Lightroom Quick Tip: Rid Photos of Ugly Noise in 3 Minutes (VIDEO)
“Noise” is a dirty word in photography because these ugly artifacts will quickly spoil an otherwise great image. Today’s Lightroom tutorial demonstrates a quick-and-effective method for eliminating image-killing noise, and it takes less than three minutes to explain.
In basic terms, noise appears as specks, blotches and weird pixels that can be can rear their ugly head for a number of reasons, including shooting at high ISO settings in low-light conditions, long exposure times, and mistakes during post processing. The sensor in your camera is also an important consideration.
Instructor Will Simpson is an accomplished landscape shooter and image-editing expert who specializes in simp tutorials that deliver big results. He also offers free presets and checklists via a link in the description beneath this video, so be sure to take advantage of the opportunity.
In this episode Simpson takes a look at two methods for denoising images in Lightroom and you’ll see the method he prefers depending upon the task at hand. He explains everything so quickly and effectively that we won’t repeat his advice here, other than to provide this summary.
The first sample image suffers from two problems— i.e. both color and luminance noise—which is clearly evident when you zoom in on the shot. Simpson explains that “color noise is the colorly little dots you see, while luminance noise is the white and black noisy gray you see.” Understanding the difference is very important before you rehabilitate a shot.
Simpson walks you through evening you need to know, and after seeing how it’s done you’ll want to update your everyday Lightroom workflow accordingly. Then you’ll be able to consistently create super-clean imagery under a wide variety of situations.
This lesson is just the latest installment of Simpson’s Two-Minute series, so check out his YouTube channel for earlier episodes and other straightforward post-processing tips and techniques.
We also recommend watching our earlier tutorial with another experienced pro who demonstrates why winter is the perfect time to capture minimalist outdoor photographs with 10 pro tips for getting the job done to perfection.
