Unsharp photography

eNo wrote:
Lately I've been wrestling with the question of whether I'm putting
too much emphasis on sharpening in my photos. See some of my musings
on the subject at http://esfotoclix.com/blog1/?p=702.

Why would anyone assume that everything in an image must be
"sharp"? From which comes the second question of why use
sharpening or USM uniformly for every part of an image?

The same questions apply to the use of "blur". It's usually
obvious that not every part of an image should be blurred,
right? But it should also be obvious that in some cases at
least part of an image being blurred will improve the overall
image.

And in the end, that means for any given image there are parts
that should be sharpened and parts that should be blurred. Any
process (such as in-camera sharpening) that mindlessly applies
either sharpening or blur to an entire image is an abdication of
potential, it's like throwing up your hands and declaring an
inability to accomplish the desired result!

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)