PP workflow causing loss of quality?

I am having many problems with sharpness, clarity and focusing on outdoor portraits. I have posted two threads in the People forum on this site where others are trying to help me.

I am now wondering if my PP workflow is causing a degradation in image quality.

Here is what I've been doing:

Shooting with T2i in manual mode with Auto Focus turned on. I have also tried some manual focus. I have shot in RAW and in Jpeg.d

After shooting:
Download into DPP
1. Download from DPP to Picasa and/or Photobucket for editing, then posting onto this site.

My reasons for this workflow are that my DPP is very limited in what it can do and I find Picasa or Photobucket editors to be much easier to use.

Could this workflow be causing a degradation in quality?

See example:

PHOTOBUCKET EMBEDDING IS DISABLED BY THIS MEMBER. Photobucket sends ads instead of embedding photos from their free galleries. Click the link (if available) below to see the image in a gallery page. http://i1128.photobuck​et.com …ite/2012_05_26_​1514-1.jpg

Photobucket is a known crusher of quality...

Having said that, your image looks just flat OOF to me. Her hand/ring down near the bottom of the frame is markedly sharper than her eyes.

You are right Jay, as you look down the shot the sharper it gets. As for Photobucket, loss of detail and sharpness was one reason I moved from it. I now only use it for crappy shots.

thanks for the CC, any suggestions for an alternative to Photobucket? Without it, I have no way to post pics...

See also this shot I took a few minutes ago. Model was not cooperative, but please check it for focus, at least...

PHOTOBUCKET EMBEDDING IS DISABLED BY THIS MEMBER. Photobucket sends ads instead of embedding photos from their free galleries. Click the link (if available) below to see the image in a gallery page. http://i1128.photobuck​et.com …llite/2012_05_2​9_1705.jpg HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO

NOte: for the above pic, I had the camera in Standard setting, rather than portrait, and shot in Manual at 1/80, F7.1, ISO 400.

Definitely better overall focus than the first one. As for where, many of us use Flickr. Many also say you get what you pay for with hosting. A pro flickr account is not expensive and it certainly seems better to me anyway and the free version gives you quite good value. Have you tried to download the latest DPP version? I was surprised to see it even has unsharp mask rather than the old simple sharpening slide. You can also drill down into the menu and adjust in camera sharpening, have you tried that? Just as a point of interest the first shot is very flattering to the lady, it is a great angle and she looks good in it.

russ71satellite wrote in post #14502980
NOte: for the above pic, I had the camera in Standard setting, rather than portrait, and shot in Manual at 1/80, F7.1, ISO 400.

Definitely better focus. Although 1/80 is pushing it for portraits.. 1/100 or 1/125 is a little safer in case there is movement. Do you have a single AF point selected or all the points?

Whatever you do.. Don't use photobucket as an editor! Download a free photoshop trial or gimp.

Thanks, LJG...I have the camera set on L, the highest quality level. However, I did drill down into the menu and found that in Portrait mode, the sharpness was only one notch above the bottom setting, so I dialed it up quite a bit. Will try more test pics tomorrow. Thanks for this suggestion. I will look into Flickr and updated DPP also.

Drozz119 wrote in post #14503054
Definitely better focus. Although 1/80 is pushing it for portraits.. 1/100 or 1/125 is a little safer in case there is movement. Do you have a single AF point selected or all the points?

Whatever you do.. Don't use photobucket as an editor! Download a free photoshop trial or gimp.

For the first pic, AF was set on center point. For the second pic, it was set on all points.

I don't know about their editing tools, but I've used Photobucket.com to host images for the forum without any problems for 5 years, but you have to read the FAQs & set up the parameters properly. From their support:

If your mouse cursor becomes a (+) when you mouse over the image, then you need to access that larger image that you uploaded. I always click on the image to get the 100% size that I've uploaded, & then use that URL for display.

russ71satellite wrote in post #14503081
For the first pic, AF was set on center point. For the second pic, it was set on all points.

Well, I'd say you have identified the problem(s)!

For a close portrait shot like this you need to use a single focus point, focus on the eyes and then don't "recompose". The outer focus points are for using this way!

This is especially critical when shooting in the vertical/portrait orientation -- if you use the center point like in your first shot, you either focus on the center of the subject, which is at a different "plane of focus" than the eyes, or you focus on the eyes then recompose which shifts your camera plane of focus. Either way, you end up with soft eyes and other features!

So, for the first shot choose the "top" AF point and focus on the eyes. Even if you need to do a bit of recomposing it will be minor so you can stay locked on the eyes.

Agreed. Focus point and DOF on the first one. I also agree with PhotosGuy. Been using photobucket for years and I get very crisp images from them.

The 1st shot seems that the hands and sand are the sharpest part of the image, so a focusing error somewhere.

russ71satellite wrote in post #14502571
IAfter shooting:
Download into DPP
1. Download from DPP to Picasa and/or Photobucket for editing, then posting onto this site.

My reasons for this workflow are that my DPP is very limited in what it can do and I find Picasa or Photobucket editors to be much easier to use.

Something is definitely not right with your DPP. It should not be that limiting when comes to editing your RAW images. As Lloyd pointed out earlier, please update your DPP to the latest version (for free). I think it's version 3.11.11 or something. In DPP, you can do Contrast/Brightness, Levels, Curves, Saturation, etc. You want to do AS MUCH editing as possible in DPP, as opposed to do that in Picasa or Photobucket. When done editing in DPP, save as hi-res jpeg and upload to online photo hosting places like Photobucket, Flickr, or Picasa, to showcase your images.

cfcRebel wrote in post #14506352
Something is definitely not right with your DPP. It should not be that limiting when comes to editing your RAW images. As Lloyd pointed out earlier, please update your DPP to the latest version (for free). I think it's version 3.11.11 or something. In DPP, you can do Contrast/Brightness, Levels, Curves, Saturation, etc. You want to do AS MUCH editing as possible in DPP, as opposed to do that in Picasa or Photobucket. When done editing in DPP, save as hi-res jpeg and upload to online photo hosting places like Photobucket, Flickr, or Picasa, to showcase your images.

3.11.26 which strangely updates a version with a higher number. Weird.