10D ISO1600 (no flash) Wedding Issues

[dsze]

....Sunday I shot a Jewish Wedding indoors, after sundown, with VERY dim lighting inside and of course not permitted to use flash during the ceremony. I had to bump ISO to 1600 to keep the shutter above 1/60. So, I got a TON of noise that I'm having a little trouble getting to look the way I want it. I can get them descent, but I want better. Anyone have any tips or want to try playing with one of the files?

They were shot RAW, I'm using PSCS, and NeatImagePro.

-daniel

[Scottes]

Create an edge mask (some call it a surface mask) to protect the edges, and then run Neat Image. If necessary, use the History Brush to un-do some of the noise in important parts.

ISO 1600 on the left, same pic after edge mask & Neat Image & sharpening.

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/finch-compare-iso1600.jpg

Yes, it's a little over-sharpened, but I did this quite a while ago.

[dsze]

wow...that bird looks great. I think I've seen that one in other posts of yours. Nice work.

I'm working on the edge (surface) mask.... would you mind walking me through one... I'm familiar with layers and masks to an extent, but I'm not sure exactly what is meant by edge masking.

thanks!
daniel

[Scottes]

I have an action that kinda automates this, so I reading from the action...


Find the channel (R, G, or B) with the most contrast.

Duplicate that channel.

Run the Find Edges filter on the duplicate channel.

Increase the contrast using Curves. You looking for a severe 2-tone black & white. I add two points, and drag the black point to the bottom middle. (input 128, output 0) and drag the white point to the top about 3/4 over (input 177, output 255). Your "curve" should be 3 straight lines, really.

Run a Gaussian Blur to soften the edges and create smooth transitions. I use a radius of 0.9 pixels, and I always do this on full-sized images. You may want to adjust it up or down a little.

Run the Dust & Scratches filter. I use a radius of 1 and a threshold of 200.

Run Curves again to bring things back to black. 1 point this time, just drag the black point about a third the way over give or take. (Input 101, output 255). Leave the white point alone.

Edits:
Now go back to the Layers Tab and select the Background layer.

Choose Select.... Load Selection... and choose the copy of the Green channel.

Erroneous step deleted

Ctrl-H to hide all the marching ants.

Run Neat Image. I usually run it a little stronger than I would if I didn't have a mask.


Have Fun.


PS: Sorry about that step screw-up. :oops:

[dsze]

...after you duplicate the channel with the most contrast..... are the rest of the steps done to ONLY that duplicate channel or to all channels?

-daniel

[CyberDyneSystems]

I watched Scottes do this before in person....

...it was like science fiction/Medievil alchemy watching this in action! (I think he might have actually beleived that I had some clue what he was talking about)

This definately requires another "layer" to your way of thinking.. but the results speak for themselves! :shock:

Thanks for this walk through again.. (one I don't have to try an commit to memory) I am definately going to give this another go.

[dsze]

I think I can understand why this would work, but I can't get it working for me! :x When I run all of the steps on the duplicated channel, I end up with strange greens replacing the original blues when I'm done....am I missing something obvious?

-daniel

[Scottes]

Yes, everything is done on the green channel only. If you go into the Channels tab and click on the Green one it should be greyscale.

Oops. I see where I went wrong...

See edits above.

[Scottes]

It must be tutorial time... I was planning another tonight anyway. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that one. :-)

[dsze]

thanks much Scott! That works much better! :) I've still got to play with getting it to work just right with my ceremony photos...thanks for taking the time to school me!

much appreciated!

-daniel

[Scottes]

Tutorial added.

Masking for Noise Reduction (Big!) (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=48929)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Awesome... !

Bless you for this good sir!