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Sparkle

Submitted by Art_Wannabe on August 29, 2008 - 2:03am. how'd you get that?

JPO recently asked about "sparkle" in the context of one of my submissions.

I'm thinking of sparkle as small white highlights. I think they can really make the shot jump off the screen. I have 3 ideas about this, but also wondered if any one else had any tips or ideas.

(1) Light, you need enough and the right kind. I'm still learning about this, but so far it seems that horizontal (morning or evening) light will have a better chance of sparlking.

(2) Dew. One of the benefits of shooting early in the morning is the sparkling morning dew. Add the beautiful, clean, un-harsh, horizontal light, and you've got a reason to get up in the morning.

(3) The sharpness control in your editor. My understanding of this is that this control can enhance the sharpness of the transitions between colors and shading at the pixel level. Too much can make the picture look wierd, but my experience is that the sharpness control can focus those small, white highlights into slightly smaller, more intense, points, enhancing the sparkle.

Let me know what you think.

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Sparkle

Submitted by jpo_05_09_07 on August 31, 2008 - 12:48am.

Looking back at some of my photos I can see a small degree of sparkle in a few which were made in late afternoon shooting W. with the sun in a horizontal position. I made the shot below of a Cucumber Beetle on a day when the sky was clear and crisp with the above conditions. I can see a bit of sparkle in this photo. What do you think? I remember other shots very precisely and as you say the horizontal position of the sun is a key. As far as other conditions, I can't seem to arise early enough to see the morning dew:( (Sorry, this is the thumbnail to nowhere (?)

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http://share.triangle.com/no

Submitted by Art_Wannabe on September 1, 2008 - 5:18am.

http://share.triangle.com/node/16483?vw=gallery_user

http://share.triangle.com/node/16482?vw=gallery_user

Looking through your gallery I'm reminded of how many beautiful shots you have.

I wasn't able to get the shortcuts to work either, so I've incuded both the thumbs and links here.

The beetle shot is great and has lots of sparkle. I also like the way the antennae are clearly outlined by the background. In your gallery, it was next to a couple other shots that seem to highlight the difference between horizontal and indirect light. Both are beautiful, but the second has more sparkle in my opinion.

I realized after my initial posting that I mostly wanted to admit to using the sharpening tool. Here's how I think it works. Digital pictures are always processed right out of the camera. Edges are blurred to eliminate stair-step borders around objects in the picture. The sharpening tool reduces that blurring.

One of my shots from the nc botanical garden was really blurry until I sharpened it. All those star-shaped fringes were invisible. Most of the time, the results of sharpening are less dramatic. Here's the shot I'm talking about.

http://share.triangle.com/node/18066?vw=gallery_user

This shot was made middle of the day in a shaded area. For some reason (sap?) there's a fair amount of sparkle. Anyway, I'm just mentioning the sharpening tool because it seems to help my shots, but no one is mentioning it. Have you tried it?

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Sharpening tool

Submitted by jpo_05_09_07 on September 2, 2008 - 8:56pm.

Honestly, I very seldom post a blurry image unless it is a photo subject for an individual gallery but I often use the sharpening tool. The sharpening tool causes the subject to be more defined from the background- that's my way of thinking. I don't consider sharpening as manipulating an image. I submitted a few photos in the Wildlife In NC photo competition last year. Their rules are very stringent. Sharpening is the only editing allowed. These are my thoughts, what do you think?

I posted another photo today of a wildflower that has a degree of 'sparkle'. It was made about 4:30 p.m. yesterday. This summer I made photos of Bee Balm (Manarda) like yours pictured above. In sun or shade I've never seen such 'sparkle'!

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Can't wait for your picture!

Submitted by Art_Wannabe on September 2, 2008 - 8:59pm.

Can't wait for your picture! I guess I see sharpening as de-manipulation, since you're undoing some of the manipluation that your camera software already applied.

I had not read the rules for wildfile NC. I had assumed that some of those pictures had been manipulated, especailly the chipmunk photo.

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sparkle-to manipulate or not manipulate-that is the question!

Submitted by mcaroline on September 2, 2008 - 10:36pm.

I feel that the sharpening tool gives a more "honest" result than say the image adjust tool which changes the balance,contrast etc. I think if the image just needs a touch of sharpening to make it pop from the background then it is ok. I too read the rules about WLinNC and saw that sharpening was the only "tweaking" allowed. I have used sharpen in some of my images but since recently purchasing a new lens I seem to need this tool less. I was delighted with the photos of water lilies i took as they need no adjusting to them (hopefully they will appear in share tomorrow).

This discussion has been very interesting and useful-would you be interested in the launching of a photographers forum for this kind of discussion? I was talking to Mike Williams about it today.

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Photographer's forum

Submitted by jpo_05_09_07 on September 3, 2008 - 12:17am.

This is the photographer's forum! It has been alive (but not well) for a little over 1 year. Java along with a few other experienced photographers have given a lot of helpful input on different topics. I don't think the fact that there is so little activity on this forum is necessarily lack of interest. In 2008 our numbers have grown but very few seem to know about the forum. On the website front page you see 'Photos' and 'Forums' on the left. When you first log in there is a little box above the photos that says 'Photographer's Forum', and that's the only clue-if you're wearing glasses that the forum exist. Welcome to the forum.

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forum! I need glasses (spectacles)!!

Submitted by mcaroline on September 3, 2008 - 7:54am.

Thank you so much- I didn't realise this was it-I should have guessed but I was tired and I just clicked on the sparkle comment in the comments section!! I have read many of Java's contributiions and found them to be very helpful. This discussion about photo editing is a very interesting one-I think for the purposes of N and O sharing it's probably fine,but for wildlife magazines such as National Geographical and WL in NC the images have to be unadulterated.

I am a Flickr member and there is a group for un-edited photos only-some of them are amazing-I am trying to figure oiut the settings on my camera so that I can make the neccessary adjustments on location, so to speak,as opposed to on my computer!!

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Photo editing

Submitted by jpo_05_09_07 on September 3, 2008 - 12:50pm.

Concerning my comment on the WLNC Photo Competition, your term, 'tweaking', is much better suited. Art_Wannabe had not read the rules and assumed one of the pictures for the contest had been manipulated. When I saw the winning photos pictured in the Jan. 2008 issue I was very skeptical myself that some were un-enhanced.

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sharpening tool

Submitted by Art_Wannabe on September 6, 2008 - 12:33pm.

I just saw mention of image sharpening in the how to forum on landscapes. It's a great discussion.

http://share.triangle.com/node/8356

Someone on that forum asked how you know how much sharpening to do. My current feeling is that the sharpening tool when used too much will make your picture look like it's made up of tiny horizontal and vertical lines. When you blow up the picture, these lines are disturbing. Unless I see those lines, I figure I'm ok.

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