Gold drop (Page 2): And you did a fine job. Nice makeover.

Viceroy

cowbungus wrote:

I used photoshop cs5/ topaz filters/ denoise/ then to star effects.
Kinda a quick play.

And you did a fine job. Nice makeover.

senad55verizon.net Loc: Milford, NJ

cowbungus wrote:

I used photoshop cs5/ topaz filters/ denoise/ then to star effects.
Kinda a quick play.

Good job with noise reduction. My gratuitous advice: lose the starburst, do the usual with the I/O Curve to increase brightness and contrast. Make it glow!

ole sarg Loc: south florida

ditto the above comment about noise. But at 400 this should not be. Are you sure it was 400? Do you have noise suppression?

14kphotog wrote:

Pentax K10d - Pentax 100mm macro lens, f-16, camera tripod mounted, shutter at 125 sec, vivatar 285 flash from right side @ 1/2 power at 18inchs, iso @400. ?????

14kphotog Loc: Marietta, Ohio

cowbungus wrote:

I used photoshop cs5/ topaz filters/ denoise/ then to star effects.
Kinda a quick play.

WOW great work, I will try to reshoot. I only have photoshop cs2 and don't know if it has "denoise" in it.

llindstrand Loc: Seattle Metro

14kphotog wrote:

Why is this photo fuzzy and looks clumpy ? Can this be fixed in photoshop ? Looks clear in camera. This is about 1/2 of the frame.

I used NIK Define 2.0 to clean it up. Also cleaned up the back panel so the color was more uniform (could still use a little more work) in CS5 Layers.

cowbungus Loc: Abernathy, Tx

OK took Star burst out.. darkened the background, Little more denoise with topaz.. then to NIK silever efex 2.. selected the drop with its puddle as such,
worked on the drop with a control point till the drop sorta look as if it is a marble etc.
I rest my case.. lol

senad55verizon.net Loc: Milford, NJ

cowbungus wrote:

OK took Star burst out.. darkened the background, Little more denoise with topaz.. then to NIK silever efex 2.. selected the drop with its puddle as such,
worked on the drop with a control point till the drop sorta look as if it is a marble etc.
I rest my case.. lol

It glows!!! Congrats.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

cowbungus wrote:

OK took Star burst out.. darkened the background, Little more denoise with topaz.. then to NIK silever efex 2.. selected the drop with its puddle as such,
worked on the drop with a control point till the drop sorta look as if it is a marble etc.
I rest my case.. lol

Boy, does that look a lot more interesting.

Back to the original. I would like to see the EXIF data because I have a different theory. This picture should have been razor sharp with no noise. (In removing the noise, I think those programs also removed the sharpness.) I presume the flashes fired; you would see them. But, I think the shutter stayed opened to capture the ambient light and since you were in a dark room, the noise shot up too.

While I have never shot droplets, I have shot close-ups with flash. What I do is dim the room light (no need to turn it off completely) and set the strobe to manual. Stop down to get the depth of field. You may not need f/16. Turn off the auto focus. Take a test shot and check your exposure. I check the histogram. Adjust the strobe's output to get the exposure you want. Now, shoot away.

I shoot RAW but I do not think this matters. Also, changing the flash synchronization to second curtain might help.

Iduno Loc: Near Tampa Florida

[quote=cowbungus]OK took Star burst out..

You rock cowbungus. Your work on this photo is great. Thanks for sharing.

cowbungus Loc: Abernathy, Tx

[quote=Iduno]

cowbungus wrote:

OK took Star burst out..

You rock cowbungus. Your work on this photo is great. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much

SENSORLOUPE

great make over-- cowbungus --Very striking

Dean Sturgis

14kphotog wrote:

Pentax K10d - Pentax 100mm macro lens, f-16, camera tripod mounted, shutter at 125 sec, vivatar 285 flash from right side @ 1/2 power at 18inchs, iso @400. ?????

Are you sure the Vivitar 285 flash fired? To me the flash looks like it is coming from the front I assume you used the on camera flash also. Did you have the colored gels on both flashes? Your camera fires the flash before the picture is taken to determine the exposure setting. I thought that would fire the slaved flash before the picture is actually taken. ( If you have a slave unit that works with any flash or have a work around of the P-TTL system I would like to know for my use.)

Are room lights totally off? If they are you shouldn't see any movement because exposure is only from the flashes.
If you have room lights on you can up the shutter speed to 1/180sec. You need a small aperture for depth of field, but can you go up to f/11, you should be able to drop the 285 to 1/4 power & have a shorter flash duration.

Good luck it sounds like a lot of work & luck to get what you want.

dsturgis

vislp Loc: Level Pebble

cowbungus wrote:

I used photoshop cs5/ topaz filters/ denoise/ then to star effects.
Kinda a quick play.

Hey! That's really good cowbungus! :thumbup:

Coker Loc: Havana, IL

Secret Tip: If the Histogram is within acceptable limits the ISO noise is almost indistinguishable at 800 ISO. It is when the histogram is not within limits, the ISO will stand out like a sore thumb. There is a lot of noise in this photo. Love the water drop!

Coker Loc: Havana, IL

It DOES glow!