Lily Opening Macro

[Nicole Hanna]

My husband bought me these lovely lilies yesterday!

Nikon D90
Shutter Speed 1/60
ISO 3200
Aperture f/10
Tamron 90mm Macro f/2.8 lens


I know there is a bit of noise. I keep forgetting I set my ISO for manual, and it's incredibly high for this shot because the lighting was dim, but I think I might actually like the look of the noise. I don't know... maybe adds some texture. And other than cropping and hitting my "cross processing" button in Photoscape, there was no post processing involved. I like it, but I'd like to think I take photos for the enjoyment of others as well as myself (can't be selfish now, can I) and I like to know what others enjoy.

What do you think of the level of noise evident in the shot? Do you think it would benefit from noise reduction, or other post-processing work?

[Thunder_o_b]

Personal tast, but I really dislike noise and do everything I can to loose it, but there are times that many people say that it adds a certain charm to a shot. This may be one of those times

I was wondering, would it be ok if I worked on this shot? If not that's fine, and I understand. If you like what I did I'll give you the steps and the programs that I used.

[Nicole Hanna]

Originally Posted by Thunder_o_b

Personal tast, but I really dislike noise and do everything I can to loose it, but there are times that many people say that it adds a certain charm to a shot. This may be one of those times

Honestly, I normally hate noise as well. Sharp as a tack is where I like to go. This new macro lens is forcing me to reconsider my personal tastes, I think. The high ISO was totally accidental, but I think I'll let it keep... maybe try another shot with a reasonable ISO and reduce the noise (hopefully) and see which I like better. Thanks for the comment!

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by Nicole Hanna

Honestly, I normally hate noise as well. Sharp as a tack is where I like to go. This new macro lens is forcing me to reconsider my personal tastes, I think. The high ISO was totally accidental, but I think I'll let it keep... maybe try another shot with a reasonable ISO and reduce the noise (hopefully) and see which I like better. Thanks for the comment!

I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Nicole Hanna]

Originally Posted by Thunder_o_b

I was wondering, would it be ok if I worked on this shot? If not that's fine, and I understand. If you like what I did I'll give you the steps and the programs that I used.

I totally forgot to answer your question! lol. But by all means, have at it and see what you can do!

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by Nicole Hanna

I totally forgot to answer your question! lol. But by all means, have at it and see what you can do!

Thank you very much

If you are interested in what I did I will type it up. I am in the middle of processing a bunch of shots for a painters portfolio, so I gotta run

[Nicole Hanna]

I'd love to know how you achieved the colors! I can see you blurred the background a bit (or removed the noise, whichever) and I admit that it looks better without the noise. What photo processing program do you use? I'm using Photoscape because it's free. And easy. And free. lol

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by Nicole Hanna

I'd love to know how you achieved the colors! I can see you blurred the background a bit (or removed the noise, whichever) and I admit that it looks better without the noise. What photo processing program do you use? I'm using Photoscape because it's free. And easy. And free. lol

Good morning Nicole,

*yawn* I was up till 7 am working on that painter's stuff.

Ok, this is what was done, the results would have been better with the full size file.

I loaded it into iPhoto on my iMac:
1. Highlights decreased 100
2. Shadows increased (lightened) 50
3. Contrast increased 13
4. White point decreased 7%
5. Black point increased 1%
6. Mid tones decreased 13%
7. Exposure increased .04
8. Temperature increased to 15
9. Tint, left it where it was

The file was then moved to Photoshop CS5 Extend:
1. Topaz Dejpeg 4, at the very noisy setting
2. Topaz Dejpeg 4, fix color edge
3. Topas Adjust 4, Exposure correction
4. Topaz Detail 2, Feature Enhancement
5. Topaz Denoise, RAW light
6. Photoshop CS5 Extend, Unsharp Mask, amount 20, Radius 1.8 pixels, Threshold 0
7. Topaz Dejpeg 4, HQ setting

The file was moved back to iPhoto:
1. Highlights decreased 17

That's it.

You can get a 30 day free trial of the Topaz bundle here: Topaz Labs - Video and Image Enhancement Software
Keep in mind that these programs are plugins, so you must have a compatible program to plug them into.

You can get a free trial for Photoshop CS5 Extend here: Adobe - Adobe Photoshop CS5 If you are a student or a teacher you can pick it up for $200.00 U.S instead if the full price of $800.00 U.S

There are other programs that you can use, but this is what I use.

I hope that I have been helpful

[Nicole Hanna]

Very helpful. Thank you! I've never read such a detailed description of post processing!

[Thunder_o_b]

Originally Posted by Nicole Hanna

Very helpful. Thank you! I've never read such a detailed description of post processing!

You are most welcome Nicole. I look at like this, if I am really going to help you need detailed information