Photo Walks Today

In part one and two we talked about the camera, and what you can do while shooting to prevent noise. However, there are times that noise will appear on the final image. All is not lost! With today’s sophisticated software digital camera noise can be removed during post production.

Depending on which software suite you have, you may not need to purchase more.

Of course, if you are a professional photographer I’m sure you have the latest version of Adobe Photoshop if not (CS4 is due out soon). Look under filters for the noise removal tab.

For those serious shutterbugs, who haven’t forked over $700. + for the full Photoshop, don’t despair. Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 has the noise canceling filter as well. Look under filters and you’ll find the noise adjustment. I’ve used the filter adjustment, but don’t like it as much as I do the software called Noise Ninja.

Noise Ninja can be used as a stand alone application or you can install it as a plug in for Photoshop. It even has some preset profiles for individual cameras used at various ISO’s. Making the whole process painless.

It takes a few extra steps to use the software as a stand alone application. I prefer it that way, it takes extra time, but helps me focus on what I’m doing. I prepare the image and convert it to JPEG. Then, before sharpening, I take it to Noise Ninja for removal. One thing I don’t want is to sharpen the noise – LOL.

There are other noise removing software packages out there as well. You may find you prefer one over the other. Truthfully, I haven’t tried them. I like N.N. and haven’t explored more. That said, here’s a short list of others I’ve heard that are rated well by users:

• ABSoft Neat Image
  www.neatimage.com
• NoiseWare Pro
  http://www.imagenomic.com/
• ISO DeNoise Filter
  http://www.digitalsecrets.net/secrets/denoiseISO.html
• Alien Skin Image Doctor (more than just noise removal)
  http://www.alienskin.com/imagedoctor/index.aspx

If you have a favorite noise removing tool, please post a link and a comment.

Kodak Easy Share Digital Camera

Do you want to take sharp photos without slogging through a manual? Then this class is for you. We’ll cover the basics every camera owner needs to know to get the maximum enjoyment from their camera, including camera settings; composition; moving images from camera to computer; removing red-eye; storing images on your computer; printing and sharing them with others.

Where: North Community College at the Whitman Middle School
                 Seattle WA
     When: Monday, Oct 20, 2008
      Time: 6:30 – 9:30 PM
     Price: $45.00

To sign up: via web: http://www.learnatnorth.org
or call: (206) 527-3705 
Class Title: Digital Photography Without Reading The Manual

There are a few techniques photographers use to reduce camera noise.

1.  ISO – on all digital cameras there is an ISO setting which tells the camera how sensitive to light it must be. The lower numbers, like ISO 100 or 200 indicate that you are taking the photo in a bright, well lit area. Examples: A sunny day at the ball game, a bright overcast day during the fall or summer or standing on a theatre stage.  When you are faced with lower light situations – the night ball game, or fast moving action like winter soccer games you can change the ISO to a higher number. Like 400, 800, 1200 and depending on the camera maybe higher. This gives you the ability to capture the action, but the trade-off is a very noisy image.
2. Exposure time – Another time your camera will produce noisy image happens when you push your exposure times. An example might be an after sunset shot, where the exposure time may be 15 to 30 seconds. I’ve found my camera produces noisier shots the longer the shutter is left open. It might be better to trade a little depth of field and open the lens up to a larger F/stop and shorten the exposure time.
3. Noise reduction setting when you extend the ISO and exposure times many digital cameras have a noise reduction setting inside the menu command. Be sure to toggle it on before the shot. Turn it off for other shots. I’ve heard many cameras produce very noisy looking photos if the setting is left on under normal conditions.
4. Don’t push your camera optics you should avoid shooting with your zoom extended to the maximum. Especially if you didn’t pay for the top of the line lens. My 75-300mm zoom telephoto lens starts degrading and producing ‘noisey’ looking photos at around 200mm. I can get the shot, but lose the sharp detail. Try using your sneaker zoom to move closer if detail matters.
5. Watch the light angles – shooting into the light is much more likely to produce a poor image, but with a digital you are even more likely to get a grainy looking ‘pushed’ look. Can you aide the exposure by using your flash in this case?
6. Buy the best camera you can afford – larger sensors, better glass optics and engineering helps produce the sharpest photo possible. If you plan on selling your photos, or want high quality enlargements you’ll be much happier spending the time and money on a higher end digital SLR. There are many Prosumer digital cameras out there. Don’t mistake their design for quality. The lower priced digital SLR camera generally have smaller sensors. While the sensors are bigger than their point and shoot brothers, they may still not be big enough to produce a noise free image.

All is not lost if you have a camera that produces noisy or grainy images. In the next post I’ll talk about how to reduce noise in post processing. (When you are editing it in your computer software).

I hate camera noise. While it’s not a problem with small, low resolution photos shared on the web, it can be a big problem when you enlarge the photo and print it out.

What is noise? It’s those color speckles (that looks like grains of sand) that show up in skies or light spots in your photos.

A sample of what camera noise looks like

What causes noise? Noise is caused when the image is recorded on the sensor of a digital camera.

There are several causes for noise, including what type of camera (sensor) you have. Generally, the higher end Digital SLR cameras produce less noise because they use the higher quality and larger sensors.

 While a number of factors that cause noise are  within the photographers control, others not.
For instance heat generated ‘free electrons’ from the sensor itself can cause noise. And, again the type of digital camera you have.

Ways to control noise is my mission these days – especially after the weekend shot that created a bunch of useless photos!

Over the next few posts I’m going cover a few techniques I’ve learned for controlling noise.

This is important for a couple of reasons – one is simply to get the sharpest, best looking enlargement for you favorite subject. Another reason to control noise is producing high quality images that I can submit to iStock or shutterstock or sell at one of the other microstock agencies.

Tomorrow I’ll cover a few simple techniques to keep noise at a minimum

Friday, October 17, 2008 10:00 am
Pacific Daylight Time
1 hour

Professioinal photographer Harold Davis will show why night photography has become so popular among digital photographers. He’ll teach exposure techniques for night time photography and explain how to post-process them.

Harold will be available for Q&A at the end of the presentation.

I can hardly wait! I’ve had mixed success with night photography. I love the results, but want to learn more about how to improve the shots and reduce noise (my new arch enemy) caused by long night exposures.

More information or to sign up: click here to sign up for the night photography webinar

About Harold Davis
Harold Davis is a photographer and author. His photographs have been widely published, exhibited, and collected. Many of his fine art photography posters are well known, including some recent alternatively processed digital flower images published by New York Graphic Society.

The author of more than twenty books, Harold has written (and illustrated with his photographs) Digital Photography: Digital Field Guide (Wiley), The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite and the High Sierra (Countryman/W.W.Norton), 100 Views of the Golden Gate (Wilderness Press). He is the lead author of a new series of books about digital photography from O’Reilly Digital Media.

Sara is a great speaker but this photo is too noisy to use

I just returned from a weekend conference. I took my camera along in the hopes of getting a few photos I might be able to sell as micro-stock.

One of the problems we face as photographers when shooting seminars is low light. To add to the challenge are speakers who move. To prevent this a photographer has a choice, set your camera on a fast ISO to make the camera more sensitive to light – and allow faster shutter speeds to keep the subject from being blurry – or to use a flash with a lower ISO. The trade-off when using a flash is that it is very disruptive to the class and the speaker.

Well, I decided I wanted the best photos possible, so I choose to use a flash. I carefully asked attendees, speakers and the organizer if they minded and everyone agreed.

Just before the event started I wanted to grab a quick shot of a group in a lower light situation, so changed my ISO to 800. That allowed me to capture the shot, keep the subject in focus and not use a tripod. The trade-off, I knew would be a very noisy photo. I knew it, but felt it was OK because the shot was going to be for web use, but not for printing.

Then I got to talking to conference attendees, and a number of other things tugged at my attention – and, you guessed it, I forgot to change the ISO back. The results? Mostly good photos, fine for web use, but not very professional looking – and definitely not usable for selling. Drat! Conference photographs are very good sellers on the micro-stock circuit.

The lesson – learn your camera. When you are photographing in a professional capacity – well, just do one thing at a time – remember your purpose, that’s to take pictures. Once you have a few good photos put the camera away and then start enjoying the seminar.

I just read a few great tips from PopPhoto blog - thought I’d pass them along:

Dog Photos Done Right
Follow these tips and your pooch just may become a photographer’s best friend
Use a higher shutter speed and higher ISO when photographing a black dog indoors. Consider using an additional light source or a fill-flash to enhance the details in the dog’s face.

• Front steps provide a clean, textured background for your portrait.

• Placing small dogs up on a bench provides you greater control over your subject and allows you to be eye-level with the dog. The bench also provides a textured background for your pictures.

• To get the classic dog-head tilt, play a musical instrument such as a harmonica, or make a high-pitched sound.

• Profiles make dogs look more serious, so you should determine whether that keeps with your subject’s personality.

Adapted from PhoDOGraphy
How to Get Great Pictures of Your Dog by Kim Levin. (amphoto books,2008;$18)