*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #2

[dcstep]

Ed, the horses look nice and relaxed. I see some green in the grass.

Scott, great skyline shot. Perfect exposure.

Alan, thank you. I do think that DxO may have the best NR tool out there, bar none. Now, if they'd just give me a local adjustment tool, I'd be in hog heaven.

Dave

[allachie9]

A couple of swans taken on a nearby loch on a fine, sunny evening.

Loch Spynie Swans_2 by Alan Butterfield, on Flickr

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by allachie9

A couple of swans taken on a nearby loch on a fine, sunny evening.

Gorgeous, Alan!

[allachie9]

Originally Posted by dcstep

. . . . I'd be in hog heaven.

Dave

I like that expression

I think the nearest we have is . . . . as happy as a pig in sh*t.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by allachie9

I like that expression

I think the nearest we have is . . . . as happy as a pig in sh*t.

I'm what we call ourselves, "low country Southerner", the rest of the country calls us "red necks". Anyway, we have a close affinity with hogs and all that comes with them...

BTW, I love the swans struttin' their stuff. Does the Queen claim those, even in Scotland?

[allachie9]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I'm what we call ourselves, "low country Southerner", the rest of the country calls us "red necks". Anyway, we have a close affinity with hogs and all that comes with them...

BTW, I love the swans struttin' their stuff. Does the Queen claim those, even in Scotland?

Romantic as it might seem, the oft-quoted 'fact' that Her Majesty owns all the swans in the UK, is a bit of an urban myth.
The best definition I have found is here -

It's not strictly true that the Queen owns all swans in Britain. The Swan Upping ceremony which takes place every July takes a head-count of all the mute swans on the Thames and marks them for ownership either by the Crown or by the Vintners' and Dyers' Livery Companies, which were granted their rights of ownership by the Crown in the fifteenth century. Technically, the Crown owns all unmarked mute swans in open water, and the Queen only exercises her ownership rights on some stretches of the Thames and its tributaries. Other varieties of swan (Bewick's, Whooper etc.) aren't included in this.

[M_Six]

Love the swans, Alan.

DC, is the DxO noise app available on a trial basis?

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

DC, is the DxO noise app available on a trial basis?

Yes Mark, but only as part of Optics Pro. There's a free 30-day trial.

Dave

[allachie9]

Mark,
Another one to consider is Topaz De-Noise 5.
Topaz do a 30 day free trial.
It's the one I use and quite like it. However other folk have said it's not as good as the NR facility in Lightroom CC.

It probably all boils down to personal preferences.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by allachie9

Mark,
Another one to consider is Topaz De-Noise 5.
Topaz do a 30 day free trial.
It's the one I use and quite like it. However other folk have said it's not as good as the NR facility in Lightroom CC.

It probably all boils down to personal preferences.

I really like having NR as part of my Raw conversion workflow. DxO claims that it's best done at Raw conversion, although it seems to me that an uncompressed tiff shouldn't lose too much.

That said, it leads me to DxO, DPP (Canon's Raw converter) or LR. I generally don't suggest that people move from LR to DxO, but if you do a lot of high-ISO shooting, it's worth considering. DxO will move files straight from Raw conversion into LR or PS, so I guess that some actually use such a workflow.

Dave

[allachie9]

Dave,
Do you ever use High ISO and / or Long Exposure Noise reduction in camera ?

[dcstep]

Western Kingbird

Western Kingbird by David Stephens, on Flickr

[allachie9]

A beautiful image.
I love the star shape pose !

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by allachie9

Dave,
Do you ever use High ISO and / or Long Exposure Noise reduction in camera ?

Yes to both, Alan. The buck image a little further up the thread is at ISO 4000, with a Canon 7D MkII, not known for its high-ISO performance.

Long Exposure Noise Reduction works on the Raw file, so I use it. Here's an example of a 25-sec. exposure with my 5D MkII (rendered large for pixel-peeping):

Our first night, the stars were bright. by David Stephens, on Flickr

[drmdvl]

[QUOTE=dcstep;18220855]Western Kingbird

Beautiful colors and love the motion on the edge of the wings!

[drmdvl]

A sunset cruise by Statue of Liberty


Lady Liberty Sunset Shot by scott horton, on Flickr

[C5driver]

Iron Chef Cat Cora

[M_Six]

Wow, the bar is getting raised very high here.

Love the Kingbird shot, DC.

Beautiful image, Scott. Great light and colors.

Awesome use of DoF, C5Driver.

[SheaButter]

Originally Posted by C5driver

Iron Chef Cat Cora

Did you take this pic??? I've always wanted to go to the Iron Chef Kitchen.

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by SheaButter

Did you take this pic??? I've always wanted to go to the Iron Chef Kitchen.

Yes. I wouldn't post another person's work

It was taken at the Macy's Home demonstration kitchen at Crystal Court a few years ago.

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Awesome use of DoF, C5Driver.

Thanks! As I recall, it was an ambush shot. She was walking around, so I had an idea of the composition I wanted. I set up it up and just waited for her to be at the right position before releasing the shutter.

[Itsed65]

I accidentally left the zoom for the Fuji behind, so I did the best I could with the 18-55 at Desacnso Gardens in Los Angeles (actually the town of La Cañada to be exact)

Descanso Gardens by lennycarl08, on Flickr