Sorry for the absence and thanks for the comments on the last image.
I have been having great fun with these guys who desend on me en-mass at a local wood. If only I could get more light as they are quick little buggers.
This photo was the result of an experiment at the end of the day shooting into the light, suppose this would not have worked if it had been much brighter
Comments welcome
Ian
100 - 400 at 365mm iso 2000 F5.6 1/250 Full frame.
Posted by David Sewell on November 12, 2012 at 10:34 AM
It's a great portrait, Ian, but I do feel that there is too much space at the top. A crop between a fifth and a quarter off the top would ad extra emphasis on the subject in my opinion.
David
Posted by keith mitchell on November 13, 2012 at 3:22 AM
Ian i do like the pose and the bg is great imo the Squirrel does look a little soft to me,but Ian that could be down to these old eyes of mine
Keith.
After exporting my photo to the correct size I then sharpen the image before posing it on the site, however the image looks like it has not been sharpened. How do I save the changes, do I need to export a duplicate after sharpening then post that one or am I somehow missing a save button in lightroom.
I have noticed before that my photos always look better in lightroom than on the web. Suppose the web only uploads the image not the little data file that goes with it.
What software are you using to sharpen the image before posting?
There is no 'save' in lightroom you have to export the image which will have all your edits applied...
I do the whole shebang in lightroom these days... when you have made all your changes (remembering that in v4 you can brush in a little selective sharpening and noise reduction) go to the export dialogue, select a locatio to export to file format i.e jpeg, colour space i.e. sRGB, select resize to fit and enter 720px in both boxes (for posting here), sharpening select for screen and choose either standard or low, then for metadata select copyright only (keeps file size down) then export.
If all works well save those setting as a preset....
You cannot resize in lightroom..... unless you are exporting a resized file and reimporting that, which is not the way to go... I can't remember (at work at the moment and away from my copies of Lightroom) but I don't seem to remember being able to brush in sharpening on 3....
Edit... just checked in a book I have on my desktop here.. you can brush in sharpness, my bad memory... but it is as I remember now more crude than that available in v4
Phil
Posted by Bob Johnson on November 13, 2012 at 8:34 AM
Ian. Go for LR4 if can. I do the basics in LR including some sharpening then export to CS6 for final tweaking, selective sharpening and resizing for NPN.
The squirrel is very soft on my screen and it also looks a little pale so it does not stand out to well against that nice BG
That sums up what I am doing ie resizing on export then selectivly sharpening the smaller image. Will sharpen before export from now on.
Bob
Might spend the money to go for LR4 but CS6 is a long way off (i need beter everything before this will be my next purchase - camera - lens etc). I think I will concentrate on getting good basic images then processing to their best in the years to come.
Out of interest any veiw on this or the other images here- http://www.creativewildlife.co.uk/pages/image-of-the-month/november-2012.php
You can apply selective sharpening to your main RAW file, nothing happens to the file as you know... the main reason I think, that your selective sharpening isn't showing up in your posted image is that you have export that smaller image for the edits to become effective, if you haven't been doing that then you are uploading an unsharpened file... get the image looking good in Lightrooms develop module then export it with screen sharpening at the right size for posting on the internet.
You don't actually need CS6, I have and use it here at work (but that is pro scientific imaging) for my own stuff at home I use solely Lightroom 4, if I find a need to do some pixel editing which is very rare, or for printing then I use Elements 10... CS6 is nice, but as photographers we only use about 20% of a bit of sofware that costs over £600, Lightroom is fully 16bit and will, as Mr A points out will handle 32 bit... If you need layers etc, perfect layers is now free and actually works also in 16bit...
HTH
Phil
Posted by Oscar Dewhurst on November 13, 2012 at 9:27 AM
Ian,
Lovely shot by the way, although I would definitely darken the blacks a bit.
Re sharpening, what I do (for NPN images) is USM, 100%, radius 0.2. I do that 5 times overall, and it works well for me.
Oscar
Posted by Andy Astbury on November 13, 2012 at 11:17 AM
If you want to stick with a totally LR4/3 workflow then setting up a couple of separate export presets for 720 and 1200 pixels longest side, jpeg 100% quality should work fine.
If you have already selectively sharpened the areas of high frequency detail in your image (which shouldn't be done with the adjustment brush!) then you still need to resharpen the images on export because you are shrinking them - set export sharpening to Screen, Normal and see how you go on; images going to iPads fare better with sharpening set to Screen, High.
Profile conversion should in theory be set to sRGB, but most often I export as ARGB1998 as sRGB tends to look too saturated sometimes.
A fully PV2012 workflow though can only be achieved with CS6 sadly as ACR 7.2 will not talk to CS5, and the version of ACR that ships with the latest Elements is not 100% sympatico with with full ACR7.2 (so I've been reliably informed ).
If you do not give yourself the ability to work with a full array of layers and blend modes and have easy recourse to alpha channels and pixel-based masking to control and sculpt luminosity and saturation then, at least with certain images, you are running a big risk of leaving finished image quality on the table.
Having said all that, you do have to work with the tools you can afford, and as I said, not every image needs to be treated the same way.
But a totally LR workflow does not make the best out of most images - don't take my word for it, go ask the guys at Lightroom.
