I C U R Digital Photography - Blogs

Mirror Folder Backup

Admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:11:39 GMT

I thought I would tell you about a Killer App that works very well. I use this program to backup my Digital Images to my Home Server and external Drobo unit. I have the program to move the images in Real Time, so as soon as I copy the files from my work folder and the images I want to keep to the destination folders, Mirror Folder will back them up right away to the 2 systems I mentioned above. Not only will this backup for you, but you can compare folders to insure what is one is in the other folder as well. All this works in the backround as well, and the cost is $39.99 US funds. You can download a demo here Mirror Folder

Below is a screen shot, notice top left Master Digital Images, this is the source folder on Drive D. In the bottom box, you see the two areas that the files get copied to, Server and Drive G.

MirrorFolder is a real-time mirroring and synchronization software to backup files from your local computer drive to another local/removable/network drive.

You can setup mirrors for your important folders, or even an entire drive, to another local/removable/network drive in either automatic synchronization or real-time mirroring mode. Once you setup mirror(s) for a folder, mirroring/synchronization will be done silently in the background without requiring any further effort or attention from you. You may also optionally archive older versions of mirror files inside a series of zip files in a third location periodically.

Some common uses of MirrorFolder are:

Mirroring on local hard disk - MirrorFolder is ideal for real-time mirroring on a separate local hard disk. In this mode, files in the mirror folder will remain identical with their source at any point of time. In case the source disk fails, you will have all of your files on the mirror folder/disk for immediate use. You may also use auto-synchronization mode of mirroring on local hard disk and choose to move older versions of files in the mirror folder to recycle bin duringsynchronization.

Backup on removable drive - MirrorFolder can be used for automatic backup of your important working folders on removable drive like USB flash drive, removable hard disk, etc., preferably in automatic synchronization mode. You may also enable archive option to store older versions of files in a series of ZIP files into a third location.

Mirroring entire system drive - MirrorFolder can be used to mirror entire Windows drive on another internal hard disk drive in real-time mirroring (RAID-1 type) mode. In case the source drive fails, you can use mirror drive to boot Windows without any lose of data/files. Note that MirrorFolder does not support mirroring entire system drive on external removable and network drives at present.

Synchronization between laptop and desktop computers - You can use MirrorFolder to synchronize files between your laptop and desktop computers using bi-directional automatic synchronization mode.

Synchronization between home and office computers through a USB flash drive - You can use MirrorFolder to synchronize important folders between your home and office computers using bi-directional automatic synchronization mode through a USB flash drive.

Workstations to server mirroring - In a networked environment, MirrorFolder can be installed on each workstation computer to mirror important folders on them to one or more servers on the network. Once mirrors are created, MirrorFolder will keep mirrors on the server synchronized with the source folders on each computer on the network without requiring any further effort from individual users. That means, the server(s) will always contain an up-to-date copy of all relevant files of each workstation computer and individual users will no longer have to spend any time backing up his/her computer periodically.

Server to server mirroring - MirrorFolder can be used for mirroring of files/folders from server to server on local network. Since this software runs under system account for both real-time and auto-synchronization mode of mirroring, it can mirror any files irrespective of its access right and who is currently interactively logged on the system. However, you must provide a user name and password to access the the remote server and mirror on it.

HDR Photography

Admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:09:00 GMT

HDR photography has been growing stronger each day, more and more photographers are using software to create their HDR images. HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range". The beautiful thing about HDR is that it produces stunning photos. In order to produce HDR images, you need to take 2 or more images of your subject and have some sort of software to process the images into an HDR image.

