Help! Can i rescue this?

[jjnic]

I took this photo, (first shot), just a quick shot, no filters or tripod with me and i've done everything wrong except for the composition which i love. Ive tried to highlight it it bring out the forground but it turns out all speckly. Is there anything i can do to rescue it or would it be easier to build a time machine to turn back time and do it properly? :(

jj

[Lani]

Did you shoot in jpeg or raw?

[Miaow]

Yeah as Lani asked if you took it in raw you'll be able to do a lot more editing to improve things than if you did it in jpeg...

One thing I just tried is to put it through a pseudo hdr which brought up a bit of colour ?

[jjnic]

I shoot in raw so i'ts a nikon .nef file and i used paint shop pro to bring out the shadows. the sky looks ok but the bit that was in shadow is not, it has a stripy sort of speckly look to it. Would photohop be better for handling .nef files? or am i missing something?
jj

[Miaow]

Im not a nikon user but wouldn't the camera have come with software that would include a raw editor? hmm Capture NX?

[chris_m]

If you dont want to spend a lot of time/money on Photoshop then look at Faststone.org for their free editor. It will do some of the very basic things for you, certainly allow you to adjust this image. Very easy to use. No problems with raw files, it will view and edit quite happily.

[jjnic]

Im not a nikon user but wouldn't the camera have come with software that would include a raw editor? hmm Capture NX?

It comes with a 30 day trial which of course was over long ago :-)

[Miaow]

not good :( no limit on DPP with Canon

[dbax]

As already said you should be able to get a better result using the RAW file.
I've had a go with this small jpeg using CS3
duplicate layer> set blending mode to screen( this lightens the whole image).
Go to Layer and select layer mask> hide all(this hides the lighter version).
Use a soft white brush and paint on the FG (on the mask) which reveals the lighter FG from the mask.
I then duplicated the layer( with the mask) a further 4 times.
Flatten layers.
Hope this helps:D

[jjnic]

I have used the raw file again and have done what David sugested , well the paintshop pro equivalent (thanks David :-)) but to my eye it still has the horrible speckly bits in the foreground. :-(

[dbax]

are you able to open the RAW file in a RAW converter? Adobe Camera RAW (ACR)for example?
If so try copying the file and adjusting the exposure until the FG looks ok then >Save as=new name.
(The RAW file should have more information in the dark areas so if you can do the adjustments on the RAW file you should be able to get a better result before changing the file type to something else)
You can then blend your now lightened FG with the existing sky. That's the theory anyway.:D

[jjnic]

Thanks david, i don't have a raw convertor but i will download one and see how it goes :-)

jj

[Sleeper]

I have used the raw file again and have done what David sugested , well the paintshop pro equivalent (thanks David :-)) but to my eye it still has the horrible speckly bits in the foreground. :-(

There seem to be some serious banding noise. You will need to find a good noise reduction software/technique + corresponding camera profile. Download trial version of Noise Ninja/Neat Image and see if the banding noise persist in the preview.

Mind you, I use Canon. So take my advice as a grain of salt. :rolleyes:

If I were you, I'd download the photoshop cs 4 with trial version. Reformat the computer, install Nikon NX + photoshop. Try opening up the raw in Nikon NX and push the brightness/exposure till you are happy with the foreground detail/color. See if there are any banding noise still. (Ignore normal random noise for now). Then do the masking/layering/hdr stuff in photoshop to fix the foreground.

If you manage to get rid of the banding noise, you will be in a much better position.

Maybe try a dark frame reduction technique and see if it helps. http://www.takegreatpictures.com/HOME/Columns/Digital_Photography/Details/Dark_Frame_Subtraction_using_Adobe_Photoshopby_Chris_Limone.fci

You just have to keep trying and trying. Keep the raw file, and there's always hope. New technology may appear to make it look noise free one day. :)

[jjnic]

Thanks Sleeper, Banding Noise? It's nice to know my problem has a name! :-) Noise Ninja seems to have removed a lot of it but the question still remains; what caused it?? I thought if you had a high iso you'd get a lot of noise but my iso was 100 so not high..

jj

[ving]

gday jj, i use PSP 12 too. it handles nefs pretty well. did you do a noise reduction at the end of your processing? these small pictures dont really show the speckling you are talking about but i reckon a noise reduc with psps own will tidy it up quick smart :)

psp12 has 2 niose reduction thingies.. and auto one which aplies NR to the whole image and the digital camera NR which allows you to select target areas. you are going to get noise when raising an almost black image to the level you have but at least you will get rid of the noise (most of it) with a quick NR.

[Sleeper]

Thanks Sleeper, Banding Noise? It's nice to know my problem has a name! :-) Noise Ninja seems to have removed a lot of it but the question still remains; what caused it?? I thought if you had a high iso you'd get a lot of noise but my iso was 100 so not high..

jj

I'm not too sure what banding noise are caused by. I haven't dug any deeper than what it looks like, but afaik it's caused by the circuitry behind the sensor?

The bottom line is, this type of problem usually is camera type/model/unit specific. So that's why I suggest processing it through Nikon NX because if anyone have a way to fix this problem caused by the sensor, Nikon probably is the first to know. Just like how Canon's software have lens correction profile specific to each lens.

Anyway, this sort of noise sometimes happen when you push the shadow details too hard in a raw file. Ideally this shouldn't happen, but that's ideally eh?

More importantly though, have you figured out how to capture that shot next time you come across it? ;) It's a shame because it's a good shot, but under exposed by a few stops.

Or you should've used AEB and gone the HDR route.

Edit- from what I've seen, white speck (which I don't see atm) can happen when you sharpen the Luminance layer of the image in LAB mode too much. Did you sharpen the image? If you did and white specks appears, try another sharpening method.

[jjnic]

More importantly though, have you figured out how to capture that shot next time you come across it? ;) It's a shame because it's a good shot, but under exposed by a few stops.



yeah, forgot to switch my brain on! i didn't do anything other than hop out the car, point and shoot but it was the end of a long day and camp was just the other side of that hill on the right. I know i should have got the tripod out, slower shutter speed to expose the foreground, GND filters so not to over expose the sky. :-)

Ving, i think i used the one-step noise removal option in psp, i need to check out the other option. meanwhile i have this photo on my desktop to remind me that i need to stop and think about what i am doing.

jj