Super stuff Doc, Over sharpening is a real trap we can fall in. I have been trying to do the exact opposite. I'm not sharpening at all and if I do its small amount's. removing motion blur and camera shake is where I'm at these day's I will use both LRcc and PScc on different images but that darn Luminance slider can add some noise in the summer light around here. This one was last night and I used no sharpening and no noise reduction in lightroom ... this is uncroped as shot. And only my left hand I might add lol my right is on the blink.
Jeff,
I have tried too resist the whole NR / sharpen /Mask path as frequently as possible; though I often fall off That band wagon. I often have to remind my of that there is actually a pretty natural balance between the two with just baseline image that at regular viewing (on sceen or print) and not 100% can often look as good. At a minimum, if applying NR, it really is best to paint it on to only areas of darker and /or background, but not to places where our eye will look for, and crave detail. In these detail starved areas by any NR, it is extremely hard to recreate perceived natural sharpness, and very often looks best without the NR and unaltered / baseline setting sharpness.
BTW, make a note to yourself to only feed the animals with your Left hand! (jk)