The Camera

Lets start out with the cameras first. As I mentioned you need to have two or more images, and most times 3 will do the trick for you, the picture above was with 3 images.
Now to start off you need to put your camera into Exposure Bracking, and I suggest that you set the camera up for full f/stops in order for this to work well, and to get that dynamic range of your subject. 0 +1 -1. The one thing is that you are limited for exposure bracking on the camera, some will do three, others will do five and I know that the Nikon D700 does 7 exposures in this mode.
I know for a fact that the Canon 40D is limited to 3 shots in this mode, but if you wanted to shot 0 +1 +2 +3 -1 -2 -3 in total 7 images with the full range, this can be done without the Bracking, just shot your subject with a normal shot and than use the exposure compensation of the figures above and that sovles that for you. A cable release would be wise to use at this point.

The Software

In order to produce HDR images you need software that can convert your images and process them into the dynamic range for you. I use Photomatix software and they have a demo version that you can download, here is the link --> http://www.hdrsoft.com/

Images at a cost

What I mean here is that when you shot HDR images, in order to get that one good shot, you need to take more than 2 images of that subject, so your shutter on your camera will be taking a hit for producing these images.

With that said, to avoid wasted shots, you have to be aware that you should almost use a tripod, if you can hand hold the camera for this by all means. I have taken the picture above hand holding the camera, and got lucky, but most of the times the images did not turn out. If you have the shutter speed up fast enough you can get away with hand holding.

Static subjects will work well, such as landscapes, buildings. For landscape photography make sure that the trees are not blowing if so, your images with not turn out, and look bad. You see the HDR software tries to align your images the best it can, but trees will show up as a blur or just don't like right, so keep this in mind.

I suggest, as I'm no pro at this and learning as I go, but get on the internet and search for HDR there is lots out there, and look at the link I posted for samples and more information.

Here are some screen shots, of the software that I use.

Main Screen

Import Images

Settings for Processing Images

Here you can change the settings as need be.

Tone Mapping Screen

Right, now you are saying WOW this looks real bad, you are right. But what you are seeing is all images merged into one, but not processed into an HDR until you HIT that Tone Mapping button.

Processing HDR Image

Now we are cooking here, the screen you are looking at is the Details Enhancer.
The one area that you need to look at with this software is the Smoothing, notice that the photo was processed with Mid, going to Min or Low will give a more dramatic effect to this image, well High and Max will be less of an effect on this image.

The areas covered from the arrows are those that I have played with thus far, I need to look at the items below and understand them better. I hope this was a some help to some one out there.

Canon 7D Released News

Admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:22:28 GMT

Today September 1, 2009 canon has released the news about this camera.

Canon has introduced a new 18.1-megapixel EOS 7D DSLR camera and three lenses today. This new Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR camera has 18.1 APS-C CMOS sensor with 8fps continuous shooting. With full manual control, one can record 1080p HD video at 24fps and can watch it on the 3-inch LCD.

Targeted at professional photographers and advanced amateurs, EOS 7D costs $1699 (Rs. 81,600 approx.) for the body only and is expected to be available in the US by the end of this month. This DSLC camera will also be offered with Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens kit for an estimated price of $1899 (Rs. 91,200 approx.).

Canon boasts of the new advanced 19-point Autofocus system, new Canon iFCL Metering System (Intelligent Focus, Color, Luminance) and new Intelligent Viewfinder.

This EOS 7D model that lies between EOS 50D Digital and EOS 5D Mark II offers full HD recording at 30fps, 24fps and 25p. Equipped with Integrated Speedlite Transmitter, photographers will be able to control external Speedlites without making use of external accessories. For detail specifications, check the official EOS 7D page.

Thanks to Dual "DIGIC 4" image processors with improved electrical system now images can be captured at 8fps without making use of external accessories. The EOS 7D has expandable ISO Range (100-6400) of up to 12,800. Built from magnesium alloy body, the body of EOS 7D is lightweight, tough and can protect against moisture and dust.

One can use EOS 7D with all EF and EF-S lenses as well as Canon EX Speedlites since the compatibility has been taken care of.

