Here are some tips that helped me and maybe they will apply to you. My goal here is to aid photographers to develop their techniques and perspective of image making in order to reduce reliance on post processing with noise reduction software. In many before and after images with creatures that have fine feathers or fur details, the reduction of the noise shows distinct loss of details that are not justified in the smoother appearance in the backgrounds and thus could have been handled differently with a little practice and understanding. Even if the situation warrants the effort, using these tips may improve the results by reducing the amount of work the noise removal software will be asked to perform. There is a place for noise mitigating steps in digital photography, especially with high iso photography, but I think it doesn't have to be used as heavily nor as often as is sometimes implied in the discussions I've been a part of.
Tip #1: ExposureÂ
Most noise in images is luminance noise, not color noise. Knowing that most digital noise in photographs is isolated in the blue channel (sensors record in Red, Green, and Blue channels), means that having a good initial exposure and white balance will reduce the amount of visible noise in the image and in particular, the subject(s) we're photographing. Few subjects are mainly blue, though in birds, there are some. It can definitely affect sky backgrounds for example, or clouds, if we process the image in a way that affects the blue channel by reducing highlights and raising shadows more than it can handle. I usually shoot in daylight white balance or in overcast, use cloudy white balance. If I'm shooting moving animals, I usually use the intelligent metering, but for sitting birds I have a custom set that uses center weighted metering. In either case, I use my plus/minus EV to adjust the metering to compensate for particular situations where the subjects are light agains darker backgrounds or dark against brighter backgrounds. In the end, I want to have an exposure that does not require me to be pushing luminance values higher, particularly in shadows and especially in my subjects, by very much if it can be helped.
Tip #2: Focus and SpeedÂ
Secondarily, digital noise can also be more obvious in details that are either a little out of focus or have just slight movements during the exposure. So shutter speed is very important with feather and fur details. Either we need a shutter speed fast enough to stop any motion in the subject plus very good focus, or we need a slow enough shutter to allow the movement to be fluid enough to smooth the 'blur' when we want that motion effect in our subjects. The sensor and the image stabilizers are attempting to determine edges and keep subjects in focus. Allowing the widest aperture to let the sensor access as many photons as possible in the shortest amount of time needed to freeze the movement means our ISO will need to be able to be high enough to ensure adequate exposure in the subjects from the darkest to the lightest parts of the fur or feathers. Ideally, the exposure settings would allow the output file to reveal the subject in the most ideal light for the existing conditions.
Tip #3: The PrintÂ
Since some digital noise is technically present and visible in every photograph, if we look hard enough, we need to adapt our perceptions to how images are seen and one way to assist is to have a decent color printer that can print 4x6 to 8x10. I use Canon printers that print to 13x19. I've had larger format printers but it's cheaper for me to have larger prints out sourced and I test print on smaller stock. Printing images is a great eye opener because not only is the normal digital noise we see at 100% almost never visible in prints, that 'grain' actually helps the printer create a sharper more detailed print. We can even use pre print sharpening techniques that increase noise in the digital image but sharpen the print with no ill effects. While most of our images may be shared on digital media, this does help me to see the grain and texture in digital files in a proper light.
Tip #4: Selective EditingÂ
Many image editors with many modern sensors do a pretty good job today with their auto adjustments, but with wildlife, they have a drawback due to how they globally treat the image. They nearly always pull back highlights and push shadows. As noted in the first tip above, most noise is luminance noise, not color, so how our edits affect brightness and shadows will affect the overall quality of the image. Normally, I like to expose for the subject(s) in wildlife, so that in post I am mainly concerned with sharpening areas like talons, beaks, noses, eyes, fur or feather in those regions. I am not interested in raising shadows in the out of focus areas in the background, and I tend to lower contrast, reduce sharpness, and bring down exposure a 1/2 stop to 1 stop in the backgrounds. Usually the subject is exposed the way I wanted them in the first place so I do not need to be tweaking the exposure very much, if at all, with the subject. Some of the recent software programs area improving the ability to find the subjects and mask them in/out easily so it becomes much easier to do a selective edit on the background to reduce and soften the effects of noise and add sharpening only to the subject where it can help.
Tip #5: Hidden BenefitsÂ
Getting a good feel of how to expose properly to obtain the best out of camera results means I can shoot in many situations with super fine jpeg on the OM-D system, and leave RAW for those special situations where the light is going to be difficult (backlit subjects, pre dawn light with ISO over 4000). When I'm out at an all day wildlife shoot, once the light is good, I will generally just set the camera to record jpegs because I'm mainly interested in action and I don't need the huge raw files if my exposures are going to be on target and ISOs are going to be under 1600 with high shutter speeds, shooting pro captures, etc.,. Paying attention to white balance and exposure compensation will reduce the time needed in editing to mainly decisions for crops and local sharpening if needed. When recording to JPEGs with wildlife and portrai, I typically set the Noise Filter to Low, so as to not cause too much softening in the feather and fur details of wildlife.
This is not a comprehensive discussion of wildlife photography workflow, but mainly a response to photographers asking me about handling the noise they see when using high shutter speeds and higher ISOs due to lighting conditions.