Sharpening family photos

[subnet_rx]

What's the secret to this if there is one? Every time I try to sharpen a family event photo, it always comes off looking grainy to me.

[samsen]

Any sample to show what you mean?

[subnet_rx]

Well, I wouldn't really feel comfortable posting family photos on the internet without their approval. Maybe I could find an example elsewhere in my collection as a good example.

[partsman]

What sofware are you using to sharpen? If your sharpening for printing its not unusual for it to look a little crunchy on your monitor but they usually print ok. Heres a website (http://www.thelightsright.com) with lots of great sharpening info if your using photoshop.

[subnet_rx]

Using Photoshop CS3. I'm a web programmer, so I have the software, but unaware how to use it.

[partsman]

You have the right tool with CS3 but sharpening is very subjective and and depends a lot on image content(like smooth surface versus texture surfaces).

Open the image you want to sharpen and then duplicate the background layer and run your sharpening on the duplicate layer. You can experiment with different types of sharpening methods and settings and blend modes,etc and just delete the duplicate layer and start over again.

This thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=466333) in the sticky section of the post processing forum has examples, suggested settings, and different methods of sharpening. It's a lot of reading but covers a lot of methods that should give you good results.

[queenbee288]

Is this grain in the background or on the subjects. If you sharpen a blurred background it can sometimes look funky. If so, then convert the image to a smart filter before sharpening. That way it gives you a mask so that you can paint with black and remove the sharpening from the background.

[SuzyView]

Give us the settings on the camera and what equipment you are using.

[jbimages]

How about sharpening a non family photo and post that?

[egordon99]

I would think the "secret" to sharpening a family photo would be no different than a non-family photo. I go through the same workflow whether or not the people in the family are related to me :lol:

[EOS_JD]

lets make an assumption which ay be totally wrong.

using a compact camera indoors, you'll probably get lots of digital noise in the image. Even using a dSLR at high ISO will give a noisy image. Sharpening the noise will produce more visible gran.

Use noise reduction software first then sharpen as your last thing before print. When sharpening you only want enough to make the image appear sharp - try not to over sharpen.

[Collin85]

What's the secret to this if there is one? Every time I try to sharpen a family event photo, it always comes off looking grainy to me.

Two things come to mind:

1) Are you shooting high-ISO? If you're doing your portraits say, indoors under poor lighting, you might have been using a higher ISO than usual. In other words, the image already has some noise. Whenever you're sharpening a noisy shot, you will only be introducing more noise.

2) How are you sharpening your shots? If you are applying excessive sharpening, then you will notice undesirable effects. The key is to be conservative and not to overdo it.

It would be extremely helpful to post some shots, though.

[ParkerDeen]

In PS, I'm tending lately not to unsharp mask above about 60%. Agree though that camera and settings would be helpful. Also any other adjustments/actions that you're running in addition to sharpening.

[freebird]

Unsharp mask at 60% is usually safe on Portrait images. However if you have a really sharp lens you might not need to sharpen as much. I have noticed this with the 17-55IS, I have to view each image and some dont need sharpened.

Hair seems to be a area that can easily get oversharpened, most times I will sharpen locally and not globally.