Those are gorgeous!

ginger

Good shots. I like dthe composition of those shots.

Well composed and exposed. Good work. Is that noise I see in the 2nd pic?

Dick.

Nice composition, and color......

Originally Posted by D200-D70 Well composed and exposed. Good work. Is that noise I see in the 2nd pic? Dick.

Thank you, and others, for your input and compliments.

As far as your curious question, I can only answer it with MY curious question.

How does one "see" noise?

Is it a sight problem or a hearing problem?

I love photography. I'm a designer. I love designing shots. I love composing. I haven't a clue about anything else.

I bought the "big" photoshop thing thinking I'd go for the best - I'm a committed perfectionist. I haven't the foggiest idea what much of photoshop is even talking about, to say less of what it does. (I also have a tendency to avoid reading directions.)

Every once in a while I'll experiment just to see what happens if, for example, I "sharpen" or "sharpen more" (once is usually enough, after that things get interesting, but not usually the way I'm interested in creating interest).

I have a feeling if I could crack the "layering" mystery, it would open a world of opportunities, but so far I haven't had the time to unlock that one. (I have a feeling the tendency for photoshop to put checkerboards on written documents that make them illegible until one prints them has something to do with rastorizing (haven't a clue) which has something to do with layering (I got it to stop once, but do you think I could remember what I did?)).

I've come across "noise" options, often asking if I want to reduce it. As I don't hear anything, I don't get why I would want to reduce it. Now if I was composing a opera I could see a possible reason for a "reduce noise" option, but for a photo? ...maybe I need to take more wildlife.

Originally Posted by dallas Nice composition, and color......

Thank you.

Just curious ...do you see noise?

Originally Posted by thomaswe Thank you, and others, for your input and compliments. As far as your curious question, I can only answer it with MY curious question. How does one "see" noise? Is it a sight problem or a hearing problem? I love photography. I'm a designer. I love designing shots. I love composing. I haven't a clue about anything else. I bought the "big" photoshop thing thinking I'd go for the best - I'm a committed perfectionist. I haven't the foggiest idea what much of photoshop is even talking about, to say less of what it does. (I also have a tendency to avoid reading directions.) Every once in a while I'll experiment just to see what happens if, for example, I "sharpen" or "sharpen more" (once is usually enough, after that things get interesting, but not usually the way I'm interested in creating interest). I have a feeling if I could crack the "layering" mystery, it would open a world of opportunities, but so far I haven't had the time to unlock that one. (I have a feeling the tendency for photoshop to put checkerboards on written documents that make them illegible until one prints them has something to do with rastorizing (haven't a clue) which has something to do with layering (I got it to stop once, but do you think I could remember what I did?)). I've come across "noise" options, often asking if I want to reduce it. As I don't hear anything, I don't get why I would want to reduce it. Now if I was composing a opera I could see a possible reason for a "reduce noise" option, but for a photo? ...maybe I need to take more wildlife.

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_noise.html

Originally Posted by Harryb Good shots. I like dthe composition of those shots.

Thanks, Harry. I appreciate your input.

I'm assuming as moderator you know about this noisy photo problem Dick says he "sees".

...maybe if I knew what I was listening for I could "see" it...

Originally Posted by Harryb http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_noise.html

Thanks, Harry - our messages crossed somewhere in photo internet land.

I've perused the tutorials and find them very well written, easy for the uninitiated to understand, and am excited about learning how to see noise (not that is sounds very desirable, but if it helps...).

Tom

Originally Posted by thomaswe Thanks, Harry. I appreciate your input. I'm assuming as moderator you know about this noisy photo problem Dick says he "sees". ...maybe if I knew what I was listening for I could "see" it...

I'm a moderator because I'm so darn amiable, knowldege of "noise" is not a prerequisite.

Anyhow the noise in your images was not an issue for me otherwise i would have mentioned it in my initial post. Noise usually comes from shooting at higher ISOs or from underexposing your shot. Its a fact of life and we all have to deal with it including Cannonites (they will deny it but don't believe them). Its is avoided by shooting at the lowest ISO possible and exposing your shot correctly.

Now very often we will take shots of a scene where the image's dynamic range will exceed the capabilities of a camera and the shadow areas of our shots will have noise in them. In this situation and any other where our shot has noise in them it can be handled with noise reduction software. I will usually create a duplicate layer of my shot and apply the noise reduction to the layer and then convert it to a layer mask and apply the noise reduction only to the areas that have noise. The reason for this is that the noise reduction reduces noise but also reduces details and I only want to apply it to the affected areas. Here's a fairly simple tutorial on layer masks.

http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/psc/psc03.php

Originally Posted by Harryb I'm a moderator because I'm so darn amiable, knowldege of "noise" is not a prerequisite. Anyhow the noise in your images was not an issue for me otherwise i would have mentioned it in my initial post. Noise usually comes from shooting at higher ISOs or from underexposing your shot. Its a fact of life and we all have to deal with it including Cannonites (they will deny it but don't believe them). Its is avoided by shooting at the lowest ISO possible and exposing your shot correctly. Now very often we will take shots of a scene where the image's dynamic range will exceed the capabilities of a camera and the shadow areas of our shots will have noise in them. In this situation and any other where our shot has noise in them it can be handled with noise reduction software. I will usually create a duplicate layer of my shot and apply the noise reduction to the layer and then convert it to a layer mask and apply the noise reduction only to the areas that have noise. The reason for this is that the noise reduction reduces noise but also reduces details and I only want to apply it to the affected areas. Here's a fairly simple tutorial on layer masks. http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/psc/psc03.php

Thanks much for taking the time to explain this. It reinforces the notion that I need to someday unlock the "layer" mystery. ;)

Originally Posted by thomaswe ...How does one "see" noise? Is it a sight problem or a hearing problem? I love photography. I'm a designer. I love designing shots. I love composing. I haven't a clue about anything else. ...

Well Thomas, I not really sure how to react on this especially because English is not my first language and could easely say something wrong.

While you comming strong, I want to be clear on my first reaction:
Both are very nice pictures, meaning the first and the second capture. The posted pics are a bit small to really enjoy all the details and because of that, I asked if the "structure" I see in the top right corner of the pic is related to "Noise" = mainly High ISO artifact or just the structure of the flower. In short: It's all positive and with good intentions.

Keep'm comming!

Dick

Originally Posted by D200-D70 Well Thomas, I not really sure how to react on this especially because English is not my first language and could easely say something wrong. While you comming strong, I want to be clear on my first reaction: Both are very nice pictures, meaning the first and the second capture. The posted pics are a bit small to really enjoy all the details and because of that, I asked if the "structure" I see in the top right corner of the pic is related to "Noise" = mainly High ISO artifact or just the structure of the flower. In short: It's all positive and with good intentions. Keep'm comming! Dick

Thanks much!!

Your English is great!! And I much appreciate your input. I didn't take it as negative at all, just good critiquing which I need and want. ...I just happen to not know how you "see noise" and couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask the question back.

Keep up the good work and the good critiquing. One doesn't learn much from "nice shot" critiques. I can get that from my mom.

Tom

Originally Posted by thomaswe ...Your English is great!! And I much appreciate your input. I didn't take it as negative at all, ...

Thanks Tom.

Now this is settled, we can let our camera do the focus again.

I'm going comming sunday 6am to a place where others promissed me to see within a hour the widest variation of birds on Aruba. If so than I'm going to teach our Harry a lesson in birdphotography