Sharpness & Photography

Achieving Sharpness in Photography

Digital cameras often come with a setting to control the sharpness of the JPEG or TIFF image. This setting is actually an algorithm that the computer in the camera applies to the image. Be careful in setting the sharpness too high, as you will produce artificial looking edges in the photograph. Many, if not most, professional photographers do their sharpening in Photoshop, preferring to

keep the camera on a medium setting while shooting. In the raw file mode, sharpening will not be applied to the image.

Nothing is nicer than a well-focused, sharp image, and this is one of the first things a photographer checks when viewing a photo. As with brightness, the viewer’s eye seeks the area in a photo that is in sharp focus. Many factors impact sharpness, including unwanted movement, or shake, of the camera; improper focus; and depth of field. Often, a precise use of focus that intentionally causes an out-of- focus area is desired.

Sharpening Tips

A new aspect of the digital world is the ability to heighten the apparent sharpness of the image, either in the camera or during postprocessing in Photoshop. Some

manufacturers provide a default file from the camera that, upon initial viewing, may not appear as razor sharp. Many pros want to sharpen their images in postprocessing, in the computer, believing that the microprocessor in the camera will not do as good a job as the full-blown computer application. Remember these tips when sharpening your images:

■     Don’t do the sharpening in the camera; leave that to Unsharp Mask or Smart Sharpen in Photoshop or another sharpener application.

■     Never, never sharpen the original. Always work on duplicates, so you always have the original file to go back to.