Saved by Topaz

[Jonathan Huyer]

If you follow my Facebook page, the shot below is one that I just shared. But there's a backstory to it, which is a testimony to the power of Topaz Sharpen. Here's the shot I posted. It's a tack-sharp capture of a black skimmer doing a very high speed pass over a hyacinth macaw, on a beach in the Pantanal of Brazil.



The only "problem" with this picture is that I totally screwed up! I set the shutter speed too low, and the skimmer came out blurred. Here's the original:




When I saw the result in my camera, I kicked myself rather severely. But then I thought I'd run it through Topaz Sharpen, using the motion blur algorithm. I could not believe the results --- it completely saved the shot and corrected my egregious mistake. Paid for itself right there!

[Kayaker72]

Very glad that Topaz worked its magic. Great encounter you captured there!

[Joel Eade]

Topaz Sharpen AI is totally amazing .... great shot too!

[Busted Knuckles]

I need to learn how to use this.

[Jonathan Huyer]

It has a good interface with Lightroom. After making your normal adjustments, you can then edit your image in Topaz. The program pops open, and there are only a few options that you need to play with. It helps to have a fast computer that also has a good graphics chip; otherwise it can take a while to do its thing. When you finalize the image it is automatically loaded into Lightroom next to the original. Pretty slick.

[Joel Eade]

I have never been much of a LightRoom user but have used Topaz Sharpen AI for around 3 years now in Photoshop. It is a wonderful tool and there are many ways it can be used. I sometimes use it on just a small selection of an image like a bird's head. If you sharpen an entire image it does tax your computer a bit and can take a while to process but it's worth it.

[Jonathan Huyer]

Topaz DeNoise is a lot quicker to run and often provides enough sharpening on its own, so it’s usually my first choice. I really only use Sharpen if the photo already has very low noise, or I need a rescue operation . I’m still interested in the new Photo AI program which combines the two. I’m keen to see how it works and whether it’s worth the upgrade.

[Joel Eade]

I agree ... DeNoise comes first