-= T2i / 550D users UNITE! (2) =-

mdvaden wrote in post #12300057
Son graduated from Marine Corps training at San Diego MCRD this month. Got a few okay hand-held shots. This was one time where I was almost completely after quantity of shots rather than quality. Just kept clicking away all day long.

Probably should have used a flash in the shade under the palm tree. FYI - that palm tree image was using a Tokina 12-24mm with a Marumi Circular Polarizer.

mdvaden wrote in post #12300072
The rows of Sea Bags were pretty cool looking all neatly laid out in rows.

OOH RAH......brings back memories of Parris Island many moons ago! Congratulations!! Proud day for your son and you too.

John

DigitalTuned wrote in post #12300460
Congrats to your son and god bless our finest. My daughter is also a US Marine currently stationed in Afganistan.

A big Semper Fi to your daughter Digital! Tell her I said thanks for serving!!

John

Peter2516 wrote in post #12300916
more from the race track

Nice action Peter!

John

Peter2516 wrote in post #12300952
I am a new proud owner of 70-200mm F4L USM. My first ever L lens. I just got it last night. So far I love it.

Wow! congrats....it's back to the track for you!!

John

Berassic wrote in post #12301570

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/77826648@N00/5​634150863/
Isla by |Kit|, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/77826648@N00/5​649380471/
Clio 182 by |Kit|, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/77826648@N00/5​661017940/
IMG_5397 by |Kit|, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/77826648@N00/5​661016154/
IMG_5593 by |Kit|, on Flickr

Nice shots!
John

Was thinking about Rafa's post this morning and shooting with a high ISO, which I have never really done before. Was really afraid of having so much noise to deal with. Of course, there was nothing much to shoot this morning (not even water droplets), so I settled for some bees and decided to play with ISO 1600. My thinking was that if I only upped the shutter and shot on TV mode, everything comes out dark, so with ISO 1600 at f/8, it might catch them without so much of the blur I generally get and without the darkness.

Did my usual adjusting (minimal shadow/highlight, brightness/contrast, hue/saturation), and also ran these through Neat Image (remove noise and sharpen setting), and then gave them just a touch of USM.

What do you guys think? I'm not usually great at seeing noise in photos, unless it's really unbearable, and even at that I don't tend to notice.

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More buzzing around:

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And finally, a comparison before and after editing a bit. Before is on the left, as shot, right out of camera, with no editing. After is on the right. I'm not so sure I see a lot of difference, if any.

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Annie,
those are very nice, and you're right, noise is surprisingly minimal. I think that noise is a lot worse when you are shooting in poor light and then try to bring details back out of the shadows, but even so, that sooc picture looks ridiculously clean. I imagine when you zoom in to 1:1, you can see a heck of a lot more, right?

Caught a photo of a budding rose on the bush by the front door of my house.

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Mookalafalas wrote in post #12301867
Annie,
those are very nice, and you're right, noise is surprisingly minimal. I think that noise is a lot worse when you are shooting in poor light and then try to bring details back out of the shadows, but even so, that sooc picture looks ridiculously clean. I imagine when you zoom in to 1:1, you can see a heck of a lot more, right?

Not really Al. Here's a screenshot of the image in Lightroom at 1:1 and with no editing. I hope you can see it okay, given the size restraints here. If not, I can probably put it in flickr at a larger size for viewing.

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davidc502 wrote in post #12301882
Caught a photo of a budding rose on the bush by the front door of my house.

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Nice shot David. You might want to just brighten it up a bit. It's dark on my monitor....but that could be my monitor too, so go by what you see on your own.

AnnieBananie wrote in post #12301908
N
I'm actually surprised that these came out pretty good, but that's why I like to get other opinions. You just sort of confirmed my own opinion, and it means I don't really need to be afraid to go that high.

Yeah, I agree with you there. I go to 1600 straightaway when shooting indoors. I generally do hit it pretty good with noise reduction, though. On shots like of your bees, however, I can see where you wouldn't want to use NR if you don't have to--a tiny bit of static is much better than smearing out those tiny little details. Of course, if it is a picture of someone laughing as they blow out a birthday cake, the fine details really aren't the key to the picture, so I don't mind getting heavy with NR in those cases (if the picture needs it...).

Mookalafalas wrote in post #12302022
Yeah, I agree with you there. I go to 1600 straightaway when shooting indoors. I generally do hit it pretty good with noise reduction, though. On shots like of your bees, however, I can see where you wouldn't want to use NR if you don't have to--a tiny bit of static is much better than smearing out those tiny little details. Of course, if it is a picture of someone laughing as they blow out a birthday cake, the fine details really aren't the key to the picture, so I don't mind getting heavy with NR in those cases (if the picture needs it...).

I find noise reduction very interesting. There are times (like today), when if I use that combo reduce noise/sharpen setting in Neat Image, it actually does sharpen up the details right where I want them sharpened. Other times though, it does exactly as you said, and loses just about all the detail I'd want. Seems to be a bit of a crap shoot. I'm never sure which way it's going to go.

'tis a puzzlement, that's for sure.

Yesterday, visited a 1000+ years old monastery undergoing restoration. It is high up on the hills and can be reached only on a very steep one way road. Had to walk up that road as our cab could only take us half-way up. Must be a real challenge getting building materials and workers to that place.

Some pics from the excursion.