Hallo Mr. Asher,
First thabks for your visit and the tutorial comments, I like it.
Well, indeed I have one great failure, I allways try to sharpen my pics to much. I dont like vague pics, than My opinion by making a portrait of a person, is to catch exactly his character.
Thanks again,
Jan van den Bos
H
Hi Jan,
No
Mr.* Asher!
The issue with sharpening is the introduction of artifacts which
distract form the character of the person you are presenting! It's presentation, itself, that is
the key to making a potentially important snapshot into a photograph to deliver to the world.
Part of this is how you use sharpening, blurring, darkening and lightening as well as tidying up or not and distribution of tone, the contrast curve, in every part of the picture.
Uniform sharpening is almost always a shortcut the hurts any pursuit of excellence. However it works for many event pictures and everyone is happy. Still it mist be used parsimoniously.
When images are over-sharpened, the hair gets clogged up and has halos and other edits you have done with a heavy hand stand out like sore thumbs.
Now if you are famous, then you can do what you like, they will say, "That's his special artistic talent for pushing limits!"
So maybe you can reconsider how sharpening is used. Most of us us it but locally and with limits. your pictures, especially the last one are memorable and my critique shouldn't divert from that or make you feel otherwise! My interest is excellence. Your work is justifiably on that pathway. We are just helpers on the way. You have to take what you value and use it where it might help you or else keep it in reserve for another occasion.
Asher
*That's a title for a Surgeon in the U.K. who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. I'm just Asher. I never proceeded to be a surgeon and I don't usually go by titles as it has nothing to do with photography.