Tips and Tricks To Create Tack Sharp Images

Chris Limbrick -

Have you been curious as to why your images just aren’t as sharp as some other photographers? I’ve had this very same question in my journey as a photographer. I did a deep dive to learn more about creating sharp images and am happy to share  what I've learned. There are also videos and articles on this workflow that I've included at the bottom of this post.

I’ve created a downloadable Photoshop file for you to see how the different tools effect the image. Just open up the smart layers to see how much of a tool has been used.

Download from Dropbox (it's a 3gb file)

First thing first...

You should be shooting with the following in mind:

  • Lowest possible ISO. The lower the ISO, the less noise you will have in your image. This is why landscape photographers shoot primarily at ISO 100.
  • Shoot at the aperture your lens has  maximum sharpness. This will vary depending on the lens, so take a look at the MTF Charts. It should typically be anywhere from f/5 to f/11. If you don't know, shoot at f/8.
  • Use a strong, solid tripod! This is such an overlooked mistake many make, and a reason why I ditched my flimsy Peak Design tripod for a Gitzo tripod.
  • Use a two second timer. This should generally be enough time for any camera vibrations to stop. Any camera movement will affect your image sharpness.
  • Don't use image stabilization when shooting on a tripod.

Sharpening workflow

There are three steps for sharpening an image:

  1. Capture sharpening
  2. Creative sharpening
  3. Output sharpening

Capture sharpening

Also known as deconvolution sharpening, this is done to correct the lack of sharpness in the RAW image caused by camera limitations.

It’s important to understand that the default rendering of an image straight from the camera depends upon a ton of variables. Typically these images will be soft, thus our need to apply sharpening. When we sharpen, we want to be cautious of introducing any destructive processes, such as adding excessive noise and artifacts. Our goal is to have a clean, sharp file that we can begin to edit and export for different formats like, web or print.

Creative sharpening

This is an artistic process created by the photographer to enhance the photograph through emphasizing or deemphasizing parts of an image. This can include selective contrast to create depth and better tonal separation, making your image sharper.

Output sharpening

This is done to offset a lack of sharpness in the final image caused by technical limitations of resizing the image. This will vary depending on where your final image will end up. Exporting for instagram? You will need more sharpening applied compared to exporting a larger version for the web.

Sharpening Tools

There are many sharpening tools available. Photographers have their own methods to sharpen images, and some use one or a few of the tools.

  • Details panel in Lightroom
  • Sharpening panel in Capture One
  • Camera RAW Filter in Photoshop
  • Unsharp mask in Photoshop
  • Smart Sharpen in Photoshop
  • High pass sharpen method in Photoshop
  • Nik Sharpener tool in Nik Collection
Tip: In landscape photography, we typically don’t want to sharpen the entire image. Soft areas with little to no detail, such as the sky for example doesn't need sharpening applied. If sharpening is applied, you're increasing noise in these areas making it look less desirable.

Details panel in Lightroom

This is a panel that gives control to sharpen your images in Lightroom. I recommend watching Mark Denney’s YouTube video “best tool for sharpening your landscape photos” to learn how to use it. His explanations are very clearly.

Sharpening panel in Capture One

This is a panel that gives control to sharpen your images in Capture One and will automatically apply pre-sharpening to your images based on the camera model. This is equivalent to the Details panel in Lightroom. I recommend checking out the user guide on Capture One’s support website here to learn more.

Camera RAW Filter in Photoshop

  1. Select your layer and go to Filter > Camera RAW Filter
  2. Set the Radius slider anywhere from 0.1 to 1.
  3. Adjust the Amount slider until your image is sharpened.
  4. Use the Mask slider to only apply sharpening to the edges in your image.

If you get the halo effect around your edges, you’ll need to adjust the white slider in Blending Options for your layer until the halos have disappeared. To do this, select your layer > click Blending Options and adjust the white slider towards the bottom of the modal.

Unsharp mask in Photoshop

  1. Select your layer and go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask
  2. Set the Radius slider anywhere from 0.1 to 1.
  3. Adjust the Amount slider until your image is sharpened.

If you get the halo effect around your edges, you’ll need to adjust the white slider in Blending Options for your layer until the halos have disappeared. To do this, select your layer > click Blending Options and adjust the white slider towards the bottom of the modal. Keep in mind that this will sharpen your entire image. If you want to selectively sharpen, then use a layer mask.

Smart sharpen in Photoshop

  1. Select your layer still selected, go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen
  2. Set the Radius slider anywhere from 0.1 to 1.
  3. Adjust the Amount slider until your image is sharpened.

If you get the halo effect around your edges, you can use the Shadows and Highlights section to adjust the fade amount and tonal width. Keep in mind that this will sharpen your entire image, which you might not want. However it’s typically less noise than using an Unsharp Mask.

High pass sharpen method in Photoshop

  1. Select your layer and change the blend mode to Overlay. With your layer still selected, go to Filter > Other > High Pass
  2. Adjust the radius to only sharpen the edges in your image. Because this only sharpens the edges, it’ll have the least amount of added noise.
  3. If you get the halo effect around your edges, you’ll need to adjust the white slider in Blending Options for your layer until the halos have disappeared. To do this, select your layer > click Blending Options and adjust the white slider towards the bottom of the modal.

Nik Sharpener in Nik Collection

This tool gives finer control for selective sharpening by utilizing control points. You’re able to make these selective adjustments to the structure, contrast and focus of your image. Nik Collection has a YouTube playlist featuring a bunch of tutorials.

Additional Tools

There are a few other ways you can increase the presence of sharpens in your images: Dehaze, clarity, and structure. Matt Granger on YouTube has a great video explaining the difference between the three. Check it out here.

Dehaze

This is designed to control the amount of haze and improve the saturation in flat photos.

Clarity

This adds local contrast to your images by increasing contrast in the midtones in large scale transitions between dark and light.

Structure/Texture

This is similar to Clarity, except it increases contrast in the midtones in smaller scale transitions between dark and light.

I hope this has helped demystify sharpening images!

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