GPS Units GEoTagging

Admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:19:20 GMT

GPS units for cameras are a neat thing, just think that you can view the location where you took that holiday or trip to and view it on Google Maps or any other location for that matter. All though the prices of these units are dropping, they are still rather high in costs, but what a great tool to have with you. I purchased this unit above for my trip to Florida which is coming very soon, and could not think of a better way to record where I took those images from.

The unit above is so small it fits on the cameras flash mount, or you can attach it on the camera strap if you needed to use your flash unit. At startup I found it took about 30 to 40 seconds, but after that it found the signal rather quickly. As for the power of this unit, it comes from the camera battery and I had it with me for 7 hours with very little drain on the camera battery.
I could see one day when the prices drop for these devices that they will be in most cameras in a few years time.

Just think that if you went out with your camera with the GPS unit, and some one asked you where you took this picture, you could send them the GPS data with a link on Google Maps, and Bob's your uncle. This is an excellent way of sharing with others that have a GPS device.

Specs For Nikon GP-1

Acquired data: Latitude, longitude, altitude, time information
Time required for satellite acquisition: Approx. 45 sec. (cold start), approx. 5 sec. (hot start)
Power source: Supplied from camera body

Receiving indicators:
Red blinking (GPS data not recorded)

Green blinking (GPS data recorded utilizing three satellites)

Green solid (Four or more satellites detected, GPS data are more accurate)

Compatible models 90 (via accessory terminal cable GP1-CA90), D3, D300, D700, D2Xs and D200 (via 10-pin remote terminal cable GP1-CA10). Some models may require an update to the latest version of firmware.

Attachment: Attaches to camera�s accessory shoe or a camera strap via strap adapter GP1-CL1
Dimensions: Approx. 2 x 1.8 x 1 inches

Supplied Accessories
GP1-CA90 for connection to the D90

GP1-CA10 for connection to the 10-pin remote terminal of supported cameras

Strap adapter GP1-CL1

*Supplied accessories may differ depending on country or area.

NIK Define 2.0

Admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:22:39 GMT

I have been using this software for awhile now, and I really like this software, and the thing is that it does a very good job most of the time with the default settings, which makes my job easier and process the images faster. I have used a few noise programs, and this is the one that I'm impressed with, and is part of my work flow now.

What is Noise

Virtually, all digital cameras inherently create unwanted imperfections known as noise. The amount or type of noise in an image typically depends on the quality and type of imaging sensor with which it was created.

Contrast (Luminance) Noise and Color (Chrominance) Noise can be individually present in an image or might be seen in the same image. Fast or high ISO speeds and low light levels can add noise to images, while some images might exhibit high levels of JPEG artifacts.

New and Improved Noise Reduction Engine
with Automatic Profiling

Dfine 2.0 contains a brand new reduction engine that provides best-in-class noise reduction while retaining an incredible amount of detail.

Automatic camera profiling replaces the need to purchase camera profiles and fine-tunes Dfine�s revamped noise reduction engine to produce the best results for your camera. You can also create and save your own profiles for batch processing images.

Introducing Dfine 2.0

Dfine 2.0 gives you unprecedented control over exactly how much and where to apply noise reduction. This makes it ultra-easy to eliminate noise in your images while maintaining detail and sharpness, thus improving the quality of every digital photo you take. Dfine 2.0 is designed to prevent the loss of detail other noise reduction tools often introduce.

Filters (Lee Filters vs Cokin)

Admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:59:00 GMT

I have been looking into both these filter sets for almost 3 weeks now. Lynn and I are heading for Algonquin Park this July 2009.

I have 2 lens that I would like to use on the trip for landscapes and the problem is that one lens is 77mm and the other 82mm. Would be too costly to go out and get seperate filters, so I started to look into the Lee Filter System and the Cokin System.

Many years ago, I started using the Cokin filters, and sold off most of my gear including the filters, as I just wanted to use a point and shoot camera when ever I needed a camera. And yes these where the film and slide days of my photography. Now that I'm into Digital Photography I started to look into this filter set again.

