Sharpening tool - no noticeable result

[Mark30Croton]

Please don't think I'm insane. I'm shooting flowers and trying to sharpen them 

using the sharpening tools I don't see any visible changes no matter how far to the right I move them 

is this possible? 
what am I missing?

thanks

[JP Hess]

Are you viewing the image at 100% magnification rather than at normal viewing resolution? It is necessary to do so in order to see the effects of sharpening.

[Mark30Croton]

I am viewing it at 100%. 
the preview box doesn't change and the image doesn't change. 
pits certainly no sharper. 

[JP Hess]

Try holding the Opt as you adjust the different sharpening tools. That might help you visualize what the tools are doing. Sometimes, depending on the quality of the image, the effect of sharpening can be subtle.

[Mark30Croton]

I can see the mask making changes but boy is it subtle

I am trying to cure motion blur

What type of image does it work well with?

thanks for all your adcice

[Michael J. Hoffman]

The sharpening tools in Lightroom aren't designed to remove motion blur (that is, camera shake or slight movement of object like flowers in an outdoor environment). To do that, you'll be better off with Photoshop or an external plug-in that has that capability:

Reduce Image Blurring in Adobe Photoshop - Adobe Help

[Mark30Croton]

thank you - I will read the article.

I have had the same issues using Photoshop tools but I am also very inexperienced here

I am trying to solve motion blur

[richardplondon]

Motion blur tends to cause a complete loss of some kinds of detail within the photo. Either the item within the scene has moved during the exposure - for example, a flowerhead blown around by the wind -  and/or the entire scene has appeared to move, if the camera was not held steady during the exposure.

Any time we talk about detail we need to state what scale of detail we are considering, at which different tools will be of help. For example the most broad-brush way to enhance the overall sense of definition in a photo, is with "Clarity". For the intermediate scale, for a sense of local definition: "Texture". The finest details which occur as a matter of contrast between individual adjacent pixels, are tackled in the Details panel so far as both sharpening, and noise reduction - these two being good to tackle together, since they do affect each other. 

Unfortunately a photo showing the effect of significant shake or movement, may have no great amount of fine pixel level detail. There is in crude terms, nothing much there to sharpen so this is not really a postprocessing question, it is more of a photography question.

However, I do suggest experimenting a bit with Texture to see what difference that makes.

Also, if your intended usage of the image is at quite low resolution, e.g. as a small image on the web, perhaps the absence of very fine pixel level detail within what you see in LrC at 1:1, can be in practice disregarded. We just make the most of whatever capture we have! - or else, cut our losses.

[Mark30Croton]

unfortunately the camera shake tool was removed in 4/2022

[richardplondon]

Incidentally PS's camera shake reversal tool did seem almost miraculous (in what it promised), but in real world examples I did struggle to really benefit from that. Perhaps the nature of the actual shake in the photos I tried, as that varied across the frame (e.g. from a complex multiply twisting movement of the camera during exposure), was too inscrutable and too embedded, to reverse out successfully. 

[Mark30Croton]

Thanks all

I'm really trying to deal w slight movement of my hands while photographing. 
I guess there is no tool for that 

[elie_dinur]

I can commiserate with you. At 82 my hands are so shakey that when hand-holding I am forced to high shutter speeds and high ISO. I have found that the Topaz tools, Denoise AI and Sharpen AI, used as plugins in PS, can help a lot.

[Mark30Croton]

Thanks. I thought PS were better than Topaz. 

[Mark30Croton]

One more question. Is servo a tool to cope with shake? Does it refocus fast enough?

[GoldingD]

Tripod

[Mark30Croton]

in the backyard? just strolling around?

[JP Hess]

Your choice. How sharp do you want your images? That is an issue I have had to deal with my entire life, living with a disability. With my current camera, I have discovered a reasonable compromise photographing at ISO 320, f/8 for my handheld images. But if I'm particularly concerned about absolute sharpness I will always turn to the tripod, backyard strolling or not.

[Mark30Croton]

Thank you for this advice 

[Michael J. Hoffman · Accepted solution]

One more question. Is servo a tool to cope with shake? Does it refocus fast enough?

By @Mark30Croton

If, by servo, you mean the stabilization built into cameras or lenses, then yes, stabilization will help by giving you a couple of stops of additional room. If you could hold steady at 1/250s without stabilization, you may be able to get shake-free images at 1 stop (1/125s) or two stops (1/60s) lower than without (possibly more, depending on your gear and your personal steadiness).

If, by servo, you mean the servo mode of focusing, this probably won't help against shake, because shake is usually a side-to-side problem, while servo focus compensates for distance (toward and away).

[Mark30Croton]

Thanks 

I was asking about servo focusing. This answer really helped

[Michael J. Hoffman]

I have found that the Topaz tools, Denoise AI and Sharpen AI, used as plugins in PS, can help a lot.

By @elie_dinur

The Topaz tools in their latest versions are nothing short of amazing. The DeNoise is really good even after an initial pass by Lightroom, and the Sharpen tool is like magic. Still, you'll want to begin with the best image possible, so a tripod is surely the best way to start. If a tripod is too bulky (i.e. for travel) consider a Platypod, which is a really good way to get a steady platform with a small amount of space in your pack.

[JP Hess]

I mean, it's not fun having to turn to a tripod all the time. Believe me, I know. But at age 79 I have had to decide how badly I want sharp images. In many instances I can get away with my "standard" shooting combination. But if I'm really seeking the best I can do then the tripod has to be considered. Another alternative is to burst shoot and hope that one of the images is acceptable. In many shooting situations that has worked quite well. It all depends on the subject and what I'm willing to accept.

[Mark30Croton]

Understood. Thanks again 

[robs75233815]

The sharpening tool does not work properly. It makes miniscule adjustments. Putting the same image in photoshop and sharpening is immensely more effectove and works like the sharpening tool in past versions of Lightroom Classic. Im using LightroomProfessional-2.2.2-v10-vll on a mac osMonterey version 12.4. The sharpening tool in camera raw for Photoshop which is analogous to that of Lightroom works effectively. This has nothing to do with stabilization but is an Adobe coding error.

[TheDigitalDog]

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@robs75233815 wrote:

The sharpening tool does not work properly. It makes miniscule adjustments. Putting the same image in photoshop and sharpening is immensely more effectove and works like the sharpening tool in past versions of Lightroom Classic. 

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Apples and oranges, different data, different sharpening workflow. The sharpening (capture and output) in LR/ACR are based on this product (Pixel Genius’s PhotoKit Sharpener) and workflow, Photoshop without this product isn't:

http://creativepro.com/out-of-gamut-thoughts-a-sharpening-workflow/