nitetime pics

[photoshooter]

i take racing photos for the local speedway my nite time stuff sometimes ends up with what looks like water spots all over the dark background any one know why or a program too take them out thks and is there a way to crop a circle the same size every time thks

[Bill Ng]

Why not give us a sample picture so we can actually see what you're talking about?

Bill in Brooklyn

[pjd83]

Looks kinda like a dirty lens or sensor.

Or excess noise?

[CyberPet]

How does the lens look like? And could the flash had picked up dust in the air, if it's not something on the lens or the sensor?

[wolf]

I agree with CyberPet. Looks to me like suspended dust close to the lens being illuminated by the flash.

[tim]

Also check your lens is clean. Photoshop has tools that will get rid of them for you. Dust seems like an odd explaination to me.

[eosnob]

Could it be humidity in the air?

[DocFrankenstein]

When you blast your external flash at full power to expose something a distance away, you'll get this if there are particles in the air.

Something half a meter away will be 1600 times brighter than something 20 meter away... If it's a dust particle, it's just enough to make an out of focus circle like that.

[photoshooter]

well the lens is clean as for the sensor i have no idea but my other pics and even other nite stuff is fine how would you get rid of them i have photoshop7 and cs

[Jackal]

These are definately particles in the air. =)

There won't be a way to get rid of these except with some painful photoshopping.

[Jim_T]

Yes.. I'll go with dust too.. Looking at what's happening in the photo, one would expect there would be a lot of dust in the air :)

This is more of a problem with non DSLR cameras like the Canon A80, G6 or S1.. They have much shorter focal lengths due to the small sensors.. The small focal llengths result in tiny apertures which give you a much larger depth of field.. This large depth of field results in illumintated dust particles showing up in the foreground..

I've seen this with my little digital Elph.. I can create the effect by shaking a dusty blanket above and in front of the camera then taking a shot with the flash.. I've never seen this with my 10D.. It must have been really dusty :)

[photoshooter]

im useing a d60

[Beeclose]

Could be easily cloned out if You want to spend heaps on Photoshop cs

[PhotosGuy]

is there a way to crop a circle the same size every time thks I'm not sure what you mean by that, but you probably should take the question to the "Post-Processing" forum.

[photoshooter]

photoguy i was just trying to kill 2 ? at once sorry but what i wanted to know is there a way to crop in a circle around an image say 2 1/4 ever time you would want to crop like that not in a square and jim it wasnt dusty at all they are on a black top track

[badrotation]

Looks kinda like a dirty lens or sensor.

Or excess noise?

Nope, chances are he was using the flash, and the dust particles near the camera showed up...


quite a few goofballs out there on the net insist that these spots are ghosts. :lol:

[badrotation]

photoguy i was just trying to kill 2 ? at once sorry but what i wanted to know is there a way to crop in a circle around an image say 2 1/4 ever time you would want to crop like that not in a square and jim it wasnt dusty at all they are on a black top track

Even if it wasnt a dirt track there is still dust, and ill bet it wasnt visible at all until the flash fired.

[Tdragone]

The only thing I would recommend would be to use the burn tool in photoshop. Make sure you use a brush that looks like a circle with a fuzzy edge (Still a circle; but will not give you DEFINITIVE circles when you burn).


Once you have a fuzzy brush; make the exposure ~ 10%; and you will have to play with the brush size; aka 'radius'.

I would start with ~ 10 and the do all the circles where that approximates the size of the blob; then change brush to ~9 and do those....

It will be a lot of work; each time you click on the circle; it will darken by 10%; some you will hit once; some several times...If you over darken; you can either change the brush to dodge (inverse of burn) to make it lighter again or use the undo command.

Keep zooming in and out to make sure it doesn't look too bad; but if you want to save this pic; I think this is the way I would do it.

Remember to save often and NEVER save over the original [I've done it several times without thinking:( ]

Good luck;

-Tom D.

[PhotosGuy]

a way to crop in a circle around an image say 2 1/4 ever time you would want to crop like that Like this:

[ron chappel]

When you blast your external flash at full power to expose something a distance away, you'll get this if there are particles in the air.

Something half a meter away will be 1600 times brighter than something 20 meter away... If it's a dust particle, it's just enough to make an out of focus circle like that.

Wow this is an interesting effect.I've never experienced this before-your expanation makes perfect sense,Thanks!

[Milner]

I shoot in similar situations a lot, often even more dust/dirt. I have resigned to shooting at 1600 with no flash. The grain is not bad for web based use and small prints. When I need a larger print I use a noise reduction program....still experimenting with which I like best.

[GenEOS]

That is exactly what it is, the flash is illuminating the crud in the air between you and the subject.
To help, try getting the flash off camera next time...It may reduce the effect.
If it is too bad, you may be out of luck...then you have to crank up the iso and pray.

[puttick]

Are you using a UV filter?

I used to get a similar effect with flash on my G2, if (and only if) I used the Lensmate filter adaptor over the lens, with a UV filter on. If there were specular highlights in the photo (e.g. reflected spots from the flash on musical instruments) I would get those "floaters". Without the filter - clean shots. I assume there are internal reflections going on between the front element of the lens and the inside surface of the filter.

If you are using a filter, try again without. It might just solve it for you - let us know!

Nigel

[photoshooter]

i dont use a filter and thkd every one for trying