Cokin

The one issue that I had with the Cokin system is that at the time it was very hard to find the filters as there was a change in the company, and items where very hard to find. I had the holder, but the rings to attach the holder were never in stock and or the filters that I wanted. Even today things are hard to find, but it is getting better more stores bringing in stock. The thing that I liked about this system is the filters, they were very well made and worked well. The holder was just a piece of plastic and it did the job. The cost to purchase these filters was very affordable and still is today.

Lee Filters

Here is another filter system that has been out for a number of years. I checked out this system last week, and I have to say it too is very nice. The one thing is the filter holder is very well built and sturdy compared to the Cokin one. I checked a few filters out and they too are very good quality as well. Ring adapters in stock, and if not could be there next day, since the company is up the road from the store.

The one thing, the Lee Filter system is a lot more money than the Cokin filters, holders etc... But are geting very good quality for your money, and also the filters themselfs are much bigger 100mm x 150mm.
Now I have not checked into this, but the salesman stated that there is no colour shift in the Lee Filters where as there is a slight colour shift with the Colkin filters. How much of an effect who knows.

So, now I needed to figure out what my needs are for this trip to Algonquin Park

Ring adapters, 77mm and 82mm.

Filter Holder.

ND Filter set.

Still thinking of what I need for sunsets and sun rise filters.

With this said, both systems are very good and well worth having in your camera bag no matter which system you go with. The major issue with these types of filters are they are plastic and will scratch if you don`t take care of them, so always put them back into there covers, there is no way to get scratches out unlike glass.

If you are on a tight budget, the Cokin filter set is the way to go at a fraction of the cost for the Lee filter sets. But even further is that these filters can be used with almost every lens in your camera bag and all you need is the adapter ring to fit your lens and bob's your uncle. One filter set for almost every lens you have.

Oh yes, some would argue that these are plastic and I prefer glass. Well let me say this, my eye glasses are plastic and most of the people I know that wear glasses, are plastic today and not glass.

And yes I did buy the Lee Filters, only because the store did not have all the Cokin Rings that I required, and only one filter out of 3 out of stock and no ETA on when stock would come in.

For me I wanted the ND filter set, but I'm thinking about filters for sunsets and sun rise shots..... Plus the fact that the filters themselfs are much larger, there is more room to play with the Grad ND filters.

Funny how things are needed when your photography type changes from Nature photography to Landscape photography, filters really come in handy for landscape shots, and an area of photography I have done for years and I'm looking forward to this trip and hoping to be able to bring some images back with me to share with you all.

Digital Photography Killer Apps

Admin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:03:40 GMT

Well, I was thinking about this and decided to start a blog on Killer Apps for digital photography.

Do you have a program that you find you use all the time and and would like to share with the others. I would like to hear from you with your application that makes your digital processing easier because of it.

Here is the one that I use every time Downloader Pro. Install my compact flash card, enter a name for the folder and click next, it creates the folder and copies all the images from the compact flash card onto the hard drive. Simple and easy to use.

Why Use Downloader Pro?
Gives you a fast and simple way to transfer and store digital photos from your camera to PC

Automatically rename and organize photos in a meaningful way as they are downloaded

Save time locating images by assigning them recognizable and clear names and folders

Supports the downloading of JPEGs from all camera makes and raw files from most camera makes including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Fuji, Sony , Kodak, Leica, Sigma and Hasselblad

Avoid duplicating images on your PC; Downloader Pro identifies duplicate images and only downloads them once. Particularly useful when downloading from mass storage devices

Simplify workflow by automating the creation of sets of related directories for each download directory e.g. Vacation2007\originals, Vacation2007\working, JobXYZ\final (using the new Directory Maker plug-in)

Time saving automatic rotation of JPEG�s from cameras with orientation sensors

Specify download path using shooting data

Store caption and location information in image IPTC/XMP data as images are downloaded

Automatically geo-tag images using GPS data from devices like the Sony GPS-CS1 tracker, Garmin eTrex Venture CX etc.

