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.

FlySi!

Here’s a logo I made for my online moniker, using nothing but Illustrator and Photoshop. Maybe I’ll blog a little bit about how I made it another time, as I think a lot of people aren’t fully aware of Photoshop’s impressive 3D capabilities.

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.

Photoshop Image Deblurring Sneak Peek

Algorithm, my ass. This is f*cking voodoo magic.

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.

Adobe's Mobile Apps for iPad

A week or two ago, Adobe announced a rare .5 update to its Creative Suite (bringing its latest version to CS 5.5). In conjunction with this update,  Adobe also previewed three apps for the iPad which make use of a new touch interface for Photoshop. Those apps — Adobe Eazel, Adobe Nav and Adobe Color Lava — are available today from the iTunes App Store.

I really like the apps - above is my first Eazel painting. It has a very natural feel, and convincingly conveys the effect of paint that starts out wet and dries gradually, but is sorely lacking (among other things) a multiple undo feature. When you’re done, you can send your master work to Photoshop on your computer for further editing, or do the usual stuff with it on your iPad (email, share, etc.).

The apps are all pretty fun and innovative, but I think their real purpose is to spark ideas, and to inspire other developers to take advantage of the new Photoshop Touch SDK that Adobe also released, and I can’t wait to see what people come up with.

Saturday Morning

The few times I'm up and about before the city fully wakes up make me wish I was more of a morning person.

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