Creative Noise

[brian_dg]

I've read this stuff a lot of times about making use of the noise as an additional effect to your photos. But I've never tried it yet and I have no idea how it works. Most of the time we hated noise and would push our ISO as low as possible but there are times when we are forced to sacrifice quality by pushing that ISO higher.So I want to learn how to use that noise creatively. Can you guys explain how to make use of the noise as part of the overall effect of the photo. some examples would be great

[RichardTaylor]

I don't do it a lot however when I do it is mostly to give an image the "industrial grainy" feel.

(1)

Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias +1/3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

(2)


Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/2.0
Focal Length 135 mm
ISO Speed 3200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

[Mr Guy]

I'm someone who beats this drum around here. Noise isn't significantly different than grain, except for how it looks. Different manufacturers treat noise differently. Pentax has made an intentional effort to treat the noise in their DSLR differently than other manufacturers. Those who have seen my posts on this before probably know what's coming, but personally, I think Nikon and Canon have abysmal noise reduction. Nikon and Canon both favor removing noise to preserving detail. To me, that makes their images "bubbly".

DPReview does noise reviews that illustrate what I mean:

Pentax K-7 Review: 16. Photographic tests (Noise): Digital Photography Review

On the 6400, to me, the Pentax noise looks like film grain, and the Canon and Nikon denoising process makes the coin look soupy and muddy.

For a point of comparison, this is my "go to" picture showing one of my favorite portraits I've taken:


Katie by mister.guy, on Flickr

Personally, to me, the grain "makes" it. The grain, to me, sends a signal that it's a low light shot. That is, to me, the grain says, "This IS a dark shot, even though it's been lightened". It's always seemed really unnatural to me to have crystal clear razor sharp digital images. Life isn't crystal clear and razor sharp, especially in the dark!