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Noise reduction

While there are plenty of tools out there that get rid of noise very effectively, you have to be careful how you go about it. Colour noise is easy to dial out and removing it doesn't usually have an impact on image quality – it's luminance noise that's the real issue because even now, regardless of all their brave words, software publishers still haven't truly figured out how to separate real image detail (good) from random image noise (bad).

As a result, when you try to dial out luminance noise in software, you inevitably start eating into vital textural detail too. If you push it too far you end up with that horrid 'watercolour' effect that afflicts many small-sensor cameras and smartphones. The noise is gone, but so too is everything else that might once have been fine, textural detail. You're left with clean hard outlines filled in with mush.

So take care. There are lots of tools for removing image noise but you have to rely heavily on your own judgement – there's very often a delicate tipping point where detail loss starts to hurt the picture quality more than noise removal improves it.

How to change Lightroom’s default processing

February 18, 2019 by Rod Lawton

The default processing for camera RAW files in Lightroom is a reasonable start but quite often you find yourself making the same adjustments time and time again for specific cameras. I get that particularly with my Fujifilm X30. It’s a few years old now and has a pretty small sensor that’s prone to noise, but […]

Filed Under: Lightroom, TutorialsTagged With: Noise reduction, Profiles

Don’t be scared of high ISOs!

October 28, 2017 by Rod Lawton

High ISO noise reduction

Your camera’s sensor, your lens’s image stabiliser and the latest photo-editing software technology may surprise you with what they can do together. When you’re on vacation or on a once-in-a-lifetime trip or just strolling through warm city streets at night, you’re going to want to capture the sights with your camera but you don’t want […]

Filed Under: UncategorizedTagged With: Noise reduction

Lightroom noise reduction and why you need it

April 18, 2017 by Rod Lawton

If you never thought you’d need to pay attention to the Lightroom noise reduction settings, you might need to think again. Like a lot of photographers I shoot RAW files on the assumption I’m going to get better image quality by processing the images myself rather than leaving it to the in-camera JPEG processing. That’s fine […]

Filed Under: Featured, Lightroom, TutorialsTagged With: Artefact/artifact, Lightroom (Adobe), Lightroom Classic (Adobe), Noise reduction, RAW processing

Cure your noise with Google Dfine 2

November 17, 2013 by Rod Lawton

Google Dfine 2 basics

It’s one of the less glamorous plug-ins in the Google Nik Collection, but Google Dfine 2 still fills a valuable function. It’s a noise-reduction plug-in that goes a few steps further than the noise reduction options built into regular applications, so here’s a quick guide to how it works and what it can do. I’m […]

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Filed Under: TutorialsTagged With: Noise reduction

How to control noise for better portraits in Lightroom

August 20, 2013 by Rod Lawton

Lightroom noise reduction

Shooting in available light often gives the most natural and attractive portraits, but it also means you often have to shoot at high ISOs. I took this informal picture while I was working on a feature for N-Photo magazine, and while the light from the window is soft and even, it’s not very bright and […]

Filed Under: Lightroom, TutorialsTagged With: Noise reduction, Retouching

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