I am struggling with the degradation that occurs when raw images are reduced to jpeg. This one is pixelating, I have another shot I am working on that will not catch the necessary color vibrance in jpeg. Of course printing tiffs doesn't give you monitor brilliance either. Everything seems to be a compromise in this life.
The brick shaped artifacts in the sky look like a pain in the keester. If they are a product of the JPEG conversion I wonder if there is any cure. If you can save to TIFF or PSD without acquiring them I think that's what I would be tempted to do as these formats do not compress in a "lossey" way. I fear the patterns could be a result of the algorithms JPEG uses to compress the image. Ken may know better and I hope he will comment on this.
PS: Yeah, the switch from transmitted light viewing on screen and reflected light viewing on a print really introduces a much different dynamic to the way we perceive the image. Despite all the effort put into calibrating monitors, etc. I have never really seen this issue solved other than the hard way--test print after test print as one struggles to remain even partially sane during the printing process.
Actually, I like them both. Using the lens flare in the image was a terrific idea since your subject is a telescope and the flare gives it a nice SciFi feeling. I find it quite easy to overlook the artifacts since the composition is good.
A possible way to get the dark sky without having to use more destructive manipulations. Start with the color file and make an adjustment layer--Photo Filter. Put a dense red filter on the color image, then convert to greyscale and POOF! dark sky. I don't know if it will work on this file but it might be worth a try.
I took your suggestion. The image pixelated horribly and would not convert acceptably to jpeg. But I thought what the hell and printed the tiff on simply elegant's pure silver paper and got an extraordinary little image to share with you in person.
I actually shot this one afternoon at 160 with my 10mm Sigma lens. F8 1/250th. I ran it through a low key ink filter in silver efex. With John's method, and omitting the nik, there was no noise whatsoever. The dome is such a beautiful form in itself, light dances nicely off of it.
Ya' done good!
ReplyDeleteI am struggling with the degradation that occurs when raw images are reduced to jpeg. This one is pixelating, I have another shot I am working on that will not catch the necessary color vibrance in jpeg. Of course printing tiffs doesn't give you monitor brilliance either. Everything seems to be a compromise in this life.
ReplyDeleteI like this… keep fighting!!!
ReplyDeleteThe brick shaped artifacts in the sky look like a pain in the keester. If they are a product of the JPEG conversion I wonder if there is any cure. If you can save to TIFF or PSD without acquiring them I think that's what I would be tempted to do as these formats do not compress in a "lossey" way. I fear the patterns could be a result of the algorithms JPEG uses to compress the image. Ken may know better and I hope he will comment on this.
ReplyDeletePS: Yeah, the switch from transmitted light viewing on screen and reflected light viewing on a print really introduces a much different dynamic to the way we perceive the image. Despite all the effort put into calibrating monitors, etc. I have never really seen this issue solved other than the hard way--test print after test print as one struggles to remain even partially sane during the printing process.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is a chasm that I have never seen effectively breeched.
ReplyDeleteActually, I like them both. Using the lens flare in the image was a terrific idea since your subject is a telescope and the flare gives it a nice SciFi feeling. I find it quite easy to overlook the artifacts since the composition is good.
ReplyDeleteA possible way to get the dark sky without having to use more destructive manipulations. Start with the color file and make an adjustment layer--Photo Filter. Put a dense red filter on the color image, then convert to greyscale and POOF! dark sky. I don't know if it will work on this file but it might be worth a try.
Great suggestion. I will try it!
ReplyDeleteI took your suggestion. The image pixelated horribly and would not convert acceptably to jpeg. But I thought what the hell and printed the tiff on simply elegant's pure silver paper and got an extraordinary little image to share with you in person.
ReplyDeleteHuzza!
ReplyDeleteWhat ISO did you shoot this at? Did you use any noiseware to clean up the noise?
ReplyDeleteI actually shot this one afternoon at 160 with my 10mm Sigma lens. F8 1/250th. I ran it through a low key ink filter in silver efex. With John's method, and omitting the nik, there was no noise whatsoever. The dome is such a beautiful form in itself, light dances nicely off of it.
ReplyDeleteI love that Palomar shot...really special.
ReplyDelete