Ease reorganization of existing photos held on PC

Integrated with BreezeBrowser Pro

Photoshop users can automatically adjust dpi of JPEGs to their preferred value during download

Photoshop users can automatically tag JPEGs with colour profile according to camera model.

Here is the link: http://www.breezesys.com/Downloader/index.htm
So how about you sharing one that you use all the time and why! I'm sure that others would be interested in your Killer App!

Backup! Digital Images

Admin — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:00:32 GMT

Do you have a backup of your digital images? If not you better consider having a plan to have a backup, since hard drives fail and if you only have your images on your computer you could loose all your images without having another copy on another external drive. External drives are cheap these days and having a backup of your images is crucial if you want to save all your time and efforts that you took to go and capture your images. Just think of all the hours that you had spent to drive out to a site, and the hours that you took to capture all your images, than a backup of them makes total sense.

Choosing a backup system is up to you.

External USB / Firwire Hard Drive.

Raid system like Drobo and other types.

Windows Home Server.

Lets look at the systems above

External Drives, this is a single drive system that you can have to store your images on, but the down fall here is that if the drive dies, you loose all your images. I would consider having two external drives just in case one does fail.

Drobo type systems, this is the current system that I have on my system at home. This system has there own raid system, but the best thing is that you can use any drive combo up to 4 drives, and they are hot swappable as well. These systems come in USB/Firewire 800. They are not cheap either, but they do a good job.

The down fall with Vista with this unit is Firewire 800 locks up and this seems to be a drive issue. The other issue is that the transfer rate is around 10Mb per sec which is not all that fast. With Firewire 800 when I could get it to work was around 30mb per sec. The sad thing is that I had the USB version and upgraded just for the Firewire 800 speed, and as I mentioned that there are issues with Vista, and now I use this only with USB. Not blazing fast for backups, but they get done just the same.

Windows Home Server, I just picked this unit up this week. I have the Intel one, but HP and others out there as well. Again, these are not cheap, and they are a pain as you need the box, hard drives and the OS, also one needs to purchase a flex cable so that you can get the video output. The cable needs to be converted from PCI-e 1 to PCI-e 16

Once you have this up and running, you pull out the flex cable for video, and access the system via client software on your PC or remote desktop. My system has 4 TB drives and is setup for raid 10 which if a drive fails all I have to do is pull that defective drive out and let the system rebuild that drive. Because of raid 10 you really have access to 2TB of storage which is fine with me.

The system is fast, and once you have it running you could store the device away and for get about it almost. You can than access and transfer files to your shared folder, and if you have other family members you can set them up with an account for their own shared folder as well.

This will backup every computer that is connected to the system via a router at night, and every night it will back up each system to the server. If you have a crash of your PC, just run the restore disc and it will restore the PC that went down. I ran my backup software that I used to backup my images to the Drobo, and it transfered the images at 45Mb per sec that is faster than the Drobo by 150% faster.

Windows Home Server is a scaled down version of Windows 2003, and I mean scaled down. When you run the client software there is very little that you can do, but if you need to configure these server you need to remote desktop in for more options.

What More! Yes you bet, you can share your server over the internet with others, and you can access your own PC as well, it has a built in Web Server and all you need to do is setup the router ports and BINGO you now have access to your server over the internet.

In all the best way to go for doing backups is a raid system of some sort. If a drive fails replace it and away you go.

Windows Home Server is fast but as I mentioned not cheap, but is another way for backing up your data, and to access the internet to get access to your images and other files, and allowing family to access the photos in a shared folder to download.

I should point out one thing and that is system backups take up a lot of space on the server, in my case 226 GB. I may turn this off at some point way down the road.

I hope and trust this is of some use to some.

