Somerset Lynn Loc: Somerset, NJ

I don't mind at all. I am pleased that you took the time. I like it. Thank you.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Always check everything before printing!

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Digital zoom.

Low speed 1/250 for slightly over 300mm zoom. (read the EXIF)

The edit offered is simple made from PS cc.

This method does not add artifacts. I posted a thread on the method. I do not have the time to look for it at the moment (being called). I'll post more later on.

You can correct this type of problem w/o trouble.

.

(Download)

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Hi Lynn,

I always look at my photos (I use Lightroom) at a ratio of 1:1, this will tell me if the photo is actually sharp enough to print. You should be able to do that in any program. Also, maybe shoot at a faster shutter speed to counter any camera shake.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Bottom line: Is the photographer happy with it as a 24"x36" print?

That's it...no raining on parades.....

Somerset Lynn Loc: Somerset, NJ

No I was very disappointed. My own fault. Thanks.

avemal Loc: BALTIMORE

Nice. What proceedure do you use to print on metal. I put on wood.--Thanks

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Yes, there does seem to be a bit of shake in the Sandhill Cranes. But are the Woodstorks actually that over exposed for their whitest areas. All I see is white, no feathers (detail) on the middle of the wings and back.

cjbarnett

Contrast in the second photo is less than the first, causing an illusion of softness. When joer added contrast the image appeared sharper. Smart sharpening probably also helped. I like the result of joer's additional tweaking but the picture was pretty good to start with.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The top one looks good, but it's only on my monitor. The second is not as sharp, but it looks like there's some movement of the left bird's head. That's a very large print size, and it will only exaggerate any imperfection. You need ideal conditions - gear and animal - to get absolutely sharp wildlife pictures. Blowing them up on the screen before printing will let you look at the details. Still, from a few feet away, I bet they both look stunning.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Exactly. We are looking at it on a monitor; how it looks as a print is something which could be quite different.

Doug RC Loc: Western Massachusetts

Greetings ...
Your original shot of the Sandhill cranes looks better than the 'sharpened etc' one ..
You didn't say what your 'focal length' setting was .. I've had a lot of success shooting with
at distance using a large Focal length setting ( 18-35 ) the wider/deeper depth of field yields
'more' of the photo being sharp. Though it really only works well in bright daylight situations.
Just a thought. No Question a tripod and remote shutter button helps too.
Have fun.

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

With birds if the eye isn't tack sharp then it's no way for me but you have to like it so..
I like the photo so much if it were mine I would make it a watercolor in PSCC.

(Download)

TomV Loc: Annapolis, Maryland

The cranes were shot with 1/180 sec and the storks at 1/1000 sec. Probably the biggest source of the slight camera movement impact causing the quality difference.

anotherview Loc: California

Good morning. Okay, I analyzed the sandhill crane shot, and developed it. See the result below.

Your camera (Sony DSC-RX 10M3) is a bridge camera, capable of shooting in the RAW file format. But it seems you took this picture in the JPEG file format. I found pronounced JPEG artifacts and obvious noise, even with an ISO setting of 150. As to the source of the blur, I found noticeable blur evidently from camera motion.

Please note that Photoshop Creative Cloud has had a filter called "Camera Shake Reduction" since at least last year. This filter can eliminate the effect of motion blur from camera motion -- within limits. It also can compensate for JPEG artifacts by reducing them, at the cost of some image sharpness. The filter has a smoothing function adjustable with a slider. Minimizing the effects of artifacts and noise the user can, by eye, bring more sharpness to an image despite camera motion during a shot. I used CSR on your image to improve it.

But first I reduced the image noise in the Blue and Red Channels in PCC. This helped with providing CSR a better starting image for adjustment.

As you can tell, I also developed your image, using PCC, with my standard development process. But I did not apply the High Pass Filter which could have further sharpened the finished image.

Recommendation: Shoot in the RAW file format. Set the camera to Image Shake Reduction to minimize the effect of camera motion in the resulting image.

The RAW file format allows for more latitude in image development.

You may wish also to buy (used or refurbished) a late-model DSLR for the ability to capture an image with better quality in the first place.

Nevertheless, your image of the sand cranes looks much better after some further development. You'd have to decide if it meets your standard for hanging.

I hope my comment here helps.

Have a good day.