Hi Everyone ,
Took some shots recently at a night club ..
Ive attached one here ... I see too much noise on the image ..
I'm using a D300s / Sb60 flash / iso 600 .. Shooting raw .
I was only 6 feet from the People ..
Any way I can minimize the noise ... I'm scared to use a higher Iso
in case it makes it worse ..
Could I be doing something wrong ?
All Help appreciated .
Cheers
jeryh
Loc: Oxfordshire UK
I think, basiocally, you would have been better off using bounce flash; it would certainly have helped with the skin tones. But, thats' only my opinion !
I can see the noise you're talking about, especially above and to the right of the gal who is standing on the right side. You probably didn't need to use ISO600 with the gals only 6 feet away. You could also try Slow sync mode.
Given you had a flash, could you have used a lower ISO and more light from the flash? I'm not familiar with the SB60 model to know how much control it offers.
Regarding asking for help on UHH, you need to store the original when posting an image. This allows the image to be downloaded and reviewed at 100% aka in detail. You said you shot in RAW. How did you process the file? Which tool, which noise processing?
For a more effective discussion, create a response to this thread and post this image and store the original to facilitate a discussion of the specifics of the example image.
Sorry that should be SB600 Flash
Lukabulla wrote:
Hi Everyone ,
Took some shots recently at a night club ..
Ive attached one here ... I see too much noise on the image ..
I'm using a D300s / Sb60 flash / iso 600 .. Shooting raw .
I was only 6 feet from the People ..
Any way I can minimize the noise ... I'm scared to use a higher Iso
in case it makes it worse ..
Could I be doing something wrong ?
All Help appreciated .
Cheers
To hard to tell with the thumbnail photo. Please re-post with store original. Every thing looks grainy at this resolution.
CO wrote:
I can see the noise you're talking about, especially above and to the right of the gal who is standing on the right side. You probably didn't need to use ISO600 with the gals only 6 feet away. You could also try Slow sync mode.
That only applies if you're shooting in Auto mode!
bpulv
Loc: Buena Park, CA
jeryh wrote:
I think, basiocally, you would have been better off using bounce flash; it would certainly have helped with the skin tones. But, thats' only my opinion !
I don't know that bounce flash would do the trick. Bars have low ambient lighting and usually have high ceilings. In addition, if the ceiling is a dark color, bounce flash will not work. I would simply use a defuser over the flash or point the flash with a white card attached behind it upward. In addition, I would lower the ISO and compensate with the f-stop.
Gene51
Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
bpulv wrote:
I don't know that bounce flash would do the trick. Bars have low ambient lighting and usually have high ceilings. In addition, if the ceiling is a dark color, bounce flash will not work. I would simply use a defuser over the flash or point the flash with a white card attached behind it upward. In addition, I would lower the ISO and compensate with the f-stop.
Using a small diffuser or a small card as bounce will not change the "effective" size if the light. Bigger light source = softer light. I have efgectively used a bounced speedlight in a dark venue. Shooting raw and careful post processing will expand the options.
Gene51
Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
Lukabulla wrote:
Hi Everyone ,
Took some shots recently at a night club ..
Ive attached one here ... I see too much noise on the image ..
I'm using a D300s / Sb60 flash / iso 600 .. Shooting raw .
I was only 6 feet from the People ..
Any way I can minimize the noise ... I'm scared to use a higher Iso
in case it makes it worse ..
Could I be doing something wrong ?
All Help appreciated .
Cheers
Your subjects do not have noise. The image is fine. If you really want to reduce the noise in the shadows you'll need to create a mask and do selective noise reduction. Or you can bounce the speedlight so your light is more even, and your shadows will not be as deep, with less noise.
Gene51 wrote:
Using a small diffuser or a small card as bounce will not change the "effective" size if the light. Bigger light source = softer light. I have efgectively used a bounced speedlight in a dark venue. Shooting raw and careful post processing will expand the options.
I wish I could bounce my flash in this venue. Yes I do have one of the most powerful portable flash.
Are we talking here about the SB-600? If Nikon has a SB-60 I am not familiar with it.
Lower ISO for sure would have been better. Bouncing or softening the light with a modifier would have been also a good solution.
Keep in mind that even using flash those areas where there is not enough light will show the ugly face of noise.
The worse light you could use in your flash photography is straight flash.
Lukabulla wrote:
Sorry that should be SB600 Flash
I too have the SB600. It's a TTL flash. Two pieces of advise for "next time". Use a flash diffuser or bounce when the ceiling is low enough and not a color issue. Use Manual mode, ISO 400, F4, and 1/200 for shutter speed. The TTL feature of the flash will control exposure on the subject and the high shutter speed indoors will subdue the effect of ambient light but has no effect on exposure on the subject, the flash does that. You can also stop down for greater DoF or use a higher ISO to get a bit more range and the flash will adjust its exposure accordingly. You can also set your camera up in the menu to use High Speed Sync. That way you can set your shutter speed higher than 1/250 to darken bright ambient light from a big window or outdoors. With my D7000, I can set my shutter as high as 1/8000 which really really darkens the background. The TTL flash controls the subject exposure.
Nik DFine2 will get the noise mostly out. It's free and does a nice job. You'll like it.
I don't have a problem with noise. It's similar to grain when using film.
Additionally, if you're using flash, low ISO is OK to use. ISO100 with a strobe works just fine.
--Bob
Lukabulla wrote:
Hi Everyone ,
Took some shots recently at a night club ..
Ive attached one here ... I see too much noise on the image ..
I'm using a D300s / Sb60 flash / iso 600 .. Shooting raw .
I was only 6 feet from the People ..
Any way I can minimize the noise ... I'm scared to use a higher Iso
in case it makes it worse ..
Could I be doing something wrong ?
All Help appreciated .
Cheers
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