But, first a couple of quick caveats:

Caveat #1
Like anything, this tool shouldn’t be used in all scenarios, just as you wouldn’t use a hammer to fix your computer…no matter how much you really, really want to sometimes. But, a real example would be when sharpening a close up portrait shot of a woman. Special consideration is needed here because sharpening can accentuate the pores in the skin or any imperfections. Women tend to be more discerning when it comes to photos, especially when they are the subject. And, trust me, if you’re in the business of portrait photography, you want to keep your female clients very happy because it’s usually them that drag their boyfriends or husbands in (usually kicking and screaming) to get portraits done. But, I digress (I do that a lot). I’ll at some point cover how to subtly sharpen portraits of women.

Caveat #2
You should never, EVER work on the original image file. Make a copy and work on it. The reasons for doing this should be obvious. I’ll freely admit that I’m guilty of doing this sometimes by accident. Do as I say, not as I do!

All right, here’s what you have to do:

Many pictures, especially those taken while not on a tripod, need a very slight sharpening or what I call de-hazing. Even if you can’t readily see it upon initial inspection, just follow these instructions and you may be surprised to notice that your photo did indeed need a little something.

Step 1
Open a photograph in Photoshop. Hit ctrl + J (cmd + J for Macs) twice to create two duplicate layers of the background (I never work on the original background layer because I like to quickly look back on the original when I’m done to see the differences).

Step 2
With the top layer selected, go under Filter>>Other>>High Pass on the top menu.

Step 3
When the High Pass dialogue box opens I usually select a radius between 1.0 – 3.0 pixels. Remember, you’re going for subtle sharpening. When accentuating any photo the general rule to follow is less is more. In this instance I selected 2.0, but it was more so that you would be able to more easily see the difference in the end. I would normally have used 1.0 if really editing this photo.

Step 4
In the layers view, still with the top layer selected, simply select Overlay from the option box.

And there you have it. Notice the pattern on the helmet to really see the difference (No, that’s not moire. The helmet had that pattern on it).

Of course there are about as many sharpening techniques as there are photographers, and many have their uses in different scenarios. I don’t usually use this technique in people shots despite my example above. I usually use this technique for nature or wildlife type shots. It just seems to work well in those scenarios.

Credit where credit is due:
I was introduced to this technique years ago by a graphic designer/photographer buddy of mine, Scott Doubt.