Quick question about owl photo

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Bubbahotep

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I'm playing around with the new Topaz Photo AI. While I wish it allowed users greater control over the processing, like the subject sharpening in Sharpen AI, I think the resulting images are more detailed and resolved. I don't have the old image for you to compare the attached image to but I would like to hear what you think of the image's detail and rendering.

I apologize to those who feel this should have been posted in the Post Processing forum. I realized that after I had just posted and gotten my first response.

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Bubbahotep said:
I'm playing around with the new Topaz Photo AI. While I wish it allowed users greater control over the processing, like the subject sharpening in Sharpen AI, I think the resulting images are better. I don't have the old image for you to compare the attached image to but I would like to hear what you think of the image's detail and rendering.

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I think it looks great!👍
 
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Bubbahotep said:
I don't have the old image for you to compare the attached image to but I would like to hear what you think of the image's detail and rendering.
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I'd say the detail is fantastic as are the owl's colors. That's a fantastic image and great moment you captured there.

If I really wanted to work the image I might remove some of the dead branches in Photoshop which would take some careful work as they intersect the wings but really it's a very good image as it sits. I agree Topaz may have been a bit heavy handed with some of the sharpening that you might tune down using Topaz's masking feature but the image is very solid as is.

Nice work!
 
To my eye it is overdone a bit. I'd pull the effect back some to try for a more natural feel to the feathers.
 
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Butlerkid said:
If I want to apply Topaz to an image I am processing, I create a "composite" or "Merged" layer in PS CC. I can then apply the desired s/w and further modify it with either a mask or by adjusting the opacity level of the layer. At least that is how I did it the last time I needed Topaz......
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Thanks. I dialed back the sharpening in the Topaz program. Be aware that this is in Topaz Photo AI and not Topaz Sharpen AI: the user controls are different. Thankfully the Photo AI has a slider to manage sharpening. That said, I agree that the picture I posted earlier may be artificially sharp for some people's tastes including mine. I posted this for purposes of comparison.

Getting back to the big picture. I think the Topaz Photo AI gave this image the detail (perhaps too much) that I wasn't able to get with the Sharpen AI. Note to fellow forum users, my knowledge and usage of Sharpen AI is pretty rudimentary albeit better than a beginner's.

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You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
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Bubbahotep said:
Thanks. I dialed back the sharpening in the Topaz program. Be aware that this is in Topaz Photo AI and not Topaz Sharpen AI: the user controls are different. Thankfully the Photo AI has a slider to manage sharpening. That said, I agree that the picture I posted earlier may be artificially sharp for some people's tastes including mine. I posted this for purposes of comparison.

Getting back to the big picture. I think the Topaz Photo AI gave this image the detail (perhaps too much) that I wasn't able to get with the Sharpen AI. Note to fellow forum users, my knowledge and usage of Sharpen AI is pretty rudimentary albeit better than a beginner's.

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I agree. It’s a matter of taste and also who is the intended audience. Somewhat like jacking up the Saturation a little higher to create an eye-catching image. To a naturalist who is accustomed to a more natural look, the first image is probably a bit too much.

Both versions are stunners.
 
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Firstly that is an incredible image, amazing bird as well :D

As John says above this is really personal taste but I prefer images slightly less processed and/or sharpened, sometimes it is a difficult balance. Often they then look a bit soft, I often wrestle with them myself in this respect. Have you tried DXO Photolab at all, I've used most of them and this works very well for Nikon and Sony RAW files, DeepPRIME noise reduction is pretty impressive.
 
Bubbahotep said:
Thanks. I dialed back the sharpening in the Topaz program. Be aware that this is in Topaz Photo AI and not Topaz Sharpen AI: the user controls are different. Thankfully the Photo AI has a slider to manage sharpening. That said, I agree that the picture I posted earlier may be artificially sharp for some people's tastes including mine. I posted this for purposes of comparison.

Getting back to the big picture. I think the Topaz Photo AI gave this image the detail (perhaps too much) that I wasn't able to get with the Sharpen AI. Note to fellow forum users, my knowledge and usage of Sharpen AI is pretty rudimentary albeit better than a beginner's.

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Maybe my eye and others might not agree, but something is going on with the color balance for that second one, greener than the first. I agree it's a great image, but you asked for feedback....
 
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That may be something that my processing caused. I'm color blind so I'm not super sensitive to it. If someone points it out, I might see it but I can't guarantee that. That's one of many reasons that I don't do landscape photography other than having absolutely no composition sense as it comes to landscapes.
Snapquacky said:
Looks like maybe colour temperature has been reduced, slight blue to green tint 🤷‍♂️

Cracking image though, it really is.
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Bubbahotep said:
That may be something that my processing caused. I'm color blind so I'm not super sensitive to it. If someone points it out, I might see it but I can't guarantee that. That's one of many reasons that I don't do landscape photography other than having absolutely no composition sense as it comes to landscapes.
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That will certainly make it more of a challenge for you I am sure, good news is that the colours and tint look great to me in the first image, stick with that method I would say for colours.

I don't do mean spirited ☺️ just honest opinion, and that is honestly a cracking image, only wish I had the chance to capture one like it (y)
 
Bubbahotep said:
I reckon that I will survive that comment . Thanks.
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It could be the color space. Looking at the exif the greenish one has a code for "unknown color space" while the top one had color space 1. I don't know what 1 is for Windows photo, but suspect it is the "correct" srgb.
 
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Bubbahotep said:
That may be something that my processing caused. I'm color blind so I'm not super sensitive to it. If someone points it out, I might see it but I can't guarantee that. That's one of many reasons that I don't do landscape photography other than having absolutely no composition sense as it comes to landscapes.
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You might start by trying a white balance eyedropper click on a portion of the drying bark where the owl is planning to land. That should be close to a neutral gray tone and help if not completely eliminate the greenish color cast. I often warm images (slide the color temperature slider slightly towards the yellow end) images a tad from pure neutral but if there's a: black, white or gray item in the photograph one click with the color setting eyedropper can typically bring the image back to neutral and remove global color casts.

FWIW, you might check out some of the Dan Margulis books on Photoshop and color correction. He specifically gives examples of training color blind folks to do professional prepress color corrections based on things like the RGB or CMYK colors associated with common image elements and a by the numbers approach to color corrections for folks that can't do that visually. His books are available on Amazon but here's an overview of some of his work: http://www.moderncolorworkflow.com
 
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Super pictures, although I agree with the color balance issue. I use Topaz Studio 2 on my 2015 MacBook Pro. It has modules for noise reduction and sharpening, amongst other things. The sharpening has a slider, and I find it does a better and more pleasing job than sharpening in LR. However from what I have read, Studio 2 is no longer offered, and won't work on Apple silicon.
 
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