Nature Playing with Unsharpmask sliders.

Playing with Unsharpmask sliders. · **1 Like**

I'm one who is almost obsessed with sharpness.... especially if it's an image that really calls for it, but I much prefer REAL sharpness, sharpness that's a result of having a good lens and good camera.... not one that's created artificially with unsharpmask. When it's over done, it's not to my liking. I know all about what the old guy said a century and a half ago, about sharpness being a Bourgeois concept, but.... he's dead.... I'm not... and he never held a good Pentax camera and lens in his hands before!

I realize unsharpmask's usefulness and I use it quite frequently, but I don't know very much about HOW it does what it does. Normally, I never go past the 120 on Strength, 1.2 on Radius and I never touch the Threshold, mainly because I don't know what it does.

All that being said, last night I decided to dink around with an image and see what I could do that was REALLY out of my comfort zone. THIS is what I came up with. The droplets really stand out, but they seem to be un-naturally sharp. This has IIRC, 25 on the Strength, 25 on the Radius and a whole bunch on the Threshold.

What's YOUR opinion? I'll post the original later.

**ToddK** · 10-27-2019, 03:10 PM

I think it created too much of an unnatural texture. I definitely want to see the original. I tend to push the sharpening slider up to 60-80 which doesn't look too unnatural to me. The further I go with sharpening I usually increase the de-noising, which kind of defeats the sharpening, but offsets the harshness. However, all that said, I am a complete amateur at it

**Larrymc** · 10-27-2019, 03:17 PM

I tend to agree with Todd, I very rarely even fool with the USM sliders in DXO PhotoLab 2.3. When you figure them out let me know, Dewey.

Dewman · 10-27-2019, 06:33 PM

O.K., here's the original image without the hyper unsharpmask sliders. Nothing too awfully wrong for just a rather mundane pic of a leaf with water on it.... but I was just monkeying around with the USM, just seeing what it would/could do.

Last edited by Dewman; 01-28-2020 at 01:30 PM.

STARHUNTER94 · 10-27-2019, 06:49 PM

Personally I'm a fan of what you first said - sharpness not artificially created, but sometimes an image calls for it. Some times you don't get a second shot.

**Tonytee** · 10-28-2019, 02:10 AM

After studying both images, I have to say that my money is on Numero Uno. The sharpness appears very natural to me as I have witnessed many leaves looking even sharper than what has been

edited. As far as the water droplets, water droplets are naturally sharp, clear and colorful. That is how we get so many beautiful reflections when angled properly. Also, I believe the exposure is

D.O.T, Direct On Target. "Who could ask for anything more?" Very nice work in my book.

Cheers, Tony

Dewman
	View full profile
	Contact via private message
	Find other posts by Dewman
	Find threads started by Dewman
	Find threads in which Dewman has posted

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Track Sliders	Rico	Pentax Camera and Field Accessories	6	04-04-2018 03:17 PM
People Sliders	bossa	Pentax K-3 Photo Contest	25	06-04-2014 03:53 AM
Does Konova regularly update their sliders?	iNicole	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	0	01-21-2013 10:07 PM
Abstract When sliders go wild !	daacon	Post Your Photos!	8	09-19-2011 06:43 AM
Three Presence Sliders in Lightroom 2	mithrandir	Digital Processing, Software, and Printing	5	02-24-2009 05:13 PM

10-27-2019, 03:10 PM	#2
ToddK Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Texas Hill Country Photos: Gallery Posts: 11,566	I think it created too much of an unnatural texture. I definitely want to see the original. I tend to push the sharpening slider up to 60-80 which doesn't look too unnatural to me. The further I go with sharpening I usually increase the de-noising, which kind of defeats the sharpening, but offsets the harshness. However, all that said, I am a complete amateur at it

10-27-2019, 03:17 PM	#3
Larrymc Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Mississippi, USA Posts: 5,252	I tend to agree with Todd, I very rarely even fool with the USM sliders in DXO PhotoLab 2.3. When you figure them out let me know, Dewey.

10-27-2019, 06:33 PM	#4
Dewman Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,492 Original Poster	O.K., here's the original image without the hyper unsharpmask sliders. Nothing too awfully wrong for just a rather mundane pic of a leaf with water on it.... but I was just monkeying around with the USM, just seeing what it would/could do. Last edited by Dewman; 01-28-2020 at 01:30 PM.

10-27-2019, 06:49 PM	#5
STARHUNTER94 Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2019 Posts: 771	Personally I'm a fan of what you first said - sharpness not artificially created, but sometimes an image calls for it. Some times you don't get a second shot.

10-28-2019, 02:10 AM	#6
Tonytee Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2012 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 21,523	After studying both images, I have to say that my money is on Numero Uno. The sharpness appears very natural to me as I have witnessed many leaves looking even sharper than what has been edited. As far as the water droplets, water droplets are naturally sharp, clear and colorful. That is how we get so many beautiful reflections when angled properly. Also, I believe the exposure is D.O.T, Direct On Target. "Who could ask for anything more?" Very nice work in my book. Cheers, Tony