blackest Loc: Ireland

This may be a little obvious for some , but where is your photo sharpest? The answer should be at the focus point you used when you took the photo. So when it comes to sharpening when you post process thats where you should be concentrating on. There may be other area's on that focal plane that are sharp but it should be best at that point. Trying to sharpen anywhere else isn't going to be really successful since the lens wasn't focused at this other arbitrary point.

For canon and nikon you can get a plugin which will let you see where the focal points are and which you used. I shoot Pentax which has 11 focus points but 2 are not used much the other 9 well it so happens they line up pretty close to the rule of thirds grid 1 at each intersection 1 bang centre and the other 4 are half way on each side of the centre third. So bringing up the thirds grid lets me eyeball where the point of focus is likely to be.

it now makes it easier to get the sharpening optimal for that point and if thats right the rest of the photo should fall into place. Once you have that right you can then move on to cropping.

Anyone else sharpening this way or fancy giving it a go? Seems obvious now, but i've gone a few years before this dawned on me today.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Thank you for these interesting, logical ideas, Blackest. I will certainly keep this in mind as I proceed to shoot in the future. Changing my screen to a Rule Of Thirds grid right now.

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

Getting my picture sharp has been a chore ,Then the other day I was surfing the net and clicked on this company from Germany and before I left I purchased a program called sharpen. All I can say about this Program is WOW. Easy to use , and beats LR PS CC and the dozen or more programs that I have or had. In fact after seeing what they could do went back and purchase the bundle. Best money I ever spent.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

From a recent photo workshops, one of the instructors from Brooks School of Photography felt that a lot of amateur images are radically over sharpened, which ruins the authenticity of the image.

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

I agree with you 100%. I see a lot come across my workbench that my printer sends me to stretch and frame, that you can see the over sharpening even on canvas,Can you imagine what it would look like on paper. The other thing we come across a lot is people taking pictures on vacation with phones and then they want them done into 20x30 or bigger. Try telling them that they will break up, then they say ,they look really good on the phone. OOOOKAYYYYY.

warrior Loc: Paso Robles CA

Don't tell them. Let them find out for themselves

blackest Loc: Ireland

I can understand that, but the why is a little more subtle. Can you sharpen something which wasn't in focus? Should you even try? The whole thing about using a lens is that there is a focal plane and if something is behind or in front of that plane it shouldn't be in focus. Sharpening what should be blurred is the problem i tend to use high masking values in order not to sharpen the softer features. People like portraits to have sharp eyes but if the nose got the focus then the eyes will be soft and trying to make them sharp will not work well.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

Is this the one you are referring to? https://www.projects-software.com/sharpen#tech

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

yes it is , all you have to do is open sharpen, drag an image into it and it does it automatically. If it need more you go to the sidebar on the left and click on the image sharpening you want. You can also do it manually, which is great if you just want to sharpen just one certain area, like on a portrait ,around the eyes, hair etc.

blackest Loc: Ireland

I think so, the price is kind of high by default but there has been times when they offer the whole suite for $98 although with nik now being free. I'm not sure if they bring anything to the table that you can't already have within your existing setup they are plugin's after all.

The difference between nik and topaz and this set of plugins is there are a huge number of people using nik and topaz, people asking questions getting answers even youtube video's made showing how to use them. This software not so much. Apparently they do give away earlier versions as promotional offers. There is no support forum as far as I can tell.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right. Over-sharpening produces a certain strange look. If I didn't get the shot sharp enough in the camera, I know I'm not going to get it sharp in LR.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It does look tempting, but that's the purpose of advertising.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I forget the name, but there is a LR plugin that will show the spot where the camera focused.

EDIT: "Show Focus Points"
http://www.lightroomfocuspointsplugin.com/
http://petapixel.com/2014/09/19/simple-lightroom-plugin-shows-you-what-focus-points-your-camera-used-when-you-pressed-the-shutter/

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

I have Nik, LR and CC on my comp. now and have used topaz and On1 10 and have yet to see any of them do a job as good on Franzis Sharpen and be as non destructive.

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

When sharpening in LR don't forget to use the magnifying feature - it's the little white box at the upper left corner of the Sharpen Box.