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    Noisy shadows - help!

    OK this may be a dumb question so I'm sorry if there is a simple explanation for this.

    I shoot with the 70D and it's mostly fitted with my 16-35 f4 as I enjoy landscapes. I've started to notice my shadows are really noisy which considering I'm shooting at ISO 100 and using L glass I'm disappointed with.

    The below image is rubbish by the way as I was waiting for the sky to turn but it didn't, however it illustrates my point about the amount of noise. It was taken with a 2 second timer at 1/20 second, F11 so I accept there will be blur in the reed beds. You will need to zoom into the reed beds to see

    Can anyone offer any explanation for so much noise in this image? Many thanks!

    Rubbishshadows (1 of 1) by jamie overland, on Flickr

    #2
    Re: Noisy shadows - help!

    I think you are doing everything right regarding using low ISO etc etc....I think you will always get noise in dark areas that you then try to recover in post processing....due to the low signal to noise ratio of dark areas and there is much less data at the dark end of the spectrum.

    The only options are:
    1 Try to overexpose for the sky and then pull the exposure down in post processing, hoping that you don't blow the highlights so much that they are unrecoverable...I assume you use RAW to make the most of this as an option.
    2 use an ND Grad filter to balance the exposure required for sky and foreground shadow.

    Not sure if that helps....I see from your flickr page you have many excellent images and therefore hope I'm not trying to teach my Granny...
    Brian Vickers LRPS

    brianvickersphotography.com

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      #3
      Re: Noisy shadows - help!

      Originally posted by brianvickers View Post
      I think you are doing everything right regarding using low ISO etc etc....I think you will always get noise in dark areas that you then try to recover in post processing....due to the low signal to noise ratio of dark areas and there is much less data at the dark end of the spectrum.

      The only options are:
      1 Try to overexpose for the sky and then pull the exposure down in post processing, hoping that you don't blow the highlights so much that they are unrecoverable...I assume you use RAW to make the most of this as an option.
      2 use an ND Grad filter to balance the exposure required for sky and foreground shadow.

      Not sure if that helps....I see from your flickr page you have many excellent images and therefore hope I'm not trying to teach my Granny...
      Thanks Brian - you may be right. I bracketed this particular shot and just checked the +2 stop and its less noisy but still grainy.

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        #4
        Re: Noisy shadows - help!

        The only real cure and that’s only partial at best is to go full frame .a good noise reduction program helps but you will lose detail with most of them

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          #5
          Re: Noisy shadows - help!

          you are shooting Raw ? - if its bracketed shot what are you using the process the image. I don't see why at 100 ISO your getting noise in the shadows not unless your pulling them up too much
          :- Ian

          5D Mk III, 24-105 / 70-200 f2.8 L / 100-400 Mk II / 100 macro / 16-35 L / 11-24 L / 1.4 & 2x converters and a bad back carrying it all ;o)

          :- https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotosespana/

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            #6
            Re: Noisy shadows - help!

            Sometimes the dynamic range of a scene is just too great for the sensor. That's why HDR processing was originally developed. It's also why most pro landscape photographers still use grey grad filters to balance the sky and the foreground rather than relying on post processing.

            It's also worth trying RAW + jpeg, sometimes you might be surprised to find that the jpeg has less noise - assuming you have set the correct parameters in camera originally. If you use DPP for processing you can easily apply the same parameters to the RAW file, which you can't do with Lightroom etc.
            EOS 6D, 6D Mk II, 80D, 70D, 100D, 200D, M50, M100. Canon 10-18, 18 - 55, 55 - 250 IS STM lenses, Canon 16 - 35 mm F4L, 35 mm EF-S macro, 50 mm F1.8 STM, 60 mm EF-S macro, MPE-65 macro, 85 mm F1.8, 200 mm F2.8 L II, M 15 - 45 mm, M 22mm F2, M 32mm F1.4. Sigma 24 - 35 F2 Art, 135 mm F1.8 Art, 17 - 50 F2.8 DC, 105 mm OS macro, 100 - 400 C, 150 - 600 C.

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              #7
              Re: Noisy shadows - help!

              Originally posted by Tigger View Post
              you are shooting Raw ? - if its bracketed shot what are you using the process the image. I don't see why at 100 ISO your getting noise in the shadows not unless your pulling them up too much
              Yes shooting RAW. I use LR to process my images and I've pulled the shadows up on this test shot but wouldn't expect the level of noise. Maybe as Richard suggests below the dynamic range in this low light image was just too great for the sensor. Thanks for your comments

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                #8
                Re: Noisy shadows - help!

                Am I missing something? I've looked at the largest version at 400% and I can't see any noise...
                Nigel

                You may know me from Another Place....

                The new ElSid Photogallery...

                Equipment: Far too much to list - including lots of Nikon...

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