Red Knot, worn adult ~ Nickerson Beach
1/600 sec. at f/5.6, ISO 2000
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION
I have recently received several emails regarding high ISO and noise 
. One thing that I like to do in low light situations when I have to crank my ISO up is to make sure that I expose as far to the right as I can. I am shooting with the Canon 1D Mark III and each camera body will be a little different. My keeper rate in low light situations when using higher ISO has gone up considerably since I have been trying to “slightly” over expose my images especially when there are some dark tones in the image. Fill flash would be good to use in this situation too. If you click on the image to see the larger version you can see that there is a slight amount of noise visible but I have not used (and never do) any special noise software other than what is found in Photoshop. I processed this image with CS3. I have CS3, CS4 and CS5 and have never felt the need for additional noise reduction software. On occasion I will give a double round of noise reduction or use my surface blur technique; Setting the Radius at 3 and the Threshold at 6. I may adjust those values when needed and I apply it selectively only to the background as I do with my regular noise reduction. Anyway I like the high-key look and I hope that this may help a few folks with some of their noise issues.
______________________________________________________________ denise ippolito
Red Knot ~ Nickerson Beach
1/600 sec. at f/5.6, ISO 2000
*Please note that I would not have evicted the second bird had it been closer to the other one and farther from the edge of the frame. Also the reflection is not good therefore there is no reason to include it. Canvas was added to the top.
PS-I consider this image a marginal keeper.
NEWS:
Check out my guest blog post for Topaz Labs
My October 15th workshop for ESP is FULL. I will be conducting a SECOND WORKSHOP the day after the original date which will be on Sunday the 16th. This will be a 4 hour hands on photography workshop. We will explore the many creative aspects of Eastern State Penitentiary. ESP is a dilapidated old prison that once housed Al Capone. The long hallways and natural streams of light offer many spectacular photo opportunities. We will work on composition and image design, HDR image capture as well as creative effects in-camera. This will be a fun and interesting workshop.
DATE: Saturday October 16th
TIME: 10:00am – 2:00 pm public area
COST: $150.00 includes all fees
Place: Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia PA.
Limited Spaces Available
Join Denise Ippolito and Scott Vincent for their Manhattan Skyline Workshop on the evening of October 8th 2011. Scott Vincent has been photographing at this location for many years and has figured out all the tips and tricks for successful pre-sunset, twilight and post-sunset images. Together they will lead a knowledgeable, exciting and fun workshop full of diversity. By the end of the workshop, you will have learned how to see like the camera does for night-time photography, and you will come away with both iconic and one-of-a-kind creative images.
Location: Weehawkin, NJ
Date: October 8th 2011 with a rain date of- October 9th
Time: 5:00pm sharp-8:30pm
Cost: $195.00 pp
A sturdy Tripod is highly recommended. Now is the time to bring out your wide angle, zoom, fixed and fisheye lenses. We will work on composition, long exposures, stitched panoramas, HDR’s and blurs.
e-mail me for more information.
Don’t forget to enter ~ THE BIRDS AS ART 1st International Bird Photography Competition.
FOR DETAILS
Thanks very much for the advice. Beautiful transformation from the original to the final.
Thank you Don, I appreciate you stopping by.
denise
I almost never use noise reduction. I’m not nearly as “offended” by noise, especially luminance noise, as some people are. I do however take EXTREME care when sharpening an image that has noise in it. Sharpening should only be selectively applied to areas that really need it, less the noise be exacerbated. I think that most people’s complaints about excess noise comes from either 1) underexposing dark areas and then raising them in PP and 2) applying crude, global sharpening, which does nothing but make the noise more apparent. That’s why I turn off ALL default sharpening in raw processors and in the camera (nikon capture NX will read the in-camera parameters and apply them to create the default raw conversion…then you can modify them in the raw converter).
Thank you for commenting Mary. I do think that improper or global sharpening can add to noise issues and that is a good point that we should take special care not to add to the noise in post processing.
denise
Good advice from Mary. Exposing to the right is always a good plan. Here you have achieved the beautiful high key/soft light look that you use so often.
Thanks Artie, I appreciate your comments as always
.
denise
Great explanation…thank you! And of course a fantastic image.
Thanks Edith, I appreciate the comment and the tweet!
denise
Wonderful image and an even better explanation of technique. I really enjoy your style.
Do you ever do workshops in the PNW?
Raleigh, Thank you for the kind words. I would love to do some workshops in the PNW. I don’t have any scheduled at this time but maybe in the near future
.
denise
Let me know when…please
Raleigh, I will definitely let you know when
denise
Denise, great image and noise reduction tips. Hope the workshops go well. I will make it out to ESP one day. Your images from there continually blow me away!
Thanks Andrew, Hope to be able to show you around the place one day!
denise
Very interesting write up Denise. I appreciate the tip. I love the high key appearance!
Thank you Philip, I appreciate the kind words.
denise
Thanks for another helpful tip, Denise. The final image really came out nicely.
Thank you for taking the time to comment, it is much appreciated.
denise
Thanks so much for the information, Denise. The final image is terrific!
Thanks so much Ted, I appreciate it
denise
Another wonderful image and great information on your PS management of the raw capture. Your before and after images remind me of Artie Morris’ recent blog post “Something from Nothing” where you were able to pull a real stunner out of an image many of us might be tempted to delete. I think of your techniques and strategies more like “developing” an image by seeing its potential and working with it rather than “fixing” it in Photoshop. Thanks for another gem and sharing your style, methods and rationale for image management and optimization. All the best for your upcoming workshops!
Dave, Thank you very much for the kind words. I do hope our paths cross again, I still want to see your Bosque slide show.
denise
I have a pretty high tolerance for noise in an image, perhaps because I like low-light photography but hate tripods!. Still, getting the exposure right in camera can solve, or at least reduce, a whole host of problems. (And by ‘right’, I mean ‘the right exposure for the effect you want to achieve’, as opposed to any absolute value.)
Totally agree!
denise