after too much video editing, finally getting round to doing a handful of stills i took in the amazon recently.
here's a toad (i think) that is normally found camoufalged amongst dead leaf matter. he was peeping over this large leaf in the middle of a very narrow trail whilst we were out doing some nocturnal frog hunting.
ring flash 1/4 power. 105 mm 125th @ f8 1/4
mark
have cloned a leaf out BG RHS as i thought it looked too domineering.
Posted by Andy Astbury on November 2, 2007 at 7:34 PM
Cracking comp Mark
He just needs sharpening up a tad - try this:
Open jpeg in CS2/3
CtrlACV to add image again in new layer, make sure you work in this layer and then go filter>other>high pass.
Everythings now gone grey - select a radius of 0.4 to 0.8 and then click OK.
Go to your layers palette, click blend mode and select soft light.
Then get an eraser with a hardness of around 0% and erase the new layer all across the image except the toads face - the eraser hardness setting being so low will give a very diffuse edge and if you do it carefully enough you won't get any sharpening halo.
When you've got it just right then flatten the image and save - see if it looks sharper
Really like the muted dark greens in this image and the composition is spot on. Agree with Andy regarding selective sharpening as the leaf he is on looks very sharp (and would look oversharpened if you sharpened it more), but the tip of his nose seems slightly soft. Cracking image though.
John Lee
Posted by Tim Munsey on November 3, 2007 at 3:08 PM
Happy looking chap, love it.
Tim
Posted by Vincent Jones on November 3, 2007 at 3:53 PM
Looks like the experience you had in Amazon Mark was quite something
I like it the way it is, for me it looks a great image & brilliantly composed
thanks for the tip andy. i tried it in the original tiff and had to up the high pass to about 2.4 to get the similar effect of working at 0.8 in the jpg. i guess due to pixel concentration. nice technique though
mark
Posted by Andy Astbury on November 4, 2007 at 3:59 AM
Yeah Mark - I wouldn't recommend trying to sharpen big tiffs
Even if the tiff looks razor sharp, when you shrink it to a web-sized jpeg it will just go soft anyway.
I only ever add sharpening of any kind once I'm working in the desired image size and resolution, which for me at least is a 720 X 480 jpeg at 72 dpi - in other words a 10x8 print.
Keep taking the pics matey
PS - I was looking at Gates website and saw they do a housing for my XL2 - I was clinging to the idea that there wasn't a housing in existence so I wouldn't have to go UW - looks like plain cowardice is my only real excuse now
I'm sure they will do a housing early next year for the new EX1
Discussion
6 repliesafter too much video editing, finally getting round to doing a handful of stills i took in the amazon recently.
here's a toad (i think) that is normally found camoufalged amongst dead leaf matter. he was peeping over this large leaf in the middle of a very narrow trail whilst we were out doing some nocturnal frog hunting.
ring flash 1/4 power. 105 mm 125th @ f8 1/4
mark
have cloned a leaf out BG RHS as i thought it looked too domineering.
He just needs sharpening up a tad - try this:
Open jpeg in CS2/3
CtrlACV to add image again in new layer, make sure you work in this layer and then go filter>other>high pass.
Everythings now gone grey - select a radius of 0.4 to 0.8 and then click OK.
Go to your layers palette, click blend mode and select soft light.
Then get an eraser with a hardness of around 0% and erase the new layer all across the image except the toads face - the eraser hardness setting being so low will give a very diffuse edge and if you do it carefully enough you won't get any sharpening halo.
When you've got it just right then flatten the image and save - see if it looks sharper
Really like the muted dark greens in this image and the composition is spot on. Agree with Andy regarding selective sharpening as the leaf he is on looks very sharp (and would look oversharpened if you sharpened it more), but the tip of his nose seems slightly soft. Cracking image though.
John Lee
Tim
I like it the way it is, for me it looks a great image & brilliantly composed
Look forward to seeing more from your trip
Vince
thanks for the tip andy. i tried it in the original tiff and had to up the high pass to about 2.4 to get the similar effect of working at 0.8 in the jpg. i guess due to pixel concentration. nice technique though
mark
Even if the tiff looks razor sharp, when you shrink it to a web-sized jpeg it will just go soft anyway.
I only ever add sharpening of any kind once I'm working in the desired image size and resolution, which for me at least is a 720 X 480 jpeg at 72 dpi - in other words a 10x8 print.
Keep taking the pics matey
PS - I was looking at Gates website and saw they do a housing for my XL2 - I was clinging to the idea that there wasn't a housing in existence so I wouldn't have to go UW - looks like plain cowardice is my only real excuse now
I'm sure they will do a housing early next year for the new EX1