How to sharpen a photo that is at its limit?

Hi Everyone!

I come here for a little help, since this is not the first time something like this has happened. Three months ago I had never touched Photoshop or Camera Raw, but with time, private classes and a lot of rejected photos, I finally came up with a way to process the images and get them into the database.

I am still in the learning process so I come for your help: I had the attached photo rejected due to softness, however if I use the high frequency filter 0,1 more it starts to show edges.

Which would be a better way to sharpen this photo without compromising the quality? (I use the high frequency filter)

Is this a shot to be tossed off as unprocessable?

I put here the uploaded version.

Thank You Very Much!

Renato

Attached photos:

The High pass is my favorite sharpening method. One variation is to use a layer mask and only sharpen the bits that you want sharpened. In this case only sharpen the edges of the wing.

Sharpening should only be applied at the last stage of your workflow just before you save it. Some RAW Camera Styles will apply sharpening in-camera (Canon's Standard is one such culprit.) JPEGs will automatically sharpen as they are saved in camera, so eliminating these sources will give you a better chance with really problematic images.

This is the best source that I have found on sharpening, page 5 is notable

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/sharpen1/sharpen1.htm

Thanks for "ronbigelow.com". Somewhat difficult but worth the try.