Sharpening using unsharp masks

I intend to post a few articles on sharpening images over the next week. This exercise should get you thinking about the subject.

One of the best methods in Photoshop is to use the unsharp mask filter. It initially seems a little peverse to have the term unsharp in a technique for sharpening, but if you work through the following procedure it should give you some insight into how an unsharp mask works.

1. Open your image in Photoshop and duplicate in a new layer.

2. Desaturate the new layer (Image - Adjustments - Desaturate).

3. Duplicate this desaturated layer, then invert the new layer (Image - Adjustments - Invert).

4. Change the blending mode to Colour Dodge.

5. In most cases the image will now appear completely white, but there may be some black areas if the original image had pure black in.

6. Slightly blur the image (Filter - Blur - Gaussian blur) by a few pixels radius.

7. Select the top two layers and merge them.

8. You should now see a soft ghost-like outline of the original image (as above) - this is your unsharp mask.

9. Change the blending mode of this layer to Multiply.

10. The image should appear sharper (since these images are reduced in size the effect here is not that overwhelming - on your full resolution image you should see a significant difference).

A full discussion will follow soon.

Check out my photography here: wedding photographer in Kent

Garden Party in Canterbury

I photographed the 100 Years Celebration of Steven James Hairdressing on Sunday in Canterbury - event gallery. A very entertaining garden party - hairdressers are a lively bunch!

From a photographic perspective there were a couple of challenges to deal with. 100 people in a back garden means you have to relax your normal standards of composition - it's not possible to remove all background distractions. Also, I took a series of large group shots for which I needed people at different levels in order to be able to see them all. There were some suitable steps for this but, unfortunately, the front row was in shade and the back row in direct sunlight. I therefore decided to blast (flash exposure compensation +1) the front row with softened flash to try and balance the two areas - it worked reasonably well.

Check out more of my photography here: event photographer in Kent

More feedback

I've just received feedback from Tarnya and Matthew for their wedding in Ashford the previous week.

David takes value for money to the extreme. The quality of his work is in a class of its own and he is a joy to work with on your special day - we couldn't have wished for a more friendly person. Not only does he make sure the work is of a high standard but we could clearly see how much he enjoyed himself doing it!

David took over 600 pictures and we couldn't pick the best ones - they were all so good we spent our gift money getting them all developed! We are going to get a few poster pics done as they will make lovely centre pieces in our home. And all the black and white pictures were a real bonus which we hadn't expected.

I would recommend this guy to anyone who wants superb shots of their special day without any reservations at all. We will definitely be using David again in the future for portrait pictures. I was filled with confidence over the phone before I booked him but when he showed me his work I knew we'd picked the best photographer in the south of england.

Thanks again David.

Tarnya and Matthew O'Neill

That's what I call positive feedback!

Check out my photography here: wedding photographer in Kent

Feedback from Saturday's Wedding

I received some lovely feedback from Sharon and David today:

Sharon and I took a lot of time shopping around for the right photographer at the right price. We wanted to make sure we had great photos for our wedding day, but without paying a high price. We couldn't believe how great David was on our wedding day - right from the very first call through to the shots being taken at the reception. He's a true professional who really has a passion for his work. He has the patience of a saint when it comes to organising even the most tricky of wedding parties, and with a sense of humour thrown in.

The concept of David taking around 600 photos really appealed to us because even though you may only put 50 pictures in an album you still get to keep the rest of your memories on DVD, to upload to a PC, e-mail to others, or replicate as you wish.

David managed to blend into the background and capture shots of us enjoying the best day of our lives and we feel David really contributed to making our day as special as possible.

Thanks again David, and best of luck for the future.

Sharon and David Smith

Check out my photography here: wedding photographer Kent

Wedding at Manor Gate House and Princes Park, Dartford

A selection of images from Sharon and David's lovely wedding at the Manor Gate House Registry Office and Princes Park in Dartford yesterday. The light was pretty good, with only the occasional burst of intense sunlight - otherwise it was softened nicely by clouds without being fully overcast. I made extensive use of my fast prime lenses as there was plenty of room at both locations (meaning I could position myself where I needed to be). The 35mm f/1.4 L and 85mm f/1.2 L are truly awesome lenses.

Check out more of my photography here: wedding photographer in Kent