What am I doing wrong???

[qiktune]

Hi guys and girls, haven't been on for a while but I've lately been grabbing my wifes D50 and taking plane pics.

I need some advice on how to edit shots in order to get rid of the graininess. I'm processing with PS7 and although I get rid of most some grain is still visible. Could it be the camera settings?

Anyway here' sone to start with....can upload the original for comparison.

 

[Garbz]

Grain is an element of photography. In many cases I feel it makes photos more real. There is nothing wrong with the grain in the airplane photo, but to reduce it as much as possible you have to shoot at ISO100 where grain will be minimal. Even then if you want a totally grain free picture some form of noise reduction is still needed.

 

[qiktune]

Thanks for the reply Garbz, unfortunately Nikon D50 only goes to ISO 200. I understand that noise is a part of life with photgraphy but I'd like to find a way to reduce it as much as possible. Do you have any suggestions for noise reduction software?

 

[rmh159]

Someone posted an edit using Noisware Pro and the pic looks like it was improved with the software. If your remove the noise though you lose a bit of sharpness so it's a good idea to lower the ISO if you want to avoid it. That shot doesn't look too noisy though.

 

[dewey]

I'm surprised that's at 200 ISO - it should be fine. To get rid of the noise I would use some kind of noise reduction filter... I like the default Photoshop noise reduction filter, but I would only apply it to the sky.

Nice shot of a 747 - I assume you're inside the fence... ya cheater

 

[phil-ray]

i shoot on my d50 on 200 iso all the time, and that looks very bad to be honnest, could be due to the head of the air and the plane its self maybe, some sort of heat distoration (sp)

there are rahter good noise reduction softhweres outthere, maybe invest in a bit of it

 

[ironsidephoto]

i wouldn't really have noticed the grain until you pointed it out

 

[neogfx]

It's only really noticeable on the underside of the plane. Try using a lower ISO setting.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

what settings were used in this? normal quality JPEG? you may want to try shooting it in RAW to get a little better dynamic range in the picture.

 

[qiktune]

Thanks for the input guys.....

I'm at work at the moment but I'll copy the EXIF data into here tonight and maybe we can work the problem out from there.

I should add that I was using a Nikkor 70-300G lens ( I know, I've heard they're crap but until I can afford better glass I'm happy to make do). I too can see some heat haze on the pic but I thought that it'd cause "distortion" not "grain".

...anyway, I'll grab the EXIF later tonight and we can go from there. Thanks again Lens heads.

 

[qiktune]

oops, accidently deleted image from the link!

Re: Nice shot of a 747 - I assume you're inside the fence... ya cheater ;-)

Nope, I actually had a ladder and was able to shoot over the fence.

 

[qiktune]

Here's another pic....looking at it 24 hours after editing it's starting to look grainy (maybe it's just my pc at work).

http://www.airliners.net/addphotos/big/ready/VH-OJR-20061124-018b.jpg