I'm an idiot - need help fixing digital photo's

[Computerpro3]

Well I went to the NY autoshow today and took tons of great pictures. The thing is that I took my friends Powershot S3 point and shoot instead of the Rebel XT that I'd been shooting with lately.

Needless to say, the Powershot has about 1/1000th of the iso performance of the Rebel, and shooting with an ISO of 400 on the powershot just about ruined all of my pictures. On the Rebel it's barely noticable!

So now that I have a couple of hundred of grainy pictures, is there any way to at least reduce the effect? Thanks in advance...

 

[Mrvile]

There's a really nice standalone program called Neat Image, and a Photoshop plugin called Noise Ninja. Both are top-of-the-line noise reduction programs and should hopefully take care of your problem. Neither of them are free, but I think you can download a trial version of Neat Image.

 

[steviebee]

You could try a freebie called Picasa (go to google -it's theirs). Can't remember if it has a grain fix, but it's pretty neat - organises all your pics too...

& Noise Ninja x2

 

[Arainach]

Noise reduction is possible. The problem is that there's a direct correlation between noise and sharpness. An increase in one results in a decrease in the other. No way around it. Personally, I almost always prefer a sharp grainy shot over a blurry smooth one.

 

[Mrvile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach /img/forum/go_quote.gif Noise reduction is possible. The problem is that there's a direct correlation between noise and sharpness. An increase in one results in a decrease in the other. No way around it. Personally, I almost always prefer a sharp grainy shot over a blurry smooth one.

That's where the intuition of said programs comes in. Photoshop's noise reduction is acceptable, but far from the best. Noise Ninja and Neat Image are much better in recognizing the difference between flat noise and detail, and the reduction retains a lot more detail than Photoshop can. There are also several options with the programs you can alter to affect how much noise is reduced, what type of noise, etc etc.

 

[mbriant]

I'm assuming you mean noisy when you say grainy? I use noise ninja. It won't work miracles but it can definitely help. If you get noise reduction software, be sure to make it the very first adjustment you make to the photo in post production. If you shot RAW, you could also try leaving the shots slightly dark. The noise gets more pronounced the lighter you make the photo. They might look better slightly dark and moody with less noise, than properly exposed with more noise.

One other thing you might try is turning the shots into B&W. Noise tends to look more like grain in B&W and B&W grainy photos are something people are used to seeing.

 

[Mrvile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm assuming you mean noisy when you say grainy? I use noise ninja. It won't work miracles but it can definitely help. If you get noise reduction software, be sure to make it the very first adjustment you make to the photo in post production. If you shot RAW, you could also try leaving the shots slightly dark. The noise gets more pronounced the lighter you make the photo. They might look better slightly dark and moody with less noise, than properly exposed with more noise. One other thing you might try is turning the shots into B&W. Noise tends to look more like grain in B&W and B&W grainy photos are something people are used to seeing.

B&W auto show photos? Man, I want those scorching red Ferraris to BURN MY EYES!!

 

[mbriant]

In the imortal words of Mick Jagger and my mom: You can't always get what you want.

 

[Davesrose]

Noise is a very tough thing to deal with in post production. I think the best way to fix it is to spend a lot of time in Photoshop, with a graphics tablet. You have to know Photoshop pretty well for this....but noise is most apparent in dark areas of the photo. I would duplicate the layer and apply dust and scratch filter. It's going to make things look blocky, but at least they'll be solid colors. I would then also duplicate another layer and just gussian blurr that layer. You should be looking for a slight blending of the noise, and it will be OK if the outlines are blurry. Now comes the "creative" part. You need the original photo to show the outlines...the blurred layer will be more of the highlights and midtones, and the dust and scratch layer should be reserved just for shadows. So you have to make some masks and paint in the details of the original photo into the blurred layer. And for any areas that still have noise, you need to mask the blurred layer to the dust and scratch layer.

 

[mbriant]

The easiest, quickest, and best thing may be to go back to the auto show and re-shoot.

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif The easiest, quickest, and best thing may be to go back to the auto show and re-shoot.

Well that's the easy way!!!

 

[Samgotit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif Noise is a very tough thing to deal with in post production. I think the best way to fix it is to spend a lot of time in Photoshop, with a graphics tablet. You have to know Photoshop pretty well for this....but noise is most apparent in dark areas of the photo. I would duplicate the layer and apply dust and scratch filter. It's going to make things look blocky, but at least they'll be solid colors. I would then also duplicate another layer and just gussian blurr that layer. You should be looking for a slight blending of the noise, and it will be OK if the outlines are blurry. Now comes the "creative" part. You need the original photo to show the outlines...the blurred layer will be more of the highlights and midtones, and the dust and scratch layer should be reserved just for shadows. So you have to make some masks and paint in the details of the original photo into the blurred layer. And for any areas that still have noise, you need to mask the blurred layer to the dust and scratch layer.

Dave, Dave, Dave... knowing I have my very own Photoshop tutor just a few Wacom pen taps away may get very annoying for you.

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samgotit /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dave, Dave, Dave... knowing I have my very own Photoshop tutor just a few Wacom pen taps away may get very annoying for you.

Sam, I'll only give you Photoshop tips if you give me macro photography tips