how to sharpen your pics?

hi there, a lot of people might not know this, but actually one can sharpen his or her pictures using photoshop.

this is the picture after being sharpened.

this is the original pic, can you see the difference?

here's how we do it:

first, create a duplicate layer to preserve the original image, just in case you did something wrong.

then just go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp mask

a window will pop up like above, asking you to fill in the Amount, Radius and Threshold. After select then just click OK.

your pic has been sharpened. For the Amount, Radius and Threshold, they depend on individuals of how much the person wants to sharpen the image. But then, if over sharpening can create "Hollow effect" in your pics which might not look nice.

However, some recommended numbers for the 3 variables are as below:

People:

• Amount-150%
• Radius-1
• Threshold-10

Landscapes

• Amount-65%
• Radius-3
• Threshold-2

General

• Amount-85%
• Radius-1
• Threshold-4

Enjoy! :D

Lens to intro

Currently looking for the suitable lens to buy. I am looking for a standard walk around lens and I have opted for either Sigma or Tamron ( Canon is a bit exp for the moment, but soon will get a L lens. hehe...).

I have come across Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM, Sigma 24-70mm f2.8-4 DG Macro EX and Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di LD.

So far, I think I am going for the Tammy as it has the range i need and also the affordable price. Sigma 17-70 looks attractive but it is more expensive needless to say the 24-70 as it is a DG lens.

According to the review, Tammy wins most of the votes as it has more consistent performance and higher image quality. although the built is not as solid as the sigma, but i think it's fine for me cause most probably i will carry it all around so i don't think i will appreciate solid and heavy built lenses. :)

Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di LD

Sigma 24-70mm f2.8-4 DG Macro EX

but then, sigma 17-70 has the wider range, and it's wide angle lens, i wonder i need it. haha....well, dilemma! hahaa..sigma 24-70mm is going to be dropped out from the list because i would go for tammy rather than the sigma as both of them have the comparable range but tammy has the better image quality. :) tammy might be soft at f2.8 and a bit noisy but i think it's ok as the image quality consistency is higher throughout the range of the lense and the soft images can be editted using photoshop! hehe...

So, i think i will go for tamron 28-75 then...:) hope i made the right choice!

Canon EF 75-300 mm F4-5.6 III USM lens review

Currently, I am owning this lens and I am selling it off.

The lens is still in good condition, I seldom use it as I normally use the canon EF 50mm f1.8. :) Generally, this is quite an okay lens for beginner. It has the range (75-300mm for Full frame and 120-480mm for crop size).

The quality is fine under sufficient lighting (during daytime or bright indoor). The image quality is mediocre and built is also mediocre. But then, it's considered the cheapest lens for the quality and range! haha...it has USM(Ultra Sonic Motor) thus high speed of focusing. And it doesn't have OS thus might be troublesome under low light. but then with tripod and more practise or adjusting of the settings, that can be resolved. :)

So, it will be recommended for infrequent use and it's an affordable telephoto lens for beginners.

Here are some of the photos I took using the lens.

quite clear and the colors are quite ok. You can visit my another blog http://gabriel-utp.blogspot.com for more photos shot using the lens. :) If anyone is interested in buying the lens, do feel free to contact me. :) cheers.

First Post

hey there, this is my first post for this blog. The purpose of this blog will be blogging about all my opinions and learning on how to take presentable photographs and also some photoshop methods on editing photos. Anyone is welcome to comment and share their opinions. Hope you all will enjoy the upcoming posts! All the best!