essential skills: digital photography in available light
Step 1b - Reduce noise and sharpen
There should be no need to use the Reduce Noise fi lter or noise sliders in the camera RAW dialog
box if you have been using a DSLR, a low ISO setting and bright ambient light. The Reduce Noise
fi lter suddenly becomes an essential fi lter in the photographer’s post-production arsenal however
when the ISO is raised (especially when using a prosumer digicam). Color noise and luminance
noise can be reduced independently (see chapter ‘Camera RAW’ page 53).
It is important to zoom in to 100% (Actual Pixels) on screen to check if there is any excessive
noise that may be due to working with a higher ISO setting or long exposures in low light. Use
the minimum strength setting required to produce the smoother tones that you would like to work
with. Be aware that excessive noise reduction will also lead to a loss of fi ne detail. Noise should
be removed before any sharpening takes place. Photographers fi nd advice on ‘when’ and ‘how
much’ to sharpen digital images is often confl icting or confusing. My own advice would be a little or
none at the start and the rest at the end. Sharpening too early in the post-production workfl ow can
create image artifacts which can then be exaggerated by subsequent editing processes.
Note > In the default settings of Photoshop CS2 sharpening in camera RAW affects the
preview image only and not the actual image when it is opened in the editing space.