catwood Posted November 1, 2009 Share #1 Posted November 1, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) This year I went to a friends halloween party dressed as a 1930's newspaper photographer (vest, fedora, & M8). I took pictures all night with the M8 (50mm f2 lens) and today experimented with processing them as B&W in Lightroom. Still getting used to the B&W workflow, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. Any suggestions on making the noise look better? The first few shots are especially muddy. 2009 Halloween Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 1, 2009 Posted November 1, 2009 Hi catwood, Take a look here Halloween with an M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
mikpeter Posted November 2, 2009 Share #2 Posted November 2, 2009 In my opinion, they are all muddy. i'm sorry but these images are trashed. They look crappy, way to much noise. I'm guessing you shot these above 1250 ISO. I suggest, if you want to shoot in low light with the M8, get a noctilux 0.95 and shoot at lower ISOs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfritze Posted November 2, 2009 Share #3 Posted November 2, 2009 catwood: I whipped together the same costume last night, same camera, for my Halloween shots. I set the camera to ISO 1250, lens at f2, 1/30th or 1/15th depending on light. If you let the camera set exposure on Auto, the metering will hunt for an exposure that leaves the shutter open trying to obtain a average brightness around daylight medium gray, and likely your night scenes are centered around a lower brightness value. So either set your exposure manually or dial in exposure compensation. Here's an image at 1250 in dim-ish room light... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/102286-halloween-with-an-m8/?do=findComment&comment=1099320'>More sharing options...
mmk60 Posted November 2, 2009 Share #4 Posted November 2, 2009 muddy but that adds some spooky mood to the photos! cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
petebw Posted November 2, 2009 Share #5 Posted November 2, 2009 IMO you can't beat Alien Skin's Exposure plugin for photoshop if you want to recreate (in so far as you can) a film appearance to your shots. I tend to shoot at 160 ISO and let the software do it's job afterward. M8 -> Lightroom <--> Photoshop. Here's an example where I used the plugin: Brendan Dawes on Flickr - Photo Sharing! And the same photo without the plugin (used by Coudal for promotion) here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehendley Posted November 2, 2009 Share #6 Posted November 2, 2009 The biggest problem in these photos is that the photographer seems unaware of the light (or lack of it) and is not paying much attention to how it it falls on the subject. This is one of the fundamental principles of the medium (analog or digital) and it is perhaps better to train your eye rather than to expect a technological solution. A good photographer will observe the critical moment of interaction between light and subject and make the exposure accordingly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerard Posted November 2, 2009 Share #7 Posted November 2, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm still exploring the low available light capabilities of my M8, but cfritze is right, dialing in the exposure manually (rather than running on aperture priority) will help a lot. Here's one of my witch and pumpkin! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/102286-halloween-with-an-m8/?do=findComment&comment=1099907'>More sharing options...
portrait Posted November 2, 2009 Share #8 Posted November 2, 2009 Nice picture Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted November 2, 2009 Share #9 Posted November 2, 2009 They all look like they were shot at ISO 2500 and underexposed which is the worst thing you can do using ISO 2500. You really need a good noise reduction program. I've found Neat Image to be the best that I have tried with M8 files. But that program only works inside PS or as a stand alone program, Pro version, and not inside LR to my knowledge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwood Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted November 2, 2009 shootist - you're absolutely right, way underexposed at iso 2500. When you use Neat Image do you color correct & push exposure first in Lightroom, then export a jpg to denoise, or do you do an immediate DNG to jpg conversion, denoise, then play with the jpg in Lightroom? Or is there any denoise software which works directly on the DNG? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografr Posted November 2, 2009 Share #11 Posted November 2, 2009 In my opinion, you would benefit much more from a good photography course than a noise reduction program. You need to work on focus technique, exposure determination, composition, post production and editing before you get into noise reduction. Either put some effort into improving your photography skills or get rid of the M8 and buy a point & shoot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbbeyPhoto Posted November 2, 2009 Share #12 Posted November 2, 2009 The last thing you need to worry about in these images is noise - there's no detail in most of them and you've cranked them so high that the whites are blown to hell. Bin them. There's good light, bad light, and no light at all - which is when you use a flash, or a camera that can handle 6400ISO (ie not a Leica), or just put your camera away and enjoy the party. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerard Posted November 2, 2009 Share #13 Posted November 2, 2009 ...or just put your camera away and enjoy the party. Advice I follow all too often! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagui Posted November 3, 2009 Share #14 Posted November 3, 2009 Hey Halloween with M8, i like that !!! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! M8 Summilux 35 Asph SF58 Nagui, Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! M8 Summilux 35 Asph SF58 Nagui, ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/102286-halloween-with-an-m8/?do=findComment&comment=1100685'>More sharing options...
catwood Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted November 3, 2009 It's much harder to get the feel I'm looking for with the TIFFs, but Noise Ninja does a really good job. For instance, I love the exaggerated contrast on the top left image, but am unable to replicate it in the TIFF (way cleaner noise wise though). And even though the bottom right image is still grainy as hell - I really like the coarseness in it. Thanks to those who were actually supportive and helpful! I knew how bad the originals were, just didn't know where to turn to help them. I did throughly enjoyed the party despite the drinks wrecking my focus. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/102286-halloween-with-an-m8/?do=findComment&comment=1100763'>More sharing options...
jlindstrom Posted November 3, 2009 Share #16 Posted November 3, 2009 In my opinion, you would benefit much more from a good photography course than a noise reduction program. You need to work on focus technique, exposure determination, composition, post production and editing before you get into noise reduction. Either put some effort into improving your photography skills or get rid of the M8 and buy a point & shoot. Whilst agreeing with your statement for many parts, there's still no need to be rude. I apologize if that wasn't your intention but at least in my eyes that's the way it got through.. The exposure in the OP's pics was definately way out. Not a pro or "uber photographer" myself, but I'd say even a little "chimping" every now and then would help the OP. At least then you'll know what's going wrong... Other than that it just takes lots of practise and if interested/available then a course or two in photography could be usefull. Still, saying "take some courses" doesn't always help, like fex in my case where there are no courses available.. not in this neck of the woods For the OP: observe your images and other ppls (in this case halloween) images, listen to advices given on forums (even if some come across rude) and shoot a lot! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlindstrom Posted November 3, 2009 Share #17 Posted November 3, 2009 Nagui: Brilliant images! Me likes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerard Posted November 3, 2009 Share #18 Posted November 3, 2009 Nagui: Brilliant images! Me likes Me too; seems that SF58 does a fine job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Ash Posted November 3, 2009 Share #19 Posted November 3, 2009 Leica M8.2 Summicron 28 SF58 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/102286-halloween-with-an-m8/?do=findComment&comment=1100994'>More sharing options...
ethranet Posted November 3, 2009 Share #20 Posted November 3, 2009 The pics are under exposed for the subject's faces which will hurt your noise ratio, also it looks like you might want to get a longer lens. The noise looks quite large which makes me think you're doing a lot of cropping in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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