Noise Reduction in Camera Raw 7.0

Swiping through my photo collection on my iPad, I came across a photo I shot in Stonington CT last summer, of a really dramatic stormy sunset at the pier. 

Maybe it was my mood or something, but looking back on the image six months later, I thought that it was nice, but the way I had post-processed it didn’t really convey the ominous and dramatic feeling I had when I was standing there. So using Nik Software’s very excellent SnapSeed for iPad, I gave the image a bit more punch, as seen in the photo below.

Great - much more dramatic and otherworldly, but now SnapSeed has found every bit of noise my noise-challenged Canon G10 has imbued the image with, and exacerbated it. I guess a noisy photo is better than no photo… but there has to be a better option, right? Then I remembered the impressive noise reduction capabilities that Brian O’Neil Hughes showed off in his sneak peek of what’s coming up in the new version of the Camera Raw plugin, and then I remembered he mentioned that the same features are available in the new freely available Lightroom 4 Beta. I fired that up, and here’s the result:

Impressive indeed. I’m an Aperture guy, and my workflow is pretty well-entrenched in that software so I’m unlikely to make the switch to Lightroom (though I won’t rule it out entirely). Hopefully the folks at Apple step their game up in the noise reduction department, but in the meantime, once Photoshop Next (or whatever it’s going to be called) comes out, I’m definitely going to be incorporating Camera Raw 7’s noise reduction into my workflow for salvaging images - especially those shot with that poor old G10.

Happy New Year: Year of the Dragon

I didn’t get a chance to get out and shoot any pictures during this year’s Chinese New Year Celebration, so I thought I’d re-post one of my old favorites from last year. Kung Hey Fat Choy!

From the Archives: Buried

A car sits buried up to its windows in snow after the blizzard that ended 2010 for us up here on the east coast. What a difference a year makes…

Talib Kweli Graffiti

Seen in Dumbo, NYC.

Prospect Park Stairs

Here’s a serene, soothing image of a set of stairs in the woods in Prospect Park, that’s conveniently sized for your desktop. Where do they lead? I don’t remember, but it sure does look peaceful there.

From the Archives: My Desk

Skimming through my Aperture library, I came across what I now think is a really nice image. I like the lighting, I like the perspective… the processing makes me wonder what kind of mood I was in that night.

Finds like these make me wonder what other forgotten gems are languishing in my 40k+ image library, waiting to be rediscovered.

Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival

The festival was great this year - if a little over-crowded and chaotic. Performers included M.O.P, Diamond District, Random Axe (who I missed, thanks to some confusion with the line to get into the venue), and headliner Q-Tip.

Tip busted out a range of material - new, old, Tribe and solo joints, and featured several high-profile special guests, including Monie Love, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, and Kanye West.

Welcome to America

If you were born in this country, there’s a good chance you’ve never seen this document, nor experienced the incredible, almost overwhelming flood of relief and gratitude that it brings to its recipient.

The USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Service) calls this document the welcome notice - it’s a letter informing the applicant that form I-485 - application to adjust to permanent resident status - has been approved. I got mine years ago, but I’ll never forget how I felt when I opened it.

Anyway, it seemed like an appropriate image to post on or around the 4th of July.

Project 365: Still Going

I’ve seriously slacked off with my Project 365 during the month of June, having either cheesed out and shot some very last-minute images, or worse - having skipped several days outright. Still, I’ve been limping along resolutely, and have even managed to produce some images I’m downright thrilled with, like the one shown above from the annual Mermaid Parade. The project continues over on Flickr - head on over and check it out.

Pumas

Although we live in a culture that encourages us to constantly run out and buy shiny new things, I’m beginning to appreciate the old and well-used more and more.

With that in mind, here’s a detail of my very well-used Pumas, that have seen many, many miles on my various travels here in the US, and overseas. Now that I think about it, they have climbed two volcanoes, including Mt. Vesuvius, and Mt. Liamuiga in St. Kitts.

Pompeii, with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

The view at the top of Mt. Liamuiga’s crater

Eugenia, Icee Vendor

I was doing one of my usual rambling walks in Prospect Park yesterday afternoon - despite the fact that I don’t usually have a goal or destination, these walks make me feel like I’m actually doing something with my weekend.

I happened to make eye contact and smile at the woman selling icees by one of the entrances to Prospect Park. She returned my smile, and despite the fact that I’m usually really shy about asking to photograph strangers, that is exactly what I found myself doing.