5D MKII Blog

Admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:19:07 GMT

I finally got this camera and have had it for a bit over a week now, it looks and feels like the 40 or 50D cameras, the only difference is that the buttons are not on the bottom, but rather on the left hand side of the camera. The LCD is very nice with 3" in size, and has a coating on to see the images in the bright light, have not had it out in the sun yet. The quality of the LCD is much improved with the added mega pixels and you can see the image much better than ever before.

The shutter frame rate is not as fast for this camera 3.9 frames per second, this could be much improved even for this camera. The full sensor is nice for landscape images and portrait images, but not bad on the longer end of things that I can tell yet. Having the full sensor for wide angle shots is real nice to see, no the 16-35mm is going to give that extra wide angle of view.

I was shooting the hawks here at home, and found that the images are better than with my 1D-MKIII and no macro calibration done at this time. I'm awaiting the LensAlign to show up, in customs now! Than I will do both cameras at the same time to really see what happens.

Video is neat but have not really played with this feature a whole lot. The one thing is a must is a tripod there is no way that one can hand hold the camera without jerky video even with the smaller lens. Manual focus only, and you can only use the view screen on the back of the camera and not through the lens. I made a video up when I meet Don at the park and it turned out to be rain, so we did a test in his van of the rain hand held and than in the coffee shop I put the camera on the table and let it run for a bit. Not bad since I have not read the manual for this yet. The movie is 2 minutes and 15 seconds long, and you will need to use Windows Media Player to see it. Note that this is not High Def as the file would be huge in size, plus I don't have space on the web site to store that large of a file.

All in all I'm happy with it, and if anything else I can add to this blog I will add it later on. Remember this is not a high def image for the reason is disk space on the web.

My First Video <====Click Here

Canon 50D Specs

Admin — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:44:50 GMT

The 50D
* 12.2 Megapixel APS-C sensor
* Single Digic III Processor
* ISO 100-3200 (High 6400)
* 6-8 fps depending on grip
* 3" High Resolution OLED LCD
* Will accept EF and EF-S Lenses
* 11 point AF
* 35 Zone metering
* Viewfinder: 100 percent coverage .95 magnification
* Pop up flash
* New Lithium Ion Battery
* Weather sealing slightly better than 40D

Canon 5D MKII

Admin — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:53:00 GMT

Canon EOS 5D MkII: Specification
Resolution: 21.1Mp

Sensor size: 36x24mm full frame

Sensor type: CMOS

Image size: 5616x3744

Aspect ratio: 3:2

Focus system: TTL-CT-SIR

Focus points: 9 point AF plus 6 assist AF points

Crop factor: 1.0x

Lens mount: EF (excludes EF-S lenses)

File type: JPEG, RAW, sRAW1, sRAW2

Sensitivity: ISO100-6400 (expandable toISO50, ISO12,800 and ISO25,600)

Storage: Compactflash

Focus types: One-shot, AI servo, AI focus

Metering system: TTL full aperture

Metering types: Evaluative (selective AF point), Partial (approx 8% of centre), spot (approx 3.5% of centre), centre-weighted

Exposure compensation: /-2 EV in 1/2 or 1/3 step increments

Shutter speed: 30sec-1/8000sec

Frames per second: 3.9fps (max 78 images in JPEG or 310 with UDMA card, max 13 images in RAW)

Flash: Built-in, hotshoe for external EX speedlite

Flash metering: E-TTL auto flash

Flash sync speed: 1/200sec

Image stabilisation: Lens based

Integrated cleaning: EOS integrated cleaning system with fluorine coating

Live view: Yes, 100% coverage

Viewfinder: Optical, pentaprism type with approx 98% coverage

Monitor: 3in TFT LCD 920,000dot (307,000px)

Interface: USB 2.0

Power: LP-E6 Li-Ion battery

Size: 152x113.5x75mm

Weight: 810g

I was looking at getting a new lens, and and while surfing the Internet abut the 50D and 5D MKII, I thought that it would be best to look at a backup camera just in case.

