Teach_Yourself_Photoshop_Elements_2

WORKING WITH RAW FILES

W

hen shooting with a traditional analogue camera,

you could use film with different ISO speeds to

help you capture more detail in low-light

conditions. The faster (higher) the film’s ISO

speed, the more sensitive it would be to available light.

A fast film enabled you to avoid using slow shutter speeds

in low light, so you could capture detail without the need for

a tripod. However, fast ISO speed film would add grain to

your negatives. The higher the ISO speed, the grainer the

shots would be.

Digital cameras recreate the traditional ISO film speed

effect to enable you to capture more detail in low light. As

with film, high ISO settings (such as 1600) are more sensitive

to light, but they will add more picture noise to your digital

raw files. Digital noise is a bit like film grain, but it’s sharper,

uglier and more distracting. As well as luminance (greyscale)

noise, your high ISO setting photos can suffer from rainbow

speckles of colour noise.

In the previous pages we demonstrated how to reveal

more detail in images without adding artefacts. When

reducing image noise we have to be careful not to add blur to

important details. Fortunately, the raw editor has a few tricks

and techniques to help you get a balance between removing

noise and preserving detail.

Reduce image noise

in your raw files

Use the Noise Reduction sliders to reduce grain

while preserving detail throughout your picture

2

Reduce the colour noise

Some noise reduction is automatically applied to your

photos. Drag the Color and Color Detail sliders to 0

to see the original patches of colour noise. Push Color to 46

to remove the rainbow speckles. Color Detail is designed to

remove colour noise while preserving details on edges.

1

View at 100%

This image was captured using an ISO of 400, so it

shouldn’t suffer from too much noise. Noise is more

noticeable in smooth areas such as in the blurred background.

To analyse these areas grab the Zoom tool, right click and

choose 100%. Grab the Hand tool and drag around the image.

BEFORE

GET THE START FILES HERE: http://bit.ly/type-files