ISO issues?

[tasmo2]

Hey guys... I have been in the experiment mode with my camera lately.. trying out settings differently than I am used to, like higher ISOs and longer SS. Just learning my cameras limitations. Anyway... So I was playing with the high ISO today, and ended up getting a shot that I love. But im wondering if now that I have tried to fix the grain, do you guys think its printable? Id really like to get a large print out of it... And, if there are any other suggestions, or critiques id love to hear them! Thanks!



I can post a larger version if I need to, this one is the smaller web version.

Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/1.8
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 1000

[Niresangwa]

its really going to come down to how much grain/noise you can personally tolerate. It certainly is a great shot. I can see the noise on this version. HAve you looked at the image file at the size you want to print?

To me however, the eyes, the overbearingly adorable focal point of the shot look wonderful. The grain is simply not that intrusive at all to me.

if it were me, at the risk of a few bucks for an enlargement, i'd say its worth it...

as far as a critique goes, everything for that i look for in an image is here. the small technicalities that I could pick out are not even worth typing.. just one of those great shots. He's not even my kid and i love it.

and i don't like kids.

[kristenh]

oh, it's absolutely great. i love it. i can see the noise, too, and another teeny complaint is that the right eye (his right eye) is beautifully sharp and the left is less so- probably b/c of your very narrow dof.

printing it up large will cost you 5 or 10 bucks, right? so give it a shot and see how it prints, i say.

[AesBreCov]

I am completely new to photography, so you can dismiss my comments if you want! I do LOVE this picture....I just noticed when I looked at it, and wanted to point out in case you could fix before you print, it looks to me like his left eye has a funny color. The inside corner and kind of a ring on the outside corner in the white of the eye has a bluish color that doesn't look right. Is it just me?

[carlyfan]

I absolutely love it! I love the DoF, the catchlights, the smile, the lighting, the eyes; it's great! You might want to try running it through a noise reduction program if you have a decent one, unless you've already done that. Awesome shot though!

Lisa

[zona5101]

you can try some noise removal and see if that helps...it would be nice if you are able to mask off the eyes so they remain sharp. Worse case scenario - add more grain - ya i know sounds crazy but it seems to change the perception from annoyance to purpose-filled.

[tasmo2]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

its really going to come down to how much grain/noise you can personally tolerate. It certainly is a great shot. I can see the noise on this version. HAve you looked at the image file at the size you want to print?

To me however, the eyes, the overbearingly adorable focal point of the shot look wonderful. The grain is simply not that intrusive at all to me.

if it were me, at the risk of a few bucks for an enlargement, i'd say its worth it...

as far as a critique goes, everything for that i look for in an image is here. the small technicalities that I could pick out are not even worth typing.. just one of those great shots. He's not even my kid and i love it.

and i don't like kids.

That's what I was thinking to about how much can I tolerate.. LOL I have looked at the larger version, and im thinking that between the ink mellowing it out and because the bigger the print would mean standing further away to look at it, it might not be bad. And because I made sure he had good catchlights there is no grain (that I noticed) in his eyes, which as you said is the focal point. Thanks for the input! And the compliments... LOL It means even more that you love it and don't like kids.. Haha!

Originally Posted by kristenh

oh, it's absolutely great. i love it. i can see the noise, too, and another teeny complaint is that the right eye (his right eye) is beautifully sharp and the left is less so- probably b/c of your very narrow dof.

printing it up large will cost you 5 or 10 bucks, right? so give it a shot and see how it prints, i say.

I saw that about the eye, but I needed him to turn towards the window for the catchlights. LOL Seems like that is the way all of my photos turn out.... one day ill figure out how to keep that from happening. Thanks for your input too! Your right.. its not that much money.. ill just give it a try! Thanks!

Originally Posted by AesBreCov

I am completely new to photography, so you can dismiss my comments if you want! I do LOVE this picture....I just noticed when I looked at it, and wanted to point out in case you could fix before you print, it looks to me like his left eye has a funny color. The inside corner and kind of a ring on the outside corner in the white of the eye has a bluish color that doesn't look right. Is it just me?

Thanks.. I don't understand what you mean though. LOL Could you try to explain it more?

Originally Posted by carlyfan

I absolutely love it! I love the DoF, the catchlights, the smile, the lighting, the eyes; it's great! You might want to try running it through a noise reduction program if you have a decent one, unless you've already done that. Awesome shot though!

Lisa

I don't have a noise reduction program... I hear noise ninja is good, maybe ill try that! I hadn't thought of that. Thanks! No more ISO 1000 for me! Ill try 800 next time.. LOL! I just want to see what the ISO limitations are on the D80

[cc3078]

Love the photo - it's a keeper. The first criteria in evaluating your photos is "do you like it?". Well, I do!

2nd criteria - does it have impact? Once again, yes it does.

If it were my photo, I would crank up the sharpness during my post-processing and then run it through Noise Ninja or Neat Image to take out all the grain...I use the latter. Heck...you can get 8x10s these days for $2 in very nice quality....My guess is you would be happy with this quality up to 11x14...

Jeff

[archersdad]

The grain really isn't too bad. It's a great picture and is definitely worth printing. If you would like, I could run it through a couple different noise reduction programs and see if it can be cleaned up a bit.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by tasmo2

I don't have a noise reduction program...

try noiseware, the community edition - it is free and works very well. SusanH turned me on to it after I was dissatisfied with other NR freeware. Now I use the NR inside lightroom3 and I am very happy with it. So if you are thinking about lightroom in the future...maybe go with a freeware program in the meantime...

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