Nov 17
One of the minor drawbacks of the G9 is its susceptibility to noise. Noise, in the photography world, are those specs and dots that make your photos appear grainy. In some cases, this is done intentionally to achieve a desired affect. However, during instances when you would like a smoother look - enter, Noise Ninja. This application is simple to install and learn while greatly reducing the amount of noise (even for photos shot at ISO 80). Noise Ninja contains a 30 second tutorial and for those of us with more time, an in depth, 5 minute tutorial. Within minutes of installing Noise Ninja, I was reducing and practically eliminating noise from my digital photos. Noise Ninja can work with either .jpg or .tif files. If you shoot RAW, first process the image into either a .jpg file or a .tif file in order for Noise Ninja to be able to open the file. For as little as $35, you can rescue noisy photos from being simply archived ‘mistakes’ . I am truly impressed with this application and highly recommend it for those of us with the G9 due to its susceptibility for noise.
Before / After
Nov 16
I’ve owned my MacBook Pro 15″ for about 8 months now and have only recently discovered (more accurately re-discovered) LCD Calibration. I love to tinker around with computer settings that enhance the user experience. Two words for ya’, Color Calibration. Again, I am a novice at this whole photography thing so, I am hoping that everyone will understand what I will be explaining in the coming sentences. If there is a term that is unclear or unfamiliar and you would like to a more in depth explanation or definition simply leave a Comment and I will address it as soon as I can. We’re in this together =)
I did a bit of research on the internet to see what the best method for LCD Monitor Calibration would be. Being a novice, I was not interested in buying any hardware so that eliminated some of the options. Switching my focus to software based calibration tools, I Googled upon SuperCal. I just have to say, Wow! This software is Shareware which means, it is free to try and if you find yourself finding it handy and useful consider donating to the cause. http://bergdesign.com/supercal
The application, SuperCal, is pretty straight forward as far as installation and actual calibration. I am pretty new at all this stuff and I didn’t encounter any obstacles in the jargon. Once calibrated, you won’t believe your eyes. The colors pop and I have much more confidence before going to print with my digital photos.
(I performed this calibration using SuperCal on a MacBook Pro 15″)