Where's the noise coming from (sunset)?

[draskol]

Here's a sunset shot that I took at ISO 400 this past weekend:



It's not really noticeable unless you look at the Large/Original versions on flickr, but to me it looks like there's way more noise in this shot than I would have thought. Anyone agree? Know why?

edit: For example, the sunset in "A Kansas Sunset," a thread currently a few below this one, was shot in ISO 200 but looks far less grainy, IMO.

[windrider86]

Mine always look grainy when shooting at a higher iso. I try to leave it at 100 or 200 at the most or try shooting with aperature at a different setting

[inkista]

Underexposure? You'll note the amount of noise differs between the light and dark areas of the photo.

(from the link): Another image artifact affected by underexposure is noise. Today’s digital cameras do a remarkable job of controlling noise and allow higher ISO settings with less noise across the board. The problem, however, is that noise is best controlled at proper exposures. Under-exposure always will increase noise, at least to a degree, and as underexposure increases, noise can increase dramatically. I’ve seen the same camera deliver a nearly noise-free image when exposed properly, yet when underexposed, the noise increases so much that you’d swear the ISO setting was changed.

[draskol]

Originally Posted by inkista

Underexposure? You'll note the amount of noise differs between the light and dark areas of the photo.

I bet that's it. I took other shots that same evening, also at 400, that had some more light in them and I think look less noisy.

I also think that noise looks a bit more obvious in the darker parts of shots like this one, so if they're underexposed, that's sounds like a one-two punch.

[Sodaman420]

usually noises a lot more noticeable in darker parts of the shot
example: shoot at a concert without flash and you will see that a lot of noise appears in the black or dark backgrounds, but not as much where there are stage lights.

[pictureneworleans]

Andrew Rodney, aka digitaldog, has some knowledge and good explanations of exposure and color management. Here's a good article by him in Digital Photo Pro on line about ETTR, Expose To The Right.

This thinking works very well for me and usually leaves you with more data to work with as you reduce your exposure variables in development than if you were increasing your exposure variables.

[JohnBrainard]

I have noticed in a lot of my shots where I have to make more than slight adjustments to the contrast or exposure, they get noisy. It's annoying, for sure.

I'm planning on spending some time in the near future on figuring out ways to get a good exposure in the camera. Perhaps I'll create a blog entry for my findings.

[ditch_azeroth]

noise is usually produced in the blue spectrum/area of the color palette, and this shot has a lot of blue and cyan in it... and boosting iso always means boosting noise along with it. this is why i almost always shoot with white balance/temperature 5.3k and up ^_^