Before Topaz

A friend of mine recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica where he photographed the above hummingbird. He wanted to reduce the noise in the image while sharpening the subject. His attempts in Topaz DeNoise AI did the job somewhat, but when he got the noise reduced to the level he wanted, much of the detail in the hummingbird disappeared so he asked me for any strategies.

The image, below, was my take on the solution. First I used the “Severe Noise” option to selectively denoise the non-subject portion of the image. M on the keyboard allows one to select only portions of the image in Topaz DeNoise AI. After saving that denoised image, I then went back into the saved image and did the “Clear” option to sharpen the entire image (which focused on the subject at this point since the rest of the image had little detail).

After Topaz

P.S. If you don’t see much difference in the above two images, you are probably using a small, phone screen, or your monitor is automatically denoising things. You’ll see a pretty big difference if you have a decent monitor or made prints of the above two images. You can also download the photos and look at them at 100%, which will give you a clearer view of the changes.

Posted on October 6th, 2022 under Other. Tags: topaz denoise, wildlife. Comments Off on Topaz DeNoise demo

Today’s photo comes from 10 years ago. I had just purchased my first DSLR, and I didn’t know what I was doing. When this photo randomly appeared on my screen a few minutes ago, I thought “delete”, but then I decided to see what Topaz DeNoise AI could do with it. The answer: saved from the trash!

EXIF data:
1/1600
ISO 6400
f/20
jpg

Had I known then what I know now the EXIF data would be something like:
1/160
ISO 100-400
f/8
RAW

Posted on February 20th, 2021 under Denmark. Tags: Nikon 18-200mm VR II, nikon d7000, nyhavn, topaz denoise. Comments Off on LIVA II

Without Topaz Adjust AI and DeNoise AI

Once upon a time, about eight and half years ago, I didn’t shoot in RAW; I only saved my shots in jpg format. Alas, those photos are far more difficult to process in terms of getting them to look like what the scene originally looked like. The above, 11-photo photomerge is one such example. In Photoshop I wasn’t able to get the final panorama to look like the brilliance of the sunset from that one evening in New York back in 2012. Because I shot in jpg, the details were muddy and not recoverable (in Photoshop at least).

I downloaded Topaz Labs’ Adjust AI to see if it could do better. Adjust AI comes with a bunch of filters, none of which I liked. However, the adjustments for highlights, colors, shadows, etc. are far more powerful and customizable in manual mode than what you see in Photoshop, and I was able to bring the scene back to something more closely resembling what I saw with my naked eye that evening. The results are below.

With Topaz Adjust AI and DeNoise AI

Topaz Labs’ Adjust AI is available for under $50 until 12/31/20. Use the code holiday2020 at checkout.

Posted on December 29th, 2020 under Other. Tags: brooklyn bridge, landscape, new york, nikon d7000, panorama, photomerge, RAW vs Jpg jpeg, sunset, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens for Nikon, topaz denoise. Comments Off on Topaz Adjust AI

Topaz DeNoise AI is available through this link for under $50 until 12/31/20. Use the code holiday2020 when you check out for an additional discount. I’ve been using this product for about a year now and love the results. In fact, I’ve gone back and reprocessed many images with Topaz recently that I realized didn’t look so good (having originally used Photoshop’s sharpen and noise removal tools which just aren’t that great).

I’ll post an example below. You’ll see the difference more if you are on a big screen or were to make prints. On a phone or laptop with a smallish screen, you may not notice much.

Without using Topaz

Using Topaz Denoise AI

If you are on a phone, zoom in on the corners and uniforms to see the difference.

I’m trying Topaz Gigapixel AI now to see if I can rescue some of my pre-DSLR photos. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted on December 15th, 2020 under Oregon. Tags: reviews, sports photography, topaz denoise, volleyball. Comments Off on Topaz DeNoise AI for under $50

Yakatabune (屋形船) off Odaiba (Tokyo, Japan)

Today’s photo comes from more than 10 years ago. Have you ever spent an evening on a Yakatabune? I haven’t. Yet another reason to get back to Japan someday.

Posted on September 15th, 2020 under Japan. Tags: odaiba, Tokyo, topaz denoise. Comments Off on 屋形船