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original_crop.jpg

I was looking for a good noise reduction tool. When I looked on the internet it was not clear to me what would be the best program, so I did some testing.

My main goal is to reduce most of the noise without the use of all the fancy settings. Personally I do not hate some noise in my pictures. Probably because I own a Canon 5D which doesn’t generate much noise at all. But the main reason why I’m looking for noise reduction software has to do with HDR. When I generate a HDR image I always get more noise in my images then I wished for. So I am in need of some good noise reduction tool

Don’t expect too much of this mini test. Basically what I did was the following, I opened the original photo with the appropriate program or plug-in (within Adobe Photoshop CS4). If the program or plug-in had an automatic setting I used that. If not I only used the most basic adjustments/settings to get a decent result. Maybe I am just lazy, but hey I don’t want to spend my precious time with reducing noise.

So the image on the top left is a crop of the original HDR file. (the un-cropped image can be found in the following article "HDR Curacao – misty water"). The other images are the results of one of the following tools:

• Noise Ninja 2.2.1 (Stand Alone)
• Noise Ware 2.6 (Stand Alone)
• Noise Ware 4.2 (Photoshop plug-in)
• Photoshop CS4 (Stand Alone)
• Lightroom 3 (Stand Alone)
• NikSoft Dfine 2 (Photoshop plug-in)
• Neat Image Pro 6.0 (Stand Alone)
• Topaz Denoise 4(Photoshop plug-in)

The most important thing for me is that I don’t loose any important details in the photo, so that is one of the things I based my conclusion on. The other important one is of course the reduction of noise. So I used the images below to pick the best tool (for my use)

Conclusion
The build in functionality in Photoshop and Lightroom affect the details too much, so does Dfine from NikSoft and Topaz Denoise. Noise Ninja and Noiseware (the standalone versions) do a good job. For me the Plug-in version of Noiseware disturbs the details a wee bit too much. (which is strange in my opinion because you would think it would give the same result as the standalone). Neat Image was a disappointment to me. I read some good reviews on the net but in my test-case it doesn’t reduce much noise but does affect the details.

So I need to choose between Noise Ninja and Noiseware. Based on the images below I would say Noiseware 2.6 (standalone). Maybe I need to do some more testing with different photos.

Neat Image Pro 6.0.jpg

NikSoft Dfine 2.0 CS4.jpg

Noiseware 2.6 Standalone.jpg

Noiseware 4.2 CS4.jpg

Photoshop CS4.jpg

Topaz Denoise CS4_crop.jpg

lightroom 3.jpg

noise ninja.jpg

I always liked the idea of showing post processing results on my website via a mouseover script. And I finally found the right WordPress plugin to provide me with this option. “Image mouseover” by Tychay.

So the general idea is that you can show an Gallery 2 image on a WordPress post with a mouseover effect. See the example on the right. (just move your mouse over the photo to see the what I am talking about).

With this option it will be easier and more fun to show the difference between pre and post processing.

So to stick to the example on the right: Following the 7-point system by Scott Kelby I first corrected the white balance (WB) and added some Blacks in Lightroom. Opened the image in Photoshop and did some adjustments to the levels and curves (added more contrast). Upped the saturation (+9) and sharpened a little bit.

I’m not completely satisfied with the result but it was good enough for a small print, and when I have the time I will retry the whole process.
Then I created a layer mask which I used to darken and blur (Gaussian) the background.

I’m not completely satisfied with the result, so when I have some spare time I will retry the whole process.

I have added 3 new galleries which are accessible via the top menu. These galleries are dynamic, so the content is different every time you visit them.

The first is filled with the most recent photos, the second is filled with the most viewed photos, and the last one is filled with random photos. Use the links on the top of this page to see the content.

Google together with Life magazine has published a photo archive of over more then 2 million photos. They promise that this collection will expand to 8 million.

Check it out via this link: http://images.google.com/hosted/life.

In this collection you will find photos that were published in Life magazine and also many unknown, never published before photos. Many of my favourite photographers can be found in this collection. It is a delight to scan thru the immense database.

If you experience dark and flat colors when you print to your Canon Selphy from Adobe Lightroom, don’t worry. There is a easy solution to fix this problem.

You need an ICC printer profile. And you need to activate it in Lightroom.
Tested on a Canon Selphy ES-30 (but should give same result on older models)

Here is what you need to do:

1.)    Download the profile canon-selphy.icc.

2.)    Save it somewhere on your PC where you will be able to find it again.

3.)    Go to the file and double click it. (or right click and choose ‘install profile’)

4.)    Then open Lightroom and select the photos that you want to print to your Canon Selphy.

5.)    Got to the print module and on the right side scroll down to ‘color management’

6.)    There you can set your profile, click on the arrows next to ‘managed by printer’ and choose ‘other’, the ‘Canon Selphy.icc’ should be in the list. If not something went wrong at step 3.)

7.)    Make sure you set the other settings like ‘page setup’ and everything else you want to change

8.)    Press print.

You should have a photo printed by your Canon Selphy that has the right colors and the right contrast.

Hope this helped.

And if you want to read more about ICC profiles then follow this link International Color Consortium.

UPDATE:
I have found an ICC profile for the Selphy CP720. I do not have that model but maybe you do and is this file helpfull. Use the file following the method described above.
Download the profile Selphy-CP720-OK.icc.

I bought a Canon Selphy, a small photo printer that is easy to use and compact in storage. After some consideration I decided to go for the ES30 model, due to the fact that I do not need the internal storage. So I didn’t need the ES3 model which was more expensive.

The first test was a print from a memory card that can be plugged into the device. And I have to say I was slightly impressed (looking at the price / quality ratio). Then I decided to place the photo on my PC and connect the Selphy via an USB cable and print via the Lightroom print module. I used the included software, Ulead Photo Express LE. I got the same result as when I printed from the memory card.

After toying a bit with Photo Express I decided to try printing via Adobe Lightroom 2.0. I used the printer module in LR and I was shocked by the result. The photos were too dark, did not had any contrast, and the colors were too flat. Huge problem! All my work is stored in Lightroom and if I want to print something, I would like to do this via Lightroom.

Several searches via Google did not bring my any result. So I decided to call the Canon service center, big mistake! Total waste of money! A very rude conversation via the telephone, and no solution was given. But I will spare you the details.

Read the rest of the article – ‘Canon Selphy es30 compact photo printer’

After I had uploaded a new Photo on gallery.zoom.nl it was voted Photo of the day. After a few days it even became photo of the week. Unfotunately I did not make it to photo of the month , but hey personally I am a bit proud.

When you click on the thumbnail on the left you will find a screenshot of the website. It is the series of my mum that people voted on.

The final score was a 9.8 out of 10.

I joined www.zoom.nl. a fun place where you can upload photographs and other member give comments (advice and tips). It is also possible to vote for a picture of the day / week / month.

It is a Dutch site so not really fun for the english visitors, but for those who want to visit my plofile please follow this link.

So you got your folders organized? You have given your photofiles a name that does make sense (to you)? And you are still not able to find this very special shot that you made several years ago?

Start using keywords…..

Read the rest of the article – ‘Organizing your photos (part 3)’

When you have setup your folder structure, you are ready to move to the next step.
Read the rest of the article – ‘Organizing your photos (part 2)’