Magnum Image Posted June 28, 2012 Share #1 Posted June 28, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Sometimes when shooting I use a clear blue sky as the backdrop for a subject. Blue skies can be one of the things digital cameras seem to have have difficulty handling. Every so often after applying some post work I'll see those rough gradation bands as the sky goes from a deep blue to lighter blue or just rough pixelation (the non film grain-like kind) when looking at the picture in its native size. Any tips for smoothing that out that don't involve going in with photoshop brushes or bigger sensor? Thanks for your input Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 28, 2012 Posted June 28, 2012 Hi Magnum Image, Take a look here Smoothing out clear blue skies. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lct Posted June 28, 2012 Share #2 Posted June 28, 2012 Could you show one of your pics with such gradations? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 28, 2012 Share #3 Posted June 28, 2012 Are you working on 16 bit files? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 28, 2012 Share #4 Posted June 28, 2012 Rough gradation is a result of using a low resolution file for working on in post processing and/or over working the area and adding too many adjustments too crudely. Start with a high res file, 16 bit as Andy says, and ideally use RAW saved as a TIFF for doing your post processing (keep your TIFF as the master file that you worked on and then convert any files to JPEG, reduce the size etc, from that for web use etc). Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicamann Posted June 28, 2012 Share #5 Posted June 28, 2012 Sometimes when shooting I use a clear blue sky as the backdrop for a subject. Blue skies can be one of the things digital cameras seem to have have difficulty handling. Every so often after applying some post work I'll see those rough gradation bands as the sky goes from a deep blue to lighter blue or just rough pixelation (the non film grain-like kind) when looking at the picture in its native size. Any tips for smoothing that out that don't involve going in with photoshop brushes or bigger sensor? Thanks for your input That has nothing to do with the camera or the files, " banding" is common in poor quality monitors and low end graphic cards. If you want to get away from that you will need to invest in a Professional quality monitor..like an Eizo the Eizo has about 90% of the Adobe colour gamut and is capable of processing up to 10 or 12 bits per pixel If not an Eizo, shop for a monitor that is true HD, true uniform colour and has absolutely no banding..... I can prove that if you print you blue sky you will see no banding at all, its the monitor. Later you might want to consider getting a graphics card that uses display port etc like the AMD Radeon Fire GL 8800 Cheers, JRM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 28, 2012 Share #6 Posted June 28, 2012 That has nothing to do with the camera or the files, " banding" is common in poor quality monitors and low end graphic cards. I'm sorry but this is just not true. How else would you see rough gradation in other peoples photographs when they print them out, or post them on the internet, if it was just a phenomena of the monitor or graphic's card? And somewhat reckless in suggesting it can be fixed by buying a very expensive monitor. True you may be able to discern any faults better with an Eizo, but a cheap monitor doesn't cause banding, it can't have any influence on the image. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Image Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted June 28, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I work with 16 bit files and exclusively with RAW/TIFF. I never make adjustments over 10%in LR and it's usually around 5% in hue and saturation of the blue channel. This happens to 1 out of 15 photos and I know the shooting conditions in which the sensor struggles (midday sun, 50-30 degrees above the horizon) . I work in a 2 year old IMac. I was hoping there was just a quick hitch to like corner fix for this kind of thing. I just got a Nex7 and I look at the untouched RAW files at 100iso and the sky looks pretty mediocre. The M8 has better RAW files OOC but less lattidude in post. I know it's the digital sensors inability to deal with such a huge swath of color at such a great distance. Medium format handles the tonal range much better then any small sensor could. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted June 28, 2012 Share #8 Posted June 28, 2012 Best you process as a raw file at full color depth. Gradients on a JPEG will not work because you start getting discrete steps rather than a gradient. Try a sky selection and opacity adjusted median filter To see if your monitor is at fault, make the image large large and move it. Monitor banding will not move. File banding will move. An Eizo monitor is the best way to go. The $100 monitor that came with the computer package or a lap top will not work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted June 28, 2012 Share #9 Posted June 28, 2012 Never got "gradation bands" at 8 or 16bit from any cam on any monitor including laptops so far reason why i asked the OP if he would show a sample pic for my info. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted June 28, 2012 Share #10 Posted June 28, 2012 To see if your monitor is at fault, make the image large large and move it. Monitor banding will not move. File banding will move. Even monitor banding will appear to move if it’s caused by a display panel showing less than 16.7 million colours. This is a common issue with notebook displays. Apart from that I would check the individual channels of the image. Blue skys have comparatively dark and thus often quite noisy red channels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicamann Posted June 28, 2012 Share #11 Posted June 28, 2012 I'm sorry but this is just not true. How else would you see rough gradation in other peoples photographs when they print them out, or post them on the internet, if it was just a phenomena of the monitor or graphic's card? And somewhat reckless in suggesting it can be fixed by buying a very expensive monitor. True you may be able to discern any faults better with an Eizo, but a cheap monitor doesn't cause banding, it can't have any influence on the image. Steve Nonsense..you didn't think through what I said..sorry banding does occur with video and image files You coming from the assumption that all monitors are in fact ..flawless, nonsense. IF there is banding on my Eizo, then there is something seriously wrong with the camera file,personally I have never seen it except from very low res files. When purchasing a monitor the issue of banding including a whole host of other issues needs to be taken into consideration, monitors and not made by God , but human beings. Cheers, JRM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 28, 2012 Share #12 Posted June 28, 2012 You coming from the assumption that all monitors are in fact ..flawless, nonsense. No, I'm not assuming that. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted June 30, 2012 Share #13 Posted June 30, 2012 What color space are you working in? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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