Nikon D60 Photos

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Hear, hear - I agree with every word of that. I also wanted to explain why stock libraries ask for unsharpened images. This is not because image buyers want to use them unsharpened, it is because sharpening should always be the last thing done to an image.

That's right - you sharpen for output. Sharpening will be different for (say) a 1024 pixel wide image for web display at 72dpi, to one printed on A4 at 300dpi. As only the customer will decide how the image will be displayed, they should do the final sharpening.

And yes, they have some pretty strict rules on what manipulation is allowed and specify that they will want to see the raw files for any winning entries. They also say that if you're shooting in jpeg to start with then they want to see the original un-edited jpeg but I don't see how they can tell...

4. If an image reaches the final round of judging you must supply the following:

• RAW file (e.g. *.NEF, *.CR2, *.CRW), or original JPEG as captured by the camera. DNG files are only permitted if DNG is the native RAW format of the camera.

So what did they do with black and white prints from film? Did they want to see the negs, to check if the print had been dodged and burnt or an unsharp mask applied - all of which have counterparts in digital imaging? How could they check that acutance enhancing techniques hadn't been used when developing the negs themselves? The one where (IIRC) you let the unexhausted developer in the shadows diffuse across to the highlights - thus enhancing edge contrast, is a direct 'chemical equivalent' to digital edge sharpening.

Jim