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BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Photography Question 

Darren Choate
 

Image Noise


 
 
I received a critique of this photo on another site stating that the "blue background had waves in it and that it was too noisy."

I don't see anything that takes away from the photo, what do you think?

Thanks


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April 07, 2006

 

Kay Beausoleil
  Darren, I don't see the waves or the noise even though I do see the blue background. I have an excellent monitor and a fresh eyeglass prescription. Maybe those faults would be obvious at a larger size or a better resolution or on a different upload.

What you appear to have here is a striking image, both in its shapes and design. Great job!


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April 07, 2006

 

A C
  were you trying to sell your picture for print on a site like istockphoto.com? Sometimes you can't see the noise at 500x750 pixels but it is definitely apparent when it is larger for print.

On istockphoto a lot of pictures get critique similar to yours and are not accepted because of background noise.

It looks fantastic to me. Maybe Kay is right about the potential faults being more obvious "on a different upload." Does the site you uploaded to compress the images before dislaying?


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April 12, 2006

 

Darren Choate
  Thanks everyone.

It is on a site where I am trying to sell the photo. On this site, you load the largest image possible and they show some compressed version. However, I have not noticed similar issues on any of my photos or others.

Thanks again. - Darren


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April 12, 2006

 

Paul Tobeck
  Darren, the only thing I can think of that they would refer to as waves may be the color transition from dark blue to light blue at the horizon. If you did any color editing in photoshop to intensify the blue (like hue/saturation), this can cause "posterization" where the colors actually seperate out into steps instead of a smooth transition. It's impossible to tell with your uploaded photo here. You'd have to look closely at your full resolution original, aand check the color transitions to see if you can detect any seperations.
The noise they refer to could be hidden in your shadow areas. I usually inspect my shots at 200%, and pay close attention to smooth, even area such as the blue sky and the dark shadows. Any mottling, patterns or artifacts will be noticeable. I suggest downloading the free edition of Neat Image, run your shot through it with the noise reduction set between 50-75% and submit it again.


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April 13, 2006

 

Darren Choate
  Thanks Paul, I'll look aver it again as you have suggested.

Thanks everyone.


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April 13, 2006

 
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