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Some Cold Dogs
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Some Cold Dogs

by Chris Chamberlain

Gallery: LandscapePosted November 19, 20141,537 views14 comments
The seasons first snow on some autumn dogwoods.

Looks a little crunchy on the sharpening. Are people here still using the "Adamus" sharpening technique? It does not work quite as well for me since the D800. Especially in shots like this one with a lot of fine details.

Comments

14 comments
Comment posted by Bill Chambers on November 19, 2014 at 11:08 PM
Gorgeous Chris. I love the variety of color. I use either Smart Sharpening in CS6 or PK Sharpener depending on the image.
Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Cross on November 19, 2014 at 11:14 PM
Red and green for Christmas and gold and orange for Thanksgiving. You're well covered here. Nice scene . I'd like to lose that bright patch of sky in the back but that would chop the top off the conifer on the right. Tough decision. Looks like you've got a regenerating forest after a fire a few years ago. It would be fun to track it from the same spot for 50 years. There, now you have a project.
Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Pelton on November 19, 2014 at 11:16 PM
very nice, Chris, beautiful scene. Tony Kuyper has a good web sharpening action in his suite of actions. Its similar but I think it does a better job, plus you normally have to reduce the opacity of the sharpening layer to around 40-60%.
Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments
Comment posted by Harley Goldman on November 19, 2014 at 11:44 PM
Beautiful, Chris. The snow really adds and makes the colors pop.

I use Web Sharpener from Andreas Resch (a member here or at least used to be).
Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Cameron on November 20, 2014 at 2:58 AM
Hi Chris Nice picture autumn colour and snow does look good together. It does look scrunchy. I modify the web sharpening routine he uses to reflect very detailed and intricate pictures like grasses and small leaves. May I suggest you try applying PS sharpen twice only and reduce your reduction size to approx four times the final web image size. ( Nearer three times for less complex images ).

Lets say your final image size required is 800 pixels, you should try taking your original file down to 3200 pixels (4x final file size) as per normal, then apply <sharpen> twice, (the file will look hideous), then reduce it to the final web size of 800 pixels, (the file should look spot on). Modify the reduction ratio of four times down to three times or any value in between to personal taste. It works fine for me.
Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on November 20, 2014 at 7:02 AM
Well timed and composed for the snow and fall colors, Chris. I'll bet this would make a fine print. I also struggle mightily with getting "crunchy" files when downsizing for the web. My results seem to be worse using PS 6, so I still use PS 4 to downsize/sharpen, which makes no sense and is probably immaterial in reality. I will have to try what Ian suggests.
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on November 20, 2014 at 11:03 AM
The colors in the shrubs and how they're set off by the burnt snags works well here, Chris. This will look great once you get the crunchies under control.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on November 20, 2014 at 11:23 AM
Looks chilly. Love the colors against the white snow. Beautiful shot, no nits
Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments
Comment posted by Ryan Shain on November 20, 2014 at 1:56 PM
Chris,

I think this image is so beautiful, and I love how the snow can turn up autumn foliage to a new level, or maybe just a different layer of beauty. Sweet shot!!!

I was using the Adamus method, I think that is what Ian has described below, but I have changed over since purchasing TK's actions.
I love the web sharpening feature from Tony. I almost always have to bring down the opacity, but I think it does a fine job.
Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on November 20, 2014 at 2:12 PM
Chris, This looks really nice with the fall color and mix of snow. I always enjoy finding (and seeing) that combo. I think your comp works very nice too. It does look a bit crunchy to me as well. I think Ian's sharpening method works well and have used it quite a bit. Lately in CS4 (my latest version) I have been using Smart Sharpen. It seems to work pretty well for me. I actually just size my larger web picture first which for me is usually 1000 pix and then Smart Sharpen with Amount set between 30 - 60% depending on the image. Radius set at 0.2 and Remove set to Lens Blur with More Accurate checked. After that is saved for web I resize the 1000 pix to the 720 pix size and do the same thing only the Amount set to around 18-20%. That seems to work pretty well for me, at least I think it does. :biggrin: There are probably more complex ways that might work better but I haven't used them. I haven't used Tony's method yet but I should try it.
Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on November 21, 2014 at 12:03 AM
One of my favorite things: snow on the autumn colors. But that does not in itself make a good landscape. Your use of the diagonal and vertical lines really works well. Especially nice work finding the high POV for this shot -- perfect angle to highlight all the elements.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on November 22, 2014 at 11:31 AM
Nice winter scene the week before Harley and I were there. You did a good job with the color and the Dogwood look very nice.

I use TK's web sharpening action, as well. For finely detailed images, I sometimes have to play around with the opacity of the layers the action creates.

--P
Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on November 22, 2014 at 11:52 AM
Thanks for the feedback, and the sharpening suggestions.

Chris
Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments
Comment posted by Lucy Aron on December 25, 2014 at 11:18 PM
Lovely landscape. Esp because of the brush of snow that gives it a sort of misty quality, I'd like to see how it would look less sharp.


lucy
Registered on February 25, 2011, 189 Posts, 1160 Comments