Noise Reduction by the book

ginger_55

Digital Photography Expert Techniques by Ken Milburn
Using LAB, channels, with Gaussein Blue on channels a & b, USM on lightened
channel

I don't think it pops anymore, do you? These are the same, one is framed the other one isn't. I thought the frame emphasized the noise factor. I put the unframed one on the Challenge. I am worried about the lack of pop, though, but if I make it pop, it overcomes the boat.






W gaussein blur and soft light at 30% added (trying for some pop)

johnnydanger

I like this shot because of it's 'vintage' sort of qualities. For some reason it really reminds me of an old 50s color book where the images have a certain sort of oversaturated and noisy quality to them. I tweaked your shot a little bit. Not sure if it's the direction you want to go, but I like the overexaggerated colors and more shadow detail. I ended up doing Photoshop CS Shadows +20, Brightness/contrast +2/+8, and saturation +5. I also rotated the image .5 degrees clockwise as the original looked a touch tilted to me. I don't mind the noise at all. To tell you the truth it looked fairly good in BW except that it's a little flat with most of the greys being right in the middle of the spectrum. What really sells the shot is the colored light mixing on the water. Oh yeah I burnt the lower left and right corners and some of the bottom edge too to give the image a little more depth. Just an idea. Whaddya think?

ginger_55

johnnydanger wrote:

I like this shot because of it's 'vintage' sort of qualities. For some reason it really reminds me of an old 50s color book where the images have a certain sort of oversaturated and noisy quality to them. I tweaked your shot a little bit. Not sure if it's the direction you want to go, but I like the overexaggerated colors and more shadow detail. I ended up doing Photoshop CS Shadows +20, Brightness/contrast +2/+8, and saturation +5. I also rotated the image .5 degrees clockwise as the original looked a touch tilted to me. I don't mind the noise at all. To tell you the truth it looked fairly good in BW except that it's a little flat with most of the greys being right in the middle of the spectrum. What really sells the shot is the colored light mixing on the water. Oh yeah I burnt the lower left and right corners and some of the bottom edge too to give the image a little more depth. Just an idea. Whaddya think?

I will tell you Johnny Danger..... that is about the best "how to do it" critique I think I have ever gotten.

I do like what you have done. I hope I can figure out which one of my shots that is. I did a few more before I realized that at 2 or 3 AM, after a bunch of PS, I was no longer doing any good to anything, and I went to bed. So I hope to be able to pick this out.

I love that you didn't just "fix" it and say, "see I can do better", not that anyone has ever said that, but I have gone nuts trying to copy other people's work, when I had no idea what they did, except that it was better. You told me how. I thank you so much.

When I know I am just right ready, I will try to find that photo and follow your lead. Thank you, and I appreciate that you like that strange, as you call it, "old fashioned" color thing. I have a bunch of prints that I have made, I never print, can't afford it, but I did that one to see which one printed better. Amazingly the prints are so similar that what seems a major thing on the screen does not seem to make much difference to my printer.

But yesterday I was looking at them, and I thought I really like that "look", and I am just going to take one of my prints down and frame it........some day. They are 7.5 X 5s, with the rest of the page in white, should be able to put one in a cheap 8 X 10 frame. I am glad that you picked up on that look and like it too, it is how the print wants to go naturally, to go otherwise is kind of a battle. So I am glad someone else likes it. And I am glad you gave me the coordinates.

Good Morning, ginger

ginger_55

johnnydanger wrote:

I like this shot because of it's 'vintage' sort of qualities. For some reason it really reminds me of an old 50s color book where the images have a certain sort of oversaturated and noisy quality to them. I tweaked your shot a little bit. Not sure if it's the direction you want to go, but I like the overexaggerated colors and more shadow detail. I ended up doing Photoshop CS Shadows +20, Brightness/contrast +2/+8, and saturation +5. I also rotated the image .5 degrees clockwise as the original looked a touch tilted to me. I don't mind the noise at all. To tell you the truth it looked fairly good in BW except that it's a little flat with most of the greys being right in the middle of the spectrum. What really sells the shot is the colored light mixing on the water. Oh yeah I burnt the lower left and right corners and some of the bottom edge too to give the image a little more depth. Just an idea. Whaddya think?

I took a bit of the bright out. That was all. I just am not satisfied, or I wasn't. It didn't look like it was dark, that is why I made it less bright. Then I framed it without making a copy before the framing, smile. So this is what I have and put on the Challenge now. I want my camera back, and I want my husband, too, either to go with me and shoot and protect me , from harm, or to baby sit the dogs. I swear I would go out by myself right now if I thought I could, but the dogs have been alone all afternoon. And I have to remind myself that I don't have the Rebel for awhile.:cry




I did this to see if my attempt is close to Johnny's attempt. I think it is, but I want to make sure.

ginger (Thank you so much, JohnnyDanger)

johnnydanger

Looks good to me. I'm a big fan of texture and light/colors. I think I get caught up in it so much that often times I come up with a nice to look at photo that doesn't really have any purpose. But, I always seem to like those shots. Your pic has good balance, nice texture of the water from nitty gritty little ripples to smooth stretched looking areas all of which is contrasted by the softness of the sky. I could imagine that you could get somewhat better conditions with a sky that had more going on and maybe a full moon or some such thing to add an extra light source and tone to the photo so that the non-lit areas were less flat, but all in all I like it. Just the restrained quality of the color and how it mixes is quite nice.