Is this photograph a quality sharp image?

It seems OK to me.

The focal points on the Lion are a little strange. All the focus seems to be in the mane. It is fine though…Could just be someones shitty over editing job.

They appear to be the same to me.

But, what do I know….........I wear glasses.

Looks the same to me. Both are clear and sharp.

The lion looks sharper to me than snow leopard.

These are stock photo images. They are purchased at high resolution and used for many purposes from print ads, box displays, posters, screen savers, web promotions, etc…

Each different media must optimize the images specifically for that one purpose. Designers often forget (or don’t know) to optimize images for web. This is why photographers need to supply numerous versions that are optimized for specific purposes. One size does not fit all.

I am not in copyright violation because I’m not reselling anything to make a profit.

I’ve taken the liberty of optimizing the images above for web. Click the links to see the difference in an untouched stock photo vs one that is optimized for web view.

Leopard before and after.

Lion before and after.

Don’t forget to magnify when the image loads in your browser window. You won’t see the difference unless you magnify to 100%.

Here’s a tutorial for extreme image enhancement and optimization for web view. You can see the lengths we photographers go to to make images look their best. Magnify and scroll to the bottom to see final comparison. This was a job I shot last week for a Sports Nutrition Drink company.

Wooow…... great tutorial!! Thanks for putting in the time to do that! I love the transformation.

1600*1000 vs 980*554… and you are viewing them at what resolution? Desktop wallpapers are often distorted due to scaling/stretching. That right there trashes sharpness.

Also, the Snow Leopard has more colors than the Lion; that could also play tricks on the eye.. or the camera’s CCD

It’s not. the eyes should be sharp. that’s usually how you know an image is SHARP.

@Earthflag Yes initially it was the fur of the mane that made me skeptical. Even the finest piece of hair seems fuzzy! And I thought the focus might have been at its eyes even then it’s a bit wee bit fuzzed. Of course when I shrink the photo down to about 400px by 300px it looks fine.