Azure Damselfly

[Bill Nuttall]

Always grateful to receive comments and Critique, however harsh

I'm a new member

Nikon V1 + FT-1 +Nikon 300mm f4

f8 - ISO400

SW France

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Bill and welcome to the macro forum. I can't think of anything harsh to say - you have a good shot there. The damsel is well focused anthe perch and background are very pleasing. I remember posting a similar image myself a few years ago and it was suggested that the grass seeds were a little too attention seeking - but I like yours.
A few points from my point of view would improve the image:
If you had been able to get lower and slightly more to the left I think you would have had a better aspect view rather than the almost ariel view presented.
I think the colours of the damsel are just a tad saturated - maybe the blues are a touch too strong - the blacks seem to have a slight blue cast about them.
The crop is just a tad tight I would have given a little more space top and bottom.

[Bill Nuttall]

Thanks Jonathan - I have oversaturated and added "black" to the image - well spotted

I used Auto Tone, Auto Contrast and Auto Colour in PS6, as presumably I thought that it looked more "dramatic" .......... I am trying to get more "subtle" ... but I can get carried away!!

I have just dug out the original RAW NEF and here it is ....... full size - no crop

[Jonathan Ashton]

Bill that second image looks pretty good to me! Your may wish to consider a small amount of noise reduction on the background.

[Bill Nuttall]

Bill that second image looks pretty good to me! Your may wish to consider a small amount of noise reduction on the background.

Thanks Jonathan

reducing noise in background - how do I do that?

do I create a layer in PS, then cut the damselfly out, then reduce the noise on what is left, (the bg), and then paste the Damselfly back in

any hints would be appreciated

[Jonathan Ashton]

Bill there are so many different ways I will describe a simple way.
Firstly it is accepted as good practice that when manipulating an image you do so on a separate layer, the idea being that you can subsequently modify it again if required or indeed you can simply disable it or delete it.
So firstly Duplicate the layer.
Then on the new layer press Q select the Brush tool (B) and ensure the Colour Picker is set to black (bottom of the Tool bar). Check the size of the brush ensuring it has soft edges, you can change the brush size using the square bracket keys.
Brush over the subject.
Then press Q again and you will see that you have masked your subject, you can do this a tightly or as slack as you wish.
Then apply the Noise reduction, I use Topaz Denoise 5 (though not very much now I have gone full frame).

If you want to make a precise mask you can use the Quick selection tool or Magic wand and the inverse the selection and then you can Refine the selection as required.
here!
A note of caution it is often tempting to make the background super smooth - sometimes this works and sometimes it looks false - it depends on the image and texture. the other thing to note is that sometimes you may see an abrupt difference where the Noise Reduction starts and stops - this goes for Sharpening too.
Lots of good info in the Workflow Forum: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php/11-Digital-Photography-Workflow
Hope this helps - any queries send me a Private Message I will be happy to help, as of course will any Moderator or indeed any Member - we are all pals!

[Bill Nuttall]

Many thanks


Bill there are so many different ways I will describe a simple way.
Firstly it is accepted as good practice that when manipulating an image you do so on a separate layer, the idea being that you can subsequently modify it again if required or indeed you can simply disable it or delete it.
So firstly Duplicate the layer.
Then on the new layer press Q select the Brush tool (B) and ensure the Colour Picker is set to black (bottom of the Tool bar). Check the size of the brush ensuring it has soft edges, you can change the brush size using the square bracket keys.
Brush over the subject.
Then press Q again and you will see that you have masked your subject, you can do this a tightly or as slack as you wish.
Then apply the Noise reduction, I use Topaz Denoise 5 (though not very much now I have gone full frame).

If you want to make a precise mask you can use the Quick selection tool or Magic wand and the inverse the selection and then you can Refine the selection as required.
here!
A note of caution it is often tempting to make the background super smooth - sometimes this works and sometimes it looks false - it depends on the image and texture. the other thing to note is that sometimes you may see an abrupt difference where the Noise Reduction starts and stops - this goes for Sharpening too.
Lots of good info in the Workflow Forum: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php/11-Digital-Photography-Workflow
Hope this helps - any queries send me a Private Message I will be happy to help, as of course will any Moderator or indeed any Member - we are all pals!

[Warren Spreng]

I really like the 2nd one, much more natural. I agree with Jonathan on the BG, and another technique that I will use particularly with the clean separation you have in the colors of the damselfly and the background is to Select/Color and then refine the selection to make sure it doesn't affect my subject at all, select a mild feather and then use a mild gaussian blur for the background. You can play with that to make sure it doesn't go too far.

[MiroslavMaric]

Hi Bill,

Like the details, colors and tone balance on the 1st version more. As already noted ref to 1st version I would add a bit of room to the left, up and down. From my point of view noise could be decreased too but it's already acceptable. In my workflow the first step is to reduce the noise and if needed the last step is to add some grain or even noise just to avoid banding of BG. Selective NR and sharpening are the best option in the case of well created masks.

TFS.

Cheers,
Miro

[Diane Miller]

Beautiful image, wonderfully detailed with a lovely shallow depth of field on the grass. I like your original, but prefer the added room at the bottom you have in the repost. I'd do a dlight darkening of the brighter areas along the bottom and right with a masked Curves (or Levels). The original is also a bit on the blue side -- halfway between it and the repost might be worth looking at.

I rarely get decent results with auto-anyting. Great if it works, but don't rely on it. You have so much wonderful leeway to tweak tonalities in a good raw converter.

Nik's Dfine will often remove noise without needing to mask the subject -- always worth a try then mask the layer it will create if necessary.

Glad to have you here -- look forward to seeing more!

[Allen Sparks]

Welcome Bill,

I like the added room in the repost and the sharpness you captured from head to abdomen can be tough to do...well done.

Allen

[Ron Conlon]

I like the first better, but want more breathing room top and bottom. Good stuff.

[Bill Nuttall]

Thanks everyone for your comments - very helpful