I started to look at the 50D and the specs quite good I must add, but than I started to read the reviews and the specs of the 5D MKII. And than I decided to run more focus tests on the Canon MKIII and I found that the images were soft looking to me, but maybe I'm just too picky with the results and things are fine? So when I use the Canon Rebel XSI and ran test on that camera things seem to be sharper to me. So the best thing that I can do is send it in to Canon and have them look at it and see if in fact there is an issue.

I went to visit an old friend of mine and we started to look into the 5D MKII in more details and we were both blown away at what this camera can do, and the cost is not all that much more than the 50D. We both pondered over the specs from each camera and really came to the conclusion that for the bang for the buck the 5D MKII was the better out of the 2. We called a camera store that both of us had dealt with for a number of years, in fact all my cameras and lens came from this one store.
We spoke with the guy on the phone trying to get in formation of the release dates for both cameras. The 50D had been released and the 5D next month. We told him we would call back in an hour.

We called him back, and we placed a deposit down with the store, for the 5D MKII.

Here are my reasons for going with this camera.

Backup camera, I know full frame, but still good for a backup unit.

Great for landscape and city shooting which I hope to do this winter.

Video 1080 HD which was something I used to do before shooting digital. We sold my moms trailer when she passed away and I had my video camera hidden inside and forgot all about it but never went back for it.

Just in case things change from now until the release of the camera, we have asked them to mark down that this is subject to change to the 50D if we are not 100% about the 5D MKII and they agreed with that.

My MKII will be used as the prime camera when it comes back from repairs, and I can only wish that they have found a problem with it, as this would put my mind at ease, otherwise I have to work with what I have.

Your comments are welcomed about this Blog.

Noise Removal Software

Admin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:49:41 GMT

Hello All, here is a blog that I thought that may be of some use to you. Noise is caused from mainly high camera ISO settings, and will show up more in the darker areas and shadows in your images. Also we need to make sure that when we apply the noise filter to the image that we are just taking away enough of the noise, over do it and your photo will have a plastic so you need to play around with the settings and get used to the software.

Now you need to decide where and what noise you want to remove from the image, in the case of bird images, we only want to remove the noise from the background only and not touch the subject. In photoshop you could use the Magic Wand around the image of the bird, invert it, and run the noise filter just on the background. One thing to keep in mind is that a plug-in is the best way to go, as you have an option here to use the Magic Wand. Stand alone such as Noise-wares free version will do the whole image, which makes it harder to control the noise in the image.

Run the noise filter first thing in your post processing, and never run it through twice otherwise for sure the image will have that plastic look to it.

Noise Ninja, this is one that I used to use all the time, very basic, but it works very well. You can have it to auto profile the image and make the changes to the amount you want to apply.

Neat Image, this is the one that I use all the time and like it because there are lots of options. If you read the text in the image about the advanced area, you can really make changes and retain details, sharpen the image and much more, but just too much to go into at this time.

Define, I got the demo from NIK and I have to tell you that this is one that I may switch to. I can go to the filter and run it and I don't have to use the magic wand, as I can pick the points that I want to remove the noise from. Or I can have the filter do the picking for me. I really like the ease of controls here not many, but it does the job. I find that the other 2 filters have controls that I have no clue about and never really got into them to see, but I like filters that are easy and straight forward and Define is one that I will use.

Conclusion:

Noise Ninja is easy to use and has some limitations

Neat Image, better control for maintaining details in the areas that you want to retail details. More sliders and buttons, than I care for, but as I mentioned I have only looked at what did the job for me in my process.

Define, very easy to use, saves time overall and does the job very well. Control points makes it easy to remove background noise in the image and colour noise.

My Picks

Define

Neat Image

Noise Ninja

First Post

rbustraen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:14:09 GMT

I know this isn't what Dennis really intended this for, but this is how I am going to use it. Ban me if you wish and revoke my account, I have more than 1 personality to just re-join as Amanda Hugandkiss.

I haven't been out shooting much lately, life has a way of putting a hobby on hold and to tell the truth there is only so much you can see in Northern Ontario.

