74 Better Available Light Digital Photography
Step 1: Open the image and open Focus Magic for Out-of-focus
Blur.
Step 2: Set the Amount to zero. The Amount is the amount of
focusing to be applied, so if it is set to zero, only the
noise-removal algorithm runs.
Step 3: Set Remove Noise to Yes.
Step 4: Slowly increase the Blur Width and see what happens.
You will see the image get smoother and smoother as
the Blur Width gets bigger, but you will also see that the
fi lter starts removing more and more artifacts (or image
detail), something that is not possible in an image for
that blur width.Tip: Applying DNR Using Layers
No noise-suppression software solution is perfect, and althoughyou may try hard—working through the many
options, choices, and sliders of the software shown on these pages to produce “perfect” results—you may never
achieve digital noise nirvana. More often than not, you will obtain an image that is too smooth. When that
happens to Joe (in Adobe Photoshop), he uses the History palette to Undo the noise-reduction power tool, and then
creates a duplicate layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer). Next, he applies that somewhat oversmooth effect to the
duplicate layer. Finally, he goes to the Layers palette and changes the Opacity of the noise-reduction layer to 50%,
effectively blending the noisy original with the smooth duplicate. Just because he uses 50%, doesn’t mean you have
to. Experiment to fi nd what works best for your photographs. Then fl atten the fi le, and “Bob’s your Uncle.”This image of a race car made
during a night race at Laguna
Seca Raceway had all of the ingre-
dients of a noisy image. Exposure
was 1/20 sec at f/8 and ISO 800,
and an on-camera fl ash was used.
Neat image was applied to a sepa-
rate image, then that duplicate
layer was faded 50 percent to
maintain some detail. Tip: Shoot-
ing at any racetrack, especially
at night, can be dangerous. Make
photographs only in designated
areas, and if you use fl ash, make
sure that you fi re it only at the
side of the race car. Using fl ash
when a car is coming directly at
you is foolish, and places you and
the driver in serious jeopardy. He
or she has enough to do without
being blinded by your fl ash. In this
case, Joe “dialed down” the Canon
550EX fl ash by − 11 / 3 stops, further
reducing the impact of the fl ash on
the driver, while providing only
some fi ll fl ash and making the
refl ective decals on the car “pop.”
© 2004 Joe Farace.
Taking action against noise
Photoshop Actions are not applications or even plug-ins; they
are simply a series of instructions that direct the host program
to produce a desired effect. The Photoshop Actions palette lets
you record a sequence of image-editing steps that can be applied
to a selection in an image, to another image fi le, and to a batch
operation to hundreds of different image fi les. Actions are cross-