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Just that one step up ... improving the quality of my shots

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  • Just that one step up ... improving the quality of my shots

    I recently got a good batch of photos through - a "clear round", which is very unusual for me. They were nice shots (says he, modestly), but for some time I've been a little concerned that I'm not getting the "pin sharpness" that I would like to get, hence the thread title.

    Here's a photo I took of G-ZBKE, one of the BA 789s; I like it, nice enough shot, but when you look closely, not quite as pin sharp as it perhaps should be:

    LN 374. G-ZBKE. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. JetPhotos.com is the biggest database of aviation photographs with over 5 million screened photos online!



    Here's a better shot of the same aircraft (I think) ... look at the reg on this one, compared to mine, and you can see that it is pin sharp:

    G-ZBKE. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. JetPhotos.com is the biggest database of aviation photographs with over 5 million screened photos online!


    I have looked at the Exif data and although this was taken on a 100-400mm lens, it's still well within the focal length of my lens.

    So, what is making the difference? What could I do to improve the pin sharpness of my photos? Is it down to lenses (mine is a 28-300mm Nikon, so not a bad lens at all); is it that I'm not holding my camera as steadily as I could (I do have a very slight shake).

    Any suggestions as to what I could do to go that one step further in sharpness?

  • #2
    Originally posted by akerosid View Post
    I recently got a good batch of photos through - a "clear round", which is very unusual for me. They were nice shots (says he, modestly), but for some time I've been a little concerned that I'm not getting the "pin sharpness" that I would like to get, hence the thread title.

    Here's a photo I took of G-ZBKE, one of the BA 789s; I like it, nice enough shot, but when you look closely, not quite as pin sharp as it perhaps should be:

    LN 374. G-ZBKE. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. JetPhotos.com is the biggest database of aviation photographs with over 5 million screened photos online!



    Here's a better shot of the same aircraft (I think) ... look at the reg on this one, compared to mine, and you can see that it is pin sharp:

    G-ZBKE. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. JetPhotos.com is the biggest database of aviation photographs with over 5 million screened photos online!


    I have looked at the Exif data and although this was taken on a 100-400mm lens, it's still well within the focal length of my lens.

    So, what is making the difference? What could I do to improve the pin sharpness of my photos? Is it down to lenses (mine is a 28-300mm Nikon, so not a bad lens at all); is it that I'm not holding my camera as steadily as I could (I do have a very slight shake).

    Any suggestions as to what I could do to go that one step further in sharpness?
    At this (low) resolution, it's almost impossible to comment on how sharp an image actually is. If you want to post a 100% crop of the registration from your image, then maybe we can discuss it, but assuming you're downsizing from the full 6000pix resolution of your camera, looking at an edited 1024pix image will tell you next to nothing about how sharp the original image actually is. Edited well, a very soft 6000pix image will look identical to a very sharp image when both are sized down to 1024, so using that size to judge sharpness is pretty much pointless, sorry to say.

    If you want to truly judge (and be judged), post the full-res version of your image (or a crop of a specific area, as I suggested), and then try to convince someone else whose images you consider 'pin sharp' to do the same. Otherwise, comparing low-res images as you are is like trying to tell how fast a car is by how many seats it has.

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    • #3
      Hi John,
      I have also noticed the clear round on your pics. And I tried to found out what happened but couldn't really figure out. What tools, filters are you using on editing ?

      Regards
      Alex

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      • #4
        Kudos John for trying to take the steps to improve upon your images. For most of us, it is a long and never ending search for new methods that might produce a nicer looking end result.

        As Dana said, at the resolution you are uploading, it is hard to comment on the sharpness of your image. Higher resolution will always provide more detail. Perhaps you could try editing to your images to 1280 pixels? And I'd suggest using smart sharpening, for me at least it yields nicer end results.

        You could perhaps post a full sized image and allow us to edit it and then we can provide you with some steps we would take when editing.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Alex - Spot-This ! View Post
          Hi John,
          I have also noticed the clear round on your pics. And I tried to found out what happened but couldn't really figure out. What tools, filters are you using on editing ?

          Regards
          Alex
          I'm not complaining! It's not often I get 10-12 photos through in a row, without rejections!

          I use plain old Photoshop. Once I've got the photo properly proportioned, I make sure it's bright/contrasted enough, then use "unsharp mask" and then, before final saving, check for dust spots. It worked a charm this time (and indeed, in my latest batch, just through).

          I think, as Dana has pointed out, it is down to resolution. I don't shoot RAW; it's all JPEG. I did try RAW once, but found that I couldn't edit them on Photoshop. I might try going for the 1,280 Pixels.

          Generally, the rejections I get (when I do get rejections, which is still probably too many), are for things like "sharpness" (I have a question about this on the other forum !) and brightness - all easily repairable.

          Thanks for your advice! I know I'll never be the best photographer on JP.net, but I do enjoy being part of it!

          Comment


          • #6
            Keep in mind: One image is 1024 wide, the other 1920.

            This is the reason why you have more details in the latter one.

            Comment


            • #7
              Some versions of Photoshop cannot read some versions of RAW. To open a Nikon D7000 RAW file I had to first convert it to an Adobe .dng file format. When I had a D7100 for a short while I had to use a different version of Adobe .dng conversion.
              You need to run a search for the Adobe .dng software that relates to your version of Photoshop.
              If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

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