Uber Noise Reduction

One of the tools in Lightroom 3 that have been talked about since the release of the Public Beta 2 version of Lightroom 3 has been the noise reduction slider in the Details pallet of the Develop Module. I am here to tell you, the hype was worth the wait. It is really cool.

I was in my hotel room and took the following images with my Canon G9 of the closest thing I could think of, my MacBook Pro.

These first two images were shot AT 1/125 AND F/2.8. Both were at an ISO of 1600. This is normally an unusable image as seen in the image above. Enter Lightroom 3’s new noise reduction. The bottom image is not a different shot, it is the same one only after noise reduction has been applied.

So how does this compare to a lower ISO image. Below is 1/6 second (not bad for hand holding) at f/2.8 and ISO of 100. This effectively reduced the light sensitivity of the sensor requiring a longer exposure for the same aperture.

The tonality is slightly different between the two shots but then the exposure ratio did not remain constant. I was just trying to sho the difference between the cameras relatively good ISO 100 performance vs the cruddy ISO 1600.

I may not be using 1600 ISO on the G9 but I will not hesitate to use ISO 800 and expect usable images.

Nice work Adobe!

Have a great weekend and take care... Doug

Now That's A Bug

If this little critter had a nose the shadow would be cast in a nice loupe lighting. This was shot with an off camera flash the cave this lovely subject a nice catch light in its large eyes. Maybe this is why the term is called bug-eyed.

Actually this started this morning while I was packing for my trip this week when my wife had the dogs outside and called me down to take a picture of "a big bug". So Ok... I am thinking it would be some creepy crawlly pestilence. I did not expect a Praying Mantis. This was truly a worthy photographic subject.

At first I grabbed my EF70-200 f2.8L IS lens on the Canon 40D and stood back a little to get a good zoom on the little bugger (sorry). Realizing he (now I don't really know if it was a he) was not moving at all I thought I might have a little luck in the macro world. I don't have a macro lens but figuring my 50 f/1.4 prime with a 12 mm extension tube on it might do the trick. Lighting was going to be another thing. I popped the on camera flash and guess what. On camera flash of a bug sucks as much as it does when shooting people.

The above image was from the EF 70-200 at 173 mm, f/2.8 and 1/80th second and ISO of 100. Kind of a plain Jane photo that definitely needed some juice. Ergo the image below shot with the 50 mm 1.4 prime at f/2.8, 1/250th second and an ISO again of 100. The flash was hand held off camera with a Stofen diffuser attached.

The nice thing about shooting RAW and having huge files is the ability too crop in post. The top image is simply a crop of the bottom image. He started to get a little antsy but was still determined not to leave his perch. My wife made the initial request as she had come across the Mantis as she was going for the hose to water the flowers. So really we are at square one. Move the bug so she can get to the hose.

With a stick in hand I made a feeble attempt at getting him to move. His first jump was onto my arm which he had no intention of staying and the next was his main escape. That of flight. I now know why the Praying Mantis remains attached to something that doesn't move for most of their life. As this little Mantodea's wings beat the air into submission it was obvious there was no way he could sustain flight in any kind of breeze.

That sums up my excitement for today. Cya... Doug