Evaluate My Photo

[Siki]

Nemo (Spinecheek Anemonefish)

1. There is some kind of orange colored artifact all over the anemone’s tentacles. It was there in the original and was made worse when I sharpened.

2. Is this noise? If not, what is it?

3. What can I do to avoid or minimize it?

4. What overall suggestions and impressions to you have to make this shot better?

[canuckamuck]

this image has too much noise. This is usually created when there is not enough light to make a good exposure with optimal camera settings. usually the camera or the photographer compensates by adjusting the iso or light sensitivity of the camera. Some cameras are better with low light than others. A camera on full automatic setting will sometimes adjust the iso without your knowledge. It is good to check your settings and learn your cameras quirks.

You could check to see if your iso is set to the lowest setting, usually around 100. The lowest setting is frequently the most optimal for getting images with less noise. Sharpening a picture with noise makes the noise more prominent.

There is very little you can do about noise once you have it. There are filters in photoshop that work a bit but mainly the cost is image sharpness. I have applied some noise reduction here, and I tried to eliminate some of the orange artifacting.

Other than that, the subject of the photo is also to far into the corner of the frame. A single object in the extreme corner is rarely an effective compostion.

You probably already know that though.

Edited April 26, 2009 by canuckamuck

[Maverell]

Just a quicky - in my opinion the best program for noise reduction is 'Neat Image' - google it. You can get a version for free as long as its not for commercial use - try it out. If it works for you it might be worth investing in it.

[Siki]

Hi Canuckamuck:

Your image is much better than I would have thought possible. The color of the tentacles is off but maybe this was necessary to cut down the noise.

What did you do? Did you use some of the noise reduction features built in to Photoshop and/or Camera RAW? I have not experimented with these things

At the time this photograph was shot (over a year ago), I was not saving my raw files. So, I have no way of determining if the noise is due to the way the picture was shot or the small size sensor in my compact digital camera.

I appreciate these comments and I can’t tell you how much better this is than flubbing around by myself. The only time I am around photographers is when I go on a dive trip.

I may try the suggested program, “Neat Image” and post the results.

Thanks

Siki

[Siki]

Here is Nemo after processing him with Neat Image noise reduction software.

The program is easy to use and quite intuitive. It seems to me that this software did make some difference although Nemo may be too noisy to save.

Comments?

[canuckamuck]

Hi Canuckamuck:

Your image is much better than I would have thought possible. The color of the tentacles is off but maybe this was necessary to cut down the noise.

What did you do? Did you use some of the noise reduction features built in to Photoshop and/or Camera RAW? I have not experimented with these things

At the time this photograph was shot (over a year ago), I was not saving my raw files. So, I have no way of determining if the noise is due to the way the picture was shot or the small size sensor in my compact digital camera.

I appreciate these comments and I can't tell you how much better this is than flubbing around by myself. The only time I am around photographers is when I go on a dive trip.

I may try the suggested program, "Neat Image" and post the results.

Thanks

Siki

I just played with noise reduction in photoshop and adjusted the overall color of the tentacles to eliminate some of the orange artifact that you didn't like.

I think you will find the noise is because of low light, I doubt the camera creates that much noise under normal conditions.

[yumidesign]

Nemo (Spinecheek Anemonefish)

1. There is some kind of orange colored artifact all over the anemone’s tentacles. It was there in the original and was made worse when I sharpened.

2. Is this noise? If not, what is it?

3. What can I do to avoid or minimize it?

4. What overall suggestions and impressions to you have to make this shot better?

noise aside (the color transfer and unsharpness does not detract.... your pic is ok...... the composition has a good balance between the fish and the background green tentacles