so one of the main post-processing goals is to
reduce the amount of noise. Adobe and other
software manufacturers have really improved on
the noise reduction available to photographers in
the latest versions of their software programs.
First, look at the two different types of noise, and
then how to reduce the noise in Elements and
Lightroom. These two types of noise are present
in every image to some extent:
■ Luminance Noise. This is also known as con-
trast noise and appears as variations in the
brightness of the scene. This noise makes the
image look like it has a rough texture, espe-
cially in areas of continuous tone.
■ Color Noise. This appears as blotches of
unwanted color. This type of noise is more
detrimental than the luminance noise to the
overall image quality.
The drawback to reducing the noise is that it can
cause the image to lose data, and you end up with
items that have no texture or detail. All the noise
reduction software discussed gives you options to
balance the noise reduction with preserving the
details in the image.Reducing noise in Adobe Photoshop Elements
There are two ways to deal with digital noise
reduction in Elements: the first is when you open
a RAW file using the Adobe Camera Raw
(ACR) module, and the second is when you use
the noise reduction filter.
The ACR module is the program that converts
RAW image file types into something that the
image-editing application can actually use. The
ACR program can do a whole lot more than just
noise reduction; it can also adjust the white bal-
ance and do some basic image editing. ACR is
used in Elements, Photoshop, and Lightroom.you really need to save space or shoot at a fast
rate. In addition, you now have to deal with two
of everything when it comes to image editing and
storage.
There are times when it is a good idea to shoot
JPEG alone, but when shooting in low light,
there are not many. One of the places where I
will use the JPEG format alone is when shooting
sports because I want to be able to take as many
photos as possible, especially when there is a peak
in the action. The camera has a buffer, which is a
small piece of memory where the images are
saved before being written to the memory card.
When the buffer fills up, the camera needs to
wait until the images have been written to the
memory card and the buffer has space again for
the next images. Because the RAW file type is so
much bigger than the JPEG file type, the buffer
fills up much faster when shooting RAW. This
means that you can miss shots waiting for the buf-
fer to empty, so to make sure I have enough buffer
space to shoot, I will use the smaller JPEG file
type.
When it comes to photographing at night and in
low light, I prefer to use the RAW file type.
Because a RAW file has more data, it allows me a
lot more latitude when I need to adjust the image
using software in postproduction.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that
the JPEG image can be used directly from the
camera, while the RAW image will need to be
processed using a software application.
NOISE REDUCTION
Photographing at high ISOs or when using long
shutter speeds causes digital noise to be intro-
duced into the image. This noise can be a real
distraction and can make your images look terrible,