I recently purchase a new lens and flash. I cheeped out and bought the 430EXII Flash for my camera. I know I should have gone all the way, someone told me once; go big or go home, but in this case it is more for indoor pictures at Christmas time and birthdays.

I found a review that I found helpful and hope it does the same for you.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...sh-Review.aspx

I also purchased a new lens. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens. This is the 129.99 lens and I have to say beside the plastic feel, I am VERY impressed with the images so far.

Here is a sample image just minutes after buying the lens. It was getting dark outside and took this inside the van with no flash. It has a great shallow depth of field and I got the results I wanted with the eye being sharp and the rest out of focus.

Here is the review for that lens I found as well...

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/r...ns-review.aspx

With that said, I went to the place here in Timmins where I purchased my camera and found out that he could have got it to me 20 dollars less than Henry's. He quoted me a price of 110.00 for the same lens. This doesn't seem lots, but I'm thinking 20 bucks on a 100; does that give me 200 on 1000?

Alright, this is my first post and hopefully not my last if the Admin doesn't decide to boot me off for good.

I am on my way to Halifax this Thursday and bringing all my gear so wish me luck and I hope to have some pictures to post.

- Randy

Sharpen Mask

Admin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:34:00 GMT

Hello All,

Well I made this photoshop action about over a year ago, and it works very well, and I use this action still today.

I put the action on the system sometime ago, and I thought I would add it to the Blogs area for those that want the action it is here and Free for the taking.

Attached Files

Focus Magic

Admin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:47:00 GMT

Focus Magic is a program that will help you in fixing that out of focus image. This is a great program for saving an image that you really want to save from the Trash Can.

Focus Magic, will give you some default settings and detect the amount of blur in the image and try to make the adjustments it picks up, and most users accept those settings as is, and thus the image does not look much better. You need to look at the before and after image and make the changes to you image.

The image above is the default settings that the program picks up on. Notice that I selected the area on Don's shirt to get the area that I wanted to focus on. Notice the Before and After Image. For me this is over sharpened and needs to be adjusted down some what.

It is here where we need to lower the levels for the over sharpened image. This is the most common mistake that users make by not adjusting this area in the program.

Here the program picked up Blue Width of 5 and notice the before and after, really looks bad hey. What I would do here is either forget about trying to save the image here, and or click on the Detect Button again and see if it will come down in its values. The funny thing is that you are better of with the image the way it is now then have the program try to fix it. I have found that the program will come up with these values and if I Detect the image it drops to 2 or 3, and it will still do a fairly good job.

Now we are going back to image two again, but this time we decrease the percentage to 50%. This removes the over sharpened image by you guessed it 50%.

Now I have to say that this image was already processed by Andrew, but I wanted to use this image as an example to show you that you can correct your images and make them sharper even if they have been processed. Notice the second image how sharp the shirt is and then when you adjust the amount to 50% how much it takes off of the sharpness.

Notice the arrows here, this is before Focus Magic has been applied to the image.

OK, notice how everything is sharpened and a bit to much I could have taken this down to even 25%. But you can see in the shirt that the lines are sharper and also the gravel road and you can even pick out the tire marks from a car on the road. Even the bush on the left is much too sharp.

So all in all, this is not a bad program if used properly, and with the right adjustments you could produce saving that certain image.

Now I have heard that some users use this as there main program to sharpen images. But there are some major draw backs for me about this. If you noticed that when I ran Focus Magic on the image, it does the whole image, and this is not the best way most of the times. Yes if you are trying to save an image, and you need to deal with the whole image being adjusted.

But for me I only want to sharpen the subject and not the background of the photo, as I find this is more appealing. And for this reason I only use Focus Magic for a slightly out of focus image and that is it.

In closing, this program is great to have around for what it was intended to do, but not for your main sharpening process. I hope that this tutorial was a help to some of you, and I hope to do more of this in the future.