Posted by Barry Southon on November 13, 2012 at 2:34 PM
Ian
An excellent image and topic the replies contain a host of information which is so useful. Such postings really bring the best of the forum to the fore in my humble opinion.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by Phil Ellard on November 13, 2012 at 2:50 PM
Love the comp and the dead space showing the nice BG, he is soft and as bob says needs to pop a bit. I would invest in some of Andy A DVD lessons or a day with him to help your processing if i was you if this is an area you wish to develop.
Posted by Paul Whippey on November 13, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Superb Ian. I agree that a slight crop as already covered would make this photo. Good luck with the workflow. I've abandoned LR completely for bridge and CS6. I find it so much simpler, but my bank account is a lot, lot lighter afterwards!
Discussion
16 repliesI have been having great fun with these guys who desend on me en-mass at a local wood. If only I could get more light as they are quick little buggers.
This photo was the result of an experiment at the end of the day shooting into the light, suppose this would not have worked if it had been much brighter
Comments welcome
Ian
100 - 400 at 365mm iso 2000
David
Keith.
After exporting my photo to the correct size I then sharpen the image before posing it on the site, however the image looks like it has not been sharpened. How do I save the changes, do I need to export a duplicate after sharpening then post that one or am I somehow missing a save button in lightroom.
I have noticed before that my photos always look better in lightroom than on the web. Suppose the web only uploads the image not the little data file that goes with it.
Help greatly appreciated
Ian
What software are you using to sharpen the image before posting?
There is no 'save' in lightroom you have to export the image which will have all your edits applied...
I do the whole shebang in lightroom these days... when you have made all your changes (remembering that in v4 you can brush in a little selective sharpening and noise reduction) go to the export dialogue, select a locatio to export to file format i.e jpeg, colour space i.e. sRGB, select resize to fit and enter 720px in both boxes (for posting here), sharpening select for screen and choose either standard or low, then for metadata select copyright only (keeps file size down) then export.
If all works well save those setting as a preset....
HTH
Phil
I do everything on LightRoom 3. I generally do my selective sharpening after resizing as I am sure I read this somewhere, do you think this matters?
Ian
Daft question, how are you doing selective sharpening after resizing in Lightroom?
I believe the export dialogue is the same in v3 so try the settings....
I highly recommend the upgrade to v4 the new process version 2012 is so much better than that in Lightroom 3.
Phil
Just use the adjustment brush with a little sharpening selected
Will have a look at LR4
Ian
You cannot resize in lightroom..... unless you are exporting a resized file and reimporting that, which is not the way to go... I can't remember (at work at the moment and away from my copies of Lightroom) but I don't seem to remember being able to brush in sharpening on 3....
Edit... just checked in a book I have on my desktop here.. you can brush in sharpness, my bad memory... but it is as I remember now more crude than that available in v4
Phil
The squirrel is very soft on my screen and it also looks a little pale so it does not stand out to well against that nice BG
Bob
That sums up what I am doing ie resizing on export then selectivly sharpening the smaller image. Will sharpen before export from now on.
Bob
Might spend the money to go for LR4 but CS6 is a long way off (i need beter everything before this will be my next purchase - camera - lens etc). I think I will concentrate on getting good basic images then processing to their best in the years to come.
Out of interest any veiw on this or the other images here- http://www.creativewildlife.co.uk/pages/image-of-the-month/november-2012.php
Thanks
Ian
You can apply selective sharpening to your main RAW file, nothing happens to the file as you know... the main reason I think, that your selective sharpening isn't showing up in your posted image is that you have export that smaller image for the edits to become effective, if you haven't been doing that then you are uploading an unsharpened file... get the image looking good in Lightrooms develop module then export it with screen sharpening at the right size for posting on the internet.
You don't actually need CS6, I have and use it here at work (but that is pro scientific imaging) for my own stuff at home I use solely Lightroom 4, if I find a need to do some pixel editing which is very rare, or for printing then I use Elements 10... CS6 is nice, but as photographers we only use about 20% of a bit of sofware that costs over £600, Lightroom is fully 16bit and will, as Mr A points out will handle 32 bit... If you need layers etc, perfect layers is now free and actually works also in 16bit...
HTH
Phil
Lovely shot by the way, although I would definitely darken the blacks a bit.
Re sharpening, what I do (for NPN images) is USM, 100%, radius 0.2. I do that 5 times overall, and it works well for me.
Oscar
If you have already selectively sharpened the areas of high frequency detail in your image (which shouldn't be done with the adjustment brush!) then you still need to resharpen the images on export because you are shrinking them - set export sharpening to Screen, Normal and see how you go on; images going to iPads fare better with sharpening set to Screen, High.
Profile conversion should in theory be set to sRGB, but most often I export as ARGB1998 as sRGB tends to look too saturated sometimes.
A fully PV2012 workflow though can only be achieved with CS6 sadly as ACR 7.2 will not talk to CS5, and the version of ACR that ships with the latest Elements is not 100% sympatico with with full ACR7.2 (so I've been reliably informed
If you do not give yourself the ability to work with a full array of layers and blend modes and have easy recourse to alpha channels and pixel-based masking to control and sculpt luminosity and saturation then, at least with certain images, you are running a big risk of leaving finished image quality on the table.
Having said all that, you do have to work with the tools you can afford, and as I said, not every image needs to be treated the same way.
But a totally LR workflow does not make the best out of most images - don't take my word for it, go ask the guys at Lightroom.
An excellent image and topic the replies contain a host of information which is so useful. Such postings really bring the best of the forum to the fore in my humble opinion.
Thanks for sharing.