Image with no filter used:
I took this image on a foggy morning in Cades Cove (Smoky Mountains). Because of the fog, I really had to push the processing to show much color/detail in the deer. This resulted in a high amount of noise on the deer in the finished image. In the first version shown here, I used the texturizing filter in Photoshop to create an artistic version of the scene. Any thoughts on these would be appreciated. Does the first version work as an artistic creation?
Canon 7D, 70-200mm f2.8 IS II, 2x TC III
ISO 800, f5.6, 1/800s, hand held
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
I think the first version does work pretty well, Allen. It does reduce the effect of the noise. You might look at some of the painting effects as well-I’ve seen the photo art people get some really nice results with them. You caught a great moment here and I love the angle and the old fence posts. To me it’s definitely an image worth lots of playing with.
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Great timing on this one, Allen. I love the position of the deer and the fence. I love the textured version best. Congrats on EP! I enjoyed Cades Cove about 10 years ago. I would love to go back, and maybe some day I will. My husband just isn’t into travel at this point in life, and I’m feeling less and less willing to leave him much.
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Honestly, I don’t care for the texture at all. The untextured version looks very nice however. I see a lot of red on the deer though so you may have pushed the saturation too much in processing. Also, the image appears soft overall, which is a shame given the perfect timing of the shot. I love the composition with the angle of the fence and the way the wire glistens is wonderful. I don’t know if you use any Topaz Labs programs but if not, I would download their trial versions of Topaz AI Denoise and Topaz AI Sharpen and apply them. Actually, you may not need the sharpening program, Denoise might be able to handle the shot just fine by itself. I have found those two programs to be invaluable for shots like these. I’ve attached a quick rework I did using both Denoise AI & Sharpen AI. I also added just a tiny bit of curve to it to brighten the BG just a wee bit in order to give the illusion of greater sharpness. I also tried to tone down the red in the deer’s body somewhat. Only you can be the judge if you like it or not because it’s your shot and your visualization, but here’s my take.
Here are screenshots of the settings I used - Denoise first, Sharpen second, and curves third. To tone down Saturation I used a combination of NIK Viveza & PS Selective Color.
@Bill_Chambers
Hi Bill, thanks for the rework. I don’t have the Topaz software but took another stab at redoing the image with Photoshop and my Noiseware plug in. I like your version better but here is my reworked one:
Just so you know, here is the original image showing the foggy conditions that morning. Given this, I doubt any software will yield fine detail in the deer which is why I tried the texturized version above (and I still like as an artistic option to the scene).
As a big fan of fog, Allen, I rather like the original tonal values. I think I’d embrace the fog and just crop and brighten slightly without trying to defog the deer very much. This is one of those images that lends itself to numerous interpretations.
