Looking for some help with picture clarity

[SadlerX]

Hi, I am looking for some help attaining a better image than a good portion of the most recent I shot on my new Nikon z50ii. It takes great photos but when I try to denoise them in lightroom with adaptive color on I am getting a smudged look and hard facial lines. Only on some, others with all the same settings look great. Any Tips?

 

[wfooshee]

Well, denoise basically works by sort of "smudging."

I don't use Lightroom, though, I'm a Photoshop guy. I denoise in Camera Raw using the Luminance slider under Detail.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

I'm a newbie, but I've found Wavelet Noise filter set at 85% removes a lot of noise without noticeably smudging.

 

[407370]

My tip would be not to shoot into the sun, try and get sunlight on your back.

I had a wee go at selecting the people and doing a bit of dodge / Burn / Brighten / Denoise in Affinity photo:

Forum wont let me upload a bigger image?????

Its a bit different to yours but better or worse is in the eye of the beholder.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[SadlerX]

My tip would be not to shoot into the sun, try and get sunlight on your back.

I had a wee go at selecting the people and doing a bit of dodge / Burn / Brighten / Denoise in Affinity photo:

View attachment 288994

Forum wont let me upload a bigger image?????

Its a bit different to yours but better or worse is in the eye of the beholder.

CHEERS
JBO

If I have to shoot into the sun due to what side of the field I'm allowed on, is there a filter or anything to help?

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Circular polarizer should help. But there's no eliminating that issue. Some lenses work better into the light than others. Try what ya got and see if one works better.

 

[407370]

Backlit subjects will always appear darker than surroundings. I assume Lightroom has a selection function so you can select a bit of the photo to independently edit or create a mask from the selection.