Develop module Corrections After Noise Reduction

[kitjv]

Lightroom Version Number

13.2

Operating System

1. macOS 13 Ventura

I was shooting outdoors in dim artificial light at around ISO 12000 or higher (something I don't do that often) . The high ISO was also necessary since I was shooting handheld. After I manually reduce luminance noise reduction, the images had a "soft" appearance without defined edges, especially with people. I expected this. However, I find it difficult to restore the edge definition to the images. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you kindly.

 

[clee01l]

I was shooting outdoors in dim artificial light at around ISO 12000 or higher (something I don't do that often) . The high ISO was also necessary since I was shooting handheld. After I manually reduce luminance noise reduction, the images had a "soft" appearance without defined edges, especially with people. I expected this. However, I find it difficult to restore the edge definition to the images. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you kindly.

WYSIWIG.

If Lightroom Noise reductions does not sharpen faces, you might explore an external editor that offers face preservation.


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[kitjv]

As Lightroom has become more sophisticated, I find myself using external editors less often; hence my inquiry on seeking corrections within Lightroom. However, if this is not a viable option, I am amenable to looking at an external editor. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you.

 

[clee01l]

As Lightroom has become more sophisticated, I find myself using external editors less often; hence my inquiry on seeking corrections within Lightroom. However, if this is not a viable option, I am amenable to looking at an external editor. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you.

Like you I mostly stay in Lightroom using Photoshop for Generative Fill and Generative expand. Lightroom's NR only works with RAW images and I've used Topaz Photo AI and ON2 PhotoRAW Max for non RAW images. Only once did I uses the facial preservation feature and I'm not sure which external App it was.

 

[Jim Wilde]

After I manually reduce luminance noise reduction, the images had a "soft" appearance without defined edges, especially with people.

Why don't you try LrC's Enhance>Denoise function?

 

[clee01l]

Why don't you try LrC's Enhance>Denoise function?

I was presuming kitjv was referring to the DeNoise function. He did speak of a more sophisticated Lightroom


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[Jim Wilde]

I was presuming kitjv was referring to the DeNoise function. He did speak of a more sophisticated Lightroom


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You could well be correct, but the reference to "manually reduce luminance noise" made me think that the Denoise wasn't being used. I think @kitjv may have only recently moved to the subscription plan, so may not be aware of the new Denoise tool. But I could be wrong.....

 

[clee01l]

You could well be correct, but the reference to "manually reduce luminance noise" made me think that the Denoise wasn't being used. I think @kitjv may have only recently moved to the subscription plan, so may not be aware of the new Denoise tool. But I could be wrong.....

We will need his clarification. My answer was based upon using the new DeNoise feature of LrC which only works with RAW files but does a remarkable job with NR. MOST of the time on RAW source files. I still have to use Topaz or ON1 for RGB files.

 

[kitjv]

I was a bit remiss in not providing enough information. All of my photos are shot in RAW format with a Canon D6. Also, I should have mentioned that I tried DeNoise initially. And although AI did a commendable job in reducing noise, the edges of the people & object still had a "soft" appearance. Since I had shot numerous low-light images, I opted to just use the manual noise reduction sliders instead. Maybe this issue is somewhat inherent when shooting at high ISOs in very dime light.

 

[hanoman]

I go from LR to PS, duplicate the layer and from there with the copy to Topaz Photo AI. In Topaz AI i use the standard settings, which made the faces a little waxen. Back in PS i mask and blend the upper layer with the original.

 

[clee01l]

I go from LR to PS, duplicate the layer and from there with the copy to Topaz Photo AI. In Topaz AI i use the standard settings, which made the faces a little waxen. Back in PS i mask and blend the upper layer with the original.

This sounds like a good approach. At least the original face is preserved.
Starting from Lightroom, I think the Denoise option to enhance the original image is always better than anything I can achieve manually. Still the result with faces can be less that ideal.