharpen my files. Yuck!

Just tried a quick test using an image with plenty of fine feather detail. Tried three different reduction methods in CS4.
1. Bicube sharper
2. Bicube
3, Bicube (with a small amount of blur prior to reduction)

All three were then sharpened a little more after reduction (all by the same amount)

To my eyes method three came out best which is in line with the article in Tim's link.

I shall do more test's.

Ryan,

It’s worth before starting any adjustment to have a good look at the image and assess what’s wrong but more importantly what’s right.

I don’t see a sharpening issue here.

The image of the Reed Bunting has a blue cast, which is basically ‘flattening’ your image into a flat tonal range. Visually the Bunting is blending into the background.

Global sharpening will not improve that; it will sharpen the bird as well as the background.

The degree of adjustment is entirely your decision; personally I think that you should try with this image.

By isolating the bird from the background, loosing the cast in both cases, the Bunting can then have a light sharpen, (maybe an edge sharpen); you might even wish to blur the background.

It may be a lot of work, but you’ll get a feel of what’s possible when adjusting.

The result will look sharper, as the bird will be visually clear tonally of the background.

Your bunting does have a blue cast i would check to see what your white balance was set to and see if altering it takes the colour cast away.You could try K5500 to start with it may give it a warmer apperance although it wont help anything else ,so if your happy with the colour just leave it Cheers Phill.