Tack Sharp with Topaz Detail | The Flower Fields | Carlsbad, CA

First off, I want to send out huge thanks to all of you who purchased Topaz DeNoise (and other Topaz Labs products) using links from my website last month. Each of your purchases helps me keep this blog up and running!

Today I would like to share one of my favorite Topaz plug-ins: Topaz Detail. I’ve had this great tool in my photo toolbox for awhile and turn to it each time I need to give a photo a bit more definition and sharpness. It won’t fix a blurry photo (sorry), but it will bring out detail that you didn’t even know was there!

Below are a couple of examples using photos from last weekend’s visit to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad. In each of these photos I challenged myself to avoid the presets (not that there is anything wrong with them,  I often use them as a starting point) to see what this program is really capable of and to make full use of Detail’s ability to work independently with highlights and shadows as well as using the masking tools to apply detail only in certain areas.

Left – After Topaz Detail | Right – Before Topaz Detail

In this photo I used a very light touch. I shied away from making the flower look “crispy” and wanted to simply enhance the beautiful detail in the petals and fuzziness of the stem. I used the masking tools in Topaz Detail to ensure that the sharpening would only affect the red ranunculus, preserving the soft depth of field created by a wide aperture on my macro lens.

This next image almost didn’t make it to the blog. It was just a touch “soft”. Not out-of-focus, per-se…but I could have been a bit more generous with my depth-of-field/aperture setting. The ocean breeze didn’t help, either.

Above, I mention that Topaz Detail won’t fix a blurred photo, and I stand by that statement. BUT it can help tremendously if the data is there and simply just a hair soft:

Left – After Topaz Detail | Right – Before Topaz Detail

With Topaz Detail, I can suddenly see individual grains of pollen, the light reflecting off of the tiniest specs of moisture, and the middle of the flower now has the detail of a sea anemone! I think its pretty incredible!

Left – After Topaz Detail | Right – Before Topaz Detail

In this “after” image you see the added definition and the natural striations in each petal defined without the crunchiness so often found in over-sharp images.

Nature’s Ruffles

I titled this photograph “Nature’s Ruffles” because it looks like it would feel like the satin folds of a couture wedding dress…soft and supple, but with shape and definition.

Topaz Detail can work wonders on just about any type of photo. It does a fantastic job of amplifying detail in just the right places.

If you’d like to give Topaz Detail a try make sure you enter my coupon code “angandrieux” to save 15% on your purchase! Not quite ready to buy? Topaz also offers a free “test drive” of all of their products for 30 days, so please give it a try.

If you have any questions about Topaz Labs products, feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means that I may receive a commission if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase. I only share products that I believe will be valuable to my readers. All opinions are my own.