effect of adding noise in photos

[szuzu1969]

I have been looking at many photographers work and have come across some that seem to work primarily with bw and lots of noise. Is this to get the old bw feel. When would you feel that lots of noise would be okay for a photograph? What feeling would you be trying to convey?

[krauzianimage]

I always assume that when a photographer has noise in the photograph he is trying to pass off his mistake as something artsy. The very fact that you are scratching your head about it tells me that it fails to work. Try to avoid noise as much as possible.
Dallas Wedding Photographers

[inkista]

Yup. Oldtime B&W feel. When I noticed that LR3 now has controls for adding grain, I realized that it's become a trend. Those of us who shot film actually remember the grain as PART of the look, and it can evoke a specific emotional feel when used properly. I'd highly recommend taking a look at Jeff Ascough's work for examples of how this can work well. He used to shoot weddings with Leica rangefinders, and his "street shooting" aesthetic works extraordinarily well with grain, as it does evoke some of the classic work of shooters like HCB.

This is a matter of personal taste and style, and there's no right or wrong way to do it. But as with any heavy processing, you have to be careful that you're not just mechanically adding an "effect" without actually evaluating whether or not the image needs it or is enhanced by it.

Like most oldtime film shooters, I find all the neuroses about noise that new digital-only shooters seem to carry around with them a tiny bit puzzling.

I'm nowhere in the league of a superstar like Ascough, but I occasionally like to add grain just for that old B&W feel.


Canon S90. @12.8mm (~50mm equiv), iso 400, 1/50s. Shot RAW, processed in Lightroom.

[jdepould]

Film grain (or emulation) and digital noise are two very different things. Grain is generally pretty even across an entire image, regardless of tone. It often gives the image a sense of texture, and can be pleasing.

Noise is generally uneven. It increases in shadows or underexposed areas, and occasionally introduces inaccurate colors into an image.

[Photographycampus]

Jamie (above) has answered this question spot on.I Iearned on film so noise was always part and parcel of the image. In fact until I started to shoot digitally I wasn't really aware of the issue of noise! Now that we can 'create' it in thinks like Lightroom or reduce it with noise reduction software, it's become just another artistic option. Thus it goes in and out of fashion like all techniques. In terms of when you should use it? In my opinion as with all effects when it adds to the story you want to convey with your shot. Now that's not always an easy decision to make. Generally we associate grunge and editorial genres with noise so I guess if you want to facilitate that then sure.
Having said all this, I reckon leave the add noise slider alone. It runs the risk of being a little try hard

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by jdepould

Film grain (or emulation) and digital noise are two very different things. Grain is generally pretty even across an entire image, regardless of tone. It often gives the image a sense of texture, and can be pleasing.

Noise is generally uneven. It increases in shadows or underexposed areas, and occasionally introduces inaccurate colors into an image.

That being said, how a camera creates noise can vary and some do it rather well. On some older cameras (my D80 for instance), the noise and grain look rough and eat away at edges. On my D300s, the grain is finer and more like film grain.

If youre shooting for black and white, though, colour shifts arent a massive issue.

[szuzu1969]

Originally Posted by jdepould

Film grain (or emulation) and digital noise are two very different things. Grain is generally pretty even across an entire image, regardless of tone. It often gives the image a sense of texture, and can be pleasing.

Noise is generally uneven. It increases in shadows or underexposed areas, and occasionally introduces inaccurate colors into an image.

Thanks for the information. I did not realize there was that kind of difference. I will be more careful in my observations.

[szuzu1969]

Originally Posted by krauzianimage

I always assume that when a photographer has noise in the photograph he is trying to pass off his mistake as something artsy. The very fact that you are scratching your head about it tells me that it fails to work. Try to avoid noise as much as possible.
Dallas Wedding Photographers

LOL which is the main reason I asked the question because I have all kinds of messups I can turn in to noisy art pics. LOL