I learned a couple of things from this exchange - one was that photographing strangers isn’t that scary. In fact, when I showed her the shot I had made on the back of my camera, she told me that she thought the photo was “muy linda”, and seemed really happy - which was very rewarding to me. I also learned that while I’m still a huge fan of the candid, unposed stuff that the hardcore street photographers do, a posed portrait of a stranger is also very satisfying.

Timberlands

My trusted companions on many miles of urban (and sometimes not) terrain. There's really nothing wrong with these things after how many ever years, but I think it's finally time to retire these bad boys.

Incidentally, I don't think I want to get into the world of product photography, but this was still a great exercise. Plus, you know... Never say never.

Riding

Cyclists riding through Prospect Park on a late spring afternoon. From time to time, I decide to practice shooting panning images, because it’s a technique I really dig. In the past, I’ve managed to get my subject pretty sharp more or less by accident. This time, I finally clued in and flipped my camera from One Shot to AI Focus mode, and I think I nailed it.

Wired

I have a dresser in my office that’s full of my photography and gadget-related stuff. One drawer is dedicated mostly to cables, and these are the contents of that drawer. I don’t really remember actually going out and getting any of those cables - with the exception of that active extension USB cable, that is.

Not pictured is the 30’ FlashZebra sync cable that’s attached to my camera and the speedlite that I’m lighting this shot with.

Colbert's Stephensed Manhattan Clam Chowder

Spotted a few of these on W.14th St. last week. I’m sure Andy would have been proud.

Morning Coffee and Newspaper, 2011-Style

From the Archives: One Year Ago Today

 Chocolat and Croissants

Sitting near the Sorbonnes with my wife on our last day in Paris, drinking a chocolat and eating croissants before heading to Charles De Gaulle Airport.

Martini

Tanqueray Martini in the making

Continuing my boozy series of still-lifes, here are some of the essentials for making what many consider to be the classic martini. Some of the things I’ve learned over the last few days of shooting these still-lifes:

• Your glasses and bottles are never as clean as you think they are
• Reflections are a pain in the butt
• Consuming the product while shooting it introduces complications

I'm Gellin'

Yeah, I hate that ad campaign as much as you probably do, but I really am gellin’ - in that I’m starting to see the versatility and importance of using them in my flash photography.

Check out this shot of a bottle of Captain Morgan’s 100-Proof Spiced rum:

There’s one speedlite in a softbox, camera-left, and another directly behind the bottle, with a Honl Speed Gobo strapped to it. I like it. When I look at it, I can almost feel the burn of that delicious golden liquid as it warms my insides.

Now check out this shot I made, after adding a red gel (what Sensei McNally calls the theatrical gels) to the speedlite that was behind the bottle.

Dramatic, huh? It’s a small thing, but it’s really starting to open my eyes to the importance of using gels, or at least the creative possibilities that they make available to me. I’m still wrapping my head around the concept of using gels to correct mixed lighting situations (I’m still in the “I shoot RAW, so I’ll just fix it in Aperture” mindset). But I’m determined to get more comfortable - after all it’s yet another tool to have ready at the arsenal.

Bonus: Here’s another shot of the same bottle when I pulled the camera off the tripod and went handheld (which is more in my comfort zone).

The New Family Time?

So, I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed this new cultural phenomenon lately where people seem to be spending an awful lot of time on their laptops and smart phones…

Okay, I’m being kind of tongue-in-cheek about it, but it is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. My wife and I were talking about it last night, and we both realized that when we’re at home, we’re mostly doing stuff on our computers, and then we go to bed (usually pretty late), and then we go to work, and the cycle repeats itself.

I’m kind of conflicted about it, because I really like being on my computer. It’s one of the things I do to relax and entertain myself. The problem is, I also happen to sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day to keep the lights on, the upshot of which is aching hands and wrists, an aching neck, tingling forearms and other various afflictions that are so familiar to so many of us these days.

Besides the physical side effects, of course, there are the effects on our relationships, our concentration, our ability to learn and retain information. There are tons of books and articles exploring all of these questions, so I won’t delve too deeply into it here, except to say that at least we’ve started to talk about it in our house, which I think is a good first step. 

Anyway, for a while now, I’ve had the idea to start playing around and exploring how our online time is encroaching on our meatspace time via a series of photographs, so keep an eye on this space for more… I just need to check Facebook and Twitter first.