i took pics with a cheap disposable camera by Kodak good to 50 feet at Looe key and got it developed onto a cd (was quite pricy to!) i want to know what program to use to get the best results. The Pictures came out very grainy almost like there was sand suspended in the water
Picture improvent.
- Thread starter jdenn
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One of the best and affordable programs is Photoshop Elements. Version 3 will be shipping in a few weeks...$99. You can always find rebates.
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jdenn:
If you used the flash, they were probably translucent particles suspended in the water. It's called Backscatter and has to do with the flash being too near the lens so the particles reflect the light directly back onto your image. That's why most better camera setups move the flash(es) out to the side on an extension arm.
You can clean them up somewhat by using Photoshop/Photoshop Elements or a similar program using the clone tool to replace the bad areas. Or if they're uniform in color(typically red) try reducing the corresponding color channel/level slightly.
Post one so we can see the problem and give you other options.
Steve
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jdenn:
It might just have been the processing then. Did you pay for Kodak Sea Processing when you had the CD made? There's another thread from a couple weeks ago that talks about poor results with a Kodak CD and offers some options including using the Mandrake action - the process is detailed in the thread - and Photoshop to obtain better results. Although personally I've not had great results using the action:
http://www.scubaboard.com/t72972-kodak-sea-processing---poor-resolution-cd.html
I agree with Dee. Start with PS elements which comes bundled with a lot of current digital cameras and scanners. I recently helped a friend spruce up some UW photos shot with a reefmaster. There can be a lot of color info in a picture that otherwise looks bland that photosoftware can bring out. When you get your computer up, post some shots in this thread. You will get a lot of helpful advice. Just understand that there are severe limits to what you can produce with a disposable camera, ambient light, and a lo-res scan.
Two things i can think of.
1. Usually these cheap cameras come with a very cheap fast film, 400-800.
These films are inherently grainy, there is nothing you can do about that afterwards.
I have run into problems with 400 speed slide film, i no longer use it because of the grain.
2. Perhaps try an unsharp mask in Photoshop.
I would suggest settings of up to 150% in sharpening
no more than 3 for the second option (radius?)
leave the 3rd setting at 0.1 (threshold?)
I can't remember which one is number 2 or number 3. Whatever the case, you don't want to move either one past the 3 as this will start to create more grain!
1. Usually these cheap cameras come with a very cheap fast film, 400-800.
These films are inherently grainy, there is nothing you can do about that afterwards.
I have run into problