A challenge (Scottes?) -- make this photo usable

[vfilby]

Hello all,

So these are very nearly the worst shooting conditions I have ever shot in. An orchestra of 70 people, lousy venue. With the ISO up to 800 I had to shoot at f4.0 for 1/15s

1. I had max 5 minutes between movements, and I am a player so I had to run up to the balcony and then run back.
2. The theatre is dark and unevenly lit
3. All the lights were pointed directly at the center of the stage and couldn't be changed.
4. The photo was taken on a shakey balcony, on a crappy tripod.
5. They decided to place a big, unmovable boom mic right in the middle of the hall.

Here is what I have done so far. I shot RAW and processed the image twice, once to properly expose the bright section and the second to lighten the wings. I then stacked the brighter version on the darker and masked out the way over exposed center.

I have not performed any noise removal yet and the stacked layers is only adding more noise. The problem is the photo isn't quite sharp due to any number of the above reasons, so noise removal is only making it worse. Noiseware CE isn't not performing well on this at all.

I will take out the boom mike and insert a nicer background once I have a decently processed image.

If anyone wants to try their hand at this here are the files:
Original RAW file [6MB] (http://www.filby.ca/files/CRW_7393.CRW)
Final TIF [30MB] (http://www.filby.ca/files/CRW_7393.tif)
Layered 8-bit PSD [55MB] (http://www.filby.ca/files/CRW_7393-8.psd)

I only have Noiseware CE for noise removal (JPG save only). I would love to know any tips or tricks for trying to salvage this photo. I would also be interested in seeing what the focus magic plugin would do on such a noisey image (or with noise removal).

Thanks in advance,

Here is I havel so far:
http://www.filby.ca/files/proc-web.jpg

Here is the original:
http://www.filby.ca/files/orig-web.jpg

[Scottes]

Quite a difference there. I'm not sure if I can get it any better. Maybe one of the real gurus can do something.

Have you checked out Maderito's "Curves Challenge" where he did wonders for an underexposed shot? It's in the Tutorials sticky.


I'll give it a shot, but there's a few others here who'll probably do it justice.

[vfilby]

I appreciate any attempts/advice. I thought I did an ok job so far, just getting the noise out and keeping what sharpness there is, is my biggest problem.

Thanks Scottes,

[Scottes]

Well I mucked with it a bit, and I've got little to add to your process. You are definitely on the right track with 2 exposures.

I would check 3 tutorials in the tutorials sticky:

1) My recent Masks for Noise Removal (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=48929). It goes through using Neat Image but at the end I describe how it can be used with a stand-alone NR package like Noiseware.

2) PacAce's tutorial on Linear Conversion (http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=47983) of RAW images. This will help get some of the highlights back under control when you convert the raw for the center, almost-blown area.

3) Maderito's tutorial on using Curves to correct an Unexposed Image (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=35041). This will help with the post processing on the conversion of the dark areas.


Here's what I got with a single pass through RAW and noise removal:
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/CRW_7393.jpg

I gave up though, as it seems obvious that it needs a 2-pass RAW conversion and you've already done that. Note that I didn't like the red faces so much so I toned down the Temp to 2500. It loses warmth in the background but the faces look better (to me).

It's a tough image, and you've got your work cut out for you, but you're on the right track and I think you're doing better with your 2-pass approach.

[vfilby]

Thanks Scottes,

It is a big task so I think I will leave it to later. I do agree with your warmth suggestion. I noticed that image was really warm, cooling it off a bit would probably help with the rest too.

I will check out those tutorials soon.

Thanks again,

[PacAce]

I gave it a shot and this is what I came up with.

http://www.tanseikai.com/tanseikai/images/others/CRW_7393.jpg

I used EVU to create two TIFF files, one with Exposure Compensation set to +1 (to properly expose the musicians not centered on the stage) and the other with EC set to -1 (to correct the over-exposed musicians at the center of the stage and lit by the center stage light).

I then opened the -1 EC image and layered the +1 EC image on top of it. Using the eraser tool, I erased the musicians in center stage from the top layer to reveal the more proplerly exposed image underneath.

To correct the color temperature, I created a levels adjustment layers and searched for a neutral color to serve as a neutral reference. I used the right cuff of the violinist standing in the front row holding his violin across his chest at a 45 degree angle. The color balance was better but I still wasn't satisfied. But I'll fix that later.

I created a hue/saturation adjustment layer to up the saturation a tad and then created a levels adjustment layer to fine tune the color balance a little bit more by adjusting the appropriate color channel, in this case, the green channel.

Then finally, i cropped the image and corrected the perspective of the image while I was at it.

I couldn't find a good way to remove the noise without losing details so i left it alone. I didn't even bother to sharpen the image either after resizing.

[tim]

Wow PacAce, it went from being a below average picture to being great with that processing! I just wish I understood wtf you're on about with your explaination... I must order some books from amazon that might explain it.

[vfilby]

Thanks for the attempt Pac but I already have the layering and such. I haven't bothered to do the contrast temp adjustment yet because I would like to take out some noise first. The noise in the wings is just too bad to leave alone.

I am going to custom process the to images from the raw file and see if I can change anything there to reduce the noise.

Sharpness and noise are the problems, and as such they are the ones I need help with.

[vfilby]

Wow PacAce, it went from being a below average picture to being great with that processing! I just wish I understood wtf you're on about with your explaination... I must order some books from amazon that might explain it.

The image looks good at small res, but with noise and the softness it looks horrid at fill res. Not that I have Pac's, but he said that he didn't do noise removal or sharpening, so I am inferring from my own layered image (which is the same technique that Pac is using, just not contrast and tempy yet).

[gmitchel]

Here is my attempt.

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/samples/CRW_7393.JPG

I started by assigning a Tungsten WB in ACR II.

The highlights were clumped, so I backed the exposure off by 1 full stop.

I applied Levels to protect the highlights and add some depth to the shadows.

A second round of Levels to boost the midtones. I painted in gray on a Reveal All layer mask to dodge people under the lights.

Next step was to color balance using white shirts.

Then I applied a round of capture sharpening with my TLR Sharpening Toolkit. I used Highpass with and Enhanced Edge Mask.

A little selective dodging using an overlay layer and brush tool.

Localized Contrast Enhancement using my TLR Sharpening Toolkit.

Neat Image Pro+ for noise removal. I made an inverse of the edge mask and used it as a layer mask to keep sharpening limited to surfaces.

Cheers,

Mitch

[vfilby]

Mitch could you email me (vfilby@gmail.com) a full size file with the Neat Image noise removal? I would love to see how Neat Image performs. I would also like to see your sharpening.

Thanks,

[gmitchel]

Sorry. I did not save the unflattened file.

I work with layers. Sharpening layers, noise removal layers, etc. So your file wound up being about 400 megs. I saved only the downrezzed, flattened version.

Cheers,

Mitch

[vfilby]

Sorry. I did not save the unflattened file.

I work with layers. Sharpening layers, noise removal layers, etc. So your file wound up being about 400 megs. I saved only the downrezzed, flattened version.

Cheers,

Mitch

In understand. I am curious about Neat Image though and the sharpening kit. How did they look on the full size image? I am considering buying neat image except the pro+ version (for 16bit and plugin) is pretty expensive for a student.

Vince

[tim]

I use the free version of NeatImage, which works fine for individual pics. It seems to remove a good bit of noise, but it's not perfect.

[vfilby]

I use the free version of NeatImage, which works fine for individual pics. It seems to remove a good bit of noise, but it's not perfect.

The free version doesn't work with 16bit, unfortunately. If I am working on an image I would prefer to use all the data I can.

[gmitchel]

Sorry. I did not save the unflattened file.

I work with layers. Sharpening layers, noise removal layers, etc. So your file wound up being about 400 megs. I saved only the downrezzed, flattened version.

Cheers,

Mitch

In understand. I am curious about Neat Image though and the sharpening kit. How did they look on the full size image? I am considering buying neat image except the pro+ version (for 16bit and plugin) is pretty expensive for a student.

Vince

Neat Image did a great job of removing noise.

My TLR Sharpening Toolkit is free for the download. Just visit my site, www.thelightsrightstudio.com, and go to the Digital Darkroom. You'll find links to Photoshop Tools. That's where you'll find the action set. Under Tutorials and also under LEarning Galleries, you'll find some stuff to get you started. The latest version of the action set also has a PDF read me with lots of info.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Mitch