OK, here's fulfillment of the teaser. :-)
<http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=8005>
On 8/25/2013 3:50 PM, Johnie Stafford wrote:
>> ...
>> There's something wrong here. That level of 'noise' is just not what the
>> E-M5 does at ISO 200. ...
>>
>> Moon shots have a very narrow DR for the moon itself. First steps that are
>> often useful are NR and using Levels to spread the histogram and set the
>> midpoint. Then fewer other adjustments are necessary.
>>
>> Those two steps alone, on a small JPEG already over processed in some way,
>> make a dramatic improvement in this image.
>>
>> Level Headed Moose
> No Lightroom at all. At the time all I had was Olympus Viewer. I'm just
> trying to learn how to digitally process images. I got my copy of LR late
> this week and that just gives me more options to get my arms around. ...
>
> So I appreciate any and all digital processing advice.
All the examples are in one place.
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/Others/Stafford/Moon_1.htm>
First of all, something bad happened to this image. Look at '100%'. The EXIF
says ISO 200. Now look at 'E-M5 ISO 200
noise', that's what the noise should be, extremely subtle, fine grained and
even. Even then, I would apply NR, as
illustrated. The effect may seem subtle, but subsequent processing may make the
minimal nose obvious, sometimes in an
ugly way.
Now check 'E-M5 ISO 3200 noise'. Yes, quite a bit of noise, but much more even
and consistent than in the moon sample.
NR deals well with this. The first NR setting would be suitable for an image
with lots of detail, which tends to mask
noise. The second setting is good for this low detail image.
Was the image underexposed, so you had to up exposure or brightness a lot? That
will give the kind of wormy noise I see.
Then some other processing options will make it worse.
As to the dynamic range of the image, moon shots, as well as a lot of long tele
shots, tend to have a very limited DR,
and look flat. You can see in the first example, simply the image as posted,
how the moon has a range of about 1/3 of
the histogram. Looking at the inset, you see the settings I used in PS Levels
to spread the histogram out and adjust the
mid point, resulting in the second sample. See how its histogram is filled,
bottom to top, with the moon data.
There are a number of other subjects where a limited DR is desirable, for
example, spectral trees in mist.
You can do the same thing in Viewer* and in ACR, although it requires
adjustments in two places, one to move the top and
bottom and then an exposure or brightness increase to move the central point. I
assume LR is like ACR in this regard,
but I heartily dislike LR, so I don't have it.
* If you have Viewer 2, you should download and install 3 here.
<http://support.olympus-imaging.com/ov3download/index/>
> Speaking of which, there are a million resources out there for how to process
> raw images. Could
> I get some recommendations?
That's a tough one. Even those of us who are relatively adept often differ in
our methods. Chuck talked about the NR in
ACR; I've never, as far as I can recollect, used that. I eschew LR and similar
apps, others find PS too complex and/or
expensive.
There are endless tutorials. I hope you easily find the generalized guidance
you need. Specific questions could be asked
here.
Moose D'Opinion
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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