Need help please. - DPChallenge Forums

04/12/2007 01:19:40 AM · #1

I am not too familiar with noise ninja etc - This picture...

Was taken a while ago on a Nikon D1 and is showing some bad noise issues - I was just wondering if anyone would be able to reduce the noise?
The Hi-res can be found here.
//i21.photobucket.com/albums/b268/jblaylockrayner/BLAINE-DONE-BW.jpg

Sorry that my editing skills are a little poor. I also want to get this picture to be printed pretty big - As big as it will go - I have heard of some programs that can help with images that need blowing up and can keep from blowing out?
Thanks again for any help or advice
Jeff

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

04/12/2007 03:37:30 AM · #2

i don't know anything about noise ninja, but have used neat image, which is similar. you can download a trial here.

i use ps to upsize my images, but there are specialty programs like genuine fractals that are professional grade.

cool shot. you might want to check out some of jon's work. he had a lot of fun with some similar artists last year

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

04/12/2007 03:52:51 AM · #3

I played with it just a bit. I don't have a profile for that Nikon camera so I used PS Noise Reduction instead. This was the result:

Btw, that link isn't to a Hi-Res file. It's only 72 DPI with the longest end being only 800 pixels. Also when I loaded it into Photoshop it told me the ICC profile was bad so I had to ignore that. So there maybe a subtle tone difference to your version. As for enlargements what Skip said is the most popular software to use for enlargements but I haven't found it to be that much better than Photoshop's Bicubic resampling.

04/12/2007 01:54:19 PM · #4

Thanks for the help guys - That noise reduction in PS looked amazing - I have heard of Genuine Fractals and will look into it more. As for the original - Looks like it was saved bad when I did it originally. This really is all I have to work with. I put the DPI up to 300.
Thanks again for your time guys - Much appreciated.
Jeff

04/12/2007 01:55:42 PM · #5

By the way I have PS CS - Does that have the noise reduction on it? If so where?
Cheers

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

04/12/2007 03:47:07 PM · #6

Originally posted by jblaylockrayner:

By the way I have PS CS - Does that have the noise reduction on it? If so where?
Cheers

under filters | noise ;-)

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

04/12/2007 04:34:03 PM · #7

Originally posted by Skip:

Originally posted by jblaylockrayner:
By the way I have PS CS - Does that have the noise reduction on it? If so where?
Cheers

under filters | noise ;-)

I think it's in CS2 only - I don't think CS had it.
:(

And Jeff, a 4500x3000 300dpi 77MB tif is uploading as I type.

brownsm

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/12/2007 04:40:00 PM · #8

Originally posted by Brad:

Originally posted by Skip:

Originally posted by jblaylockrayner:
By the way I have PS CS - Does that have the noise reduction on it? If so where?
Cheers

under filters | noise ;-)

I think it's in CS2 only - I don't think CS had it.
:(

I have CS, and it is indeed in there. Although I use Noise Ninja, which is amazing, but costs around $79.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

04/12/2007 11:19:43 PM · #9

I have looked under filters but only find despeckle and add noise - No reduction of any type?
Can I just say a big shout out to Brad who was so kind in enlarging my image and reducing the noise - A really big thank you.
Thanks to all who helped here - Seems like you can keep going on and on in Photoshop and still never learn all the tricks!
Again thanks all. Brad you are a star!
Cheers
Jeff

Blue Moon

Canon EOS-40D

04/12/2007 11:26:04 PM · #10

wow, looking at your work, I'm suprised you've never used noise reduction. I really recommend the trial of neatimage, it's quick, easy, and does an excellent job, especially with portraits.

04/12/2007 11:29:26 PM · #11

Originally posted by jblaylockrayner:

I have looked under filters but only find despeckle and add noise - No reduction of any type?

did you try any of them ;-) despeckle does wonders. you might even try it with a masked layer...

04/12/2007 11:33:42 PM · #12

You know what my PS skills are very poor - I don't even use layer masks. Still don't know how. Looks like I will be doing a course this year as I know it would help!
I did try despeckle but didn't do much?
Again thanks for the help Skip - I am looking into getting one of the programs mentioned above - Now have to find which is better - Noise ninja or neat image?
Cheers
Jeff

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

04/12/2007 11:49:09 PM · #13

NN vs NI is almost as bad as N vs C ... just depends on which one you find easiest to use; each has its own corp of bigots ;-)

here's a 'quick course' on layers; if you look around the site, there are probably some tutorials, etc.

-duplicate your base layer (ctrl-j on a pc)
-make your adjustments, apply a filter, reduce noise, or etc
-click the little button 2nd from left on the layers palette to create a mask
-from the edit menu, select fill and fill it with black (this 'hides' your edits on that layer)
-click on the paintbrush tool, make sure the color is white, and paint your edits back in. you can control flow of the brush, as well as opacity of the layer.

as good as you are, with the access you have, the eye you have for composition, the technical control you have over lighting, etc, you REALLY owe it to yourself to bring your ps skills up to the same level as your shooting skills. for the most part, i don't do hardly any post-processing for publications. however, every now and then, i have an assignment to turn in that will have an image that requires some special attention. i also prefer processing all of my clients prints. but that's just me ;-)

cheers,
skip

awpollard

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

04/13/2007 12:07:11 AM · #14

Noiseware Community Edition near the bottom of the page... Freeware (not trial) pretty easy to use and works well. The Community Version don't have everything the pro does obviously, and I think it strips the exif off too, which is why I upgraded.

Anyways, it is really easy with a lot of built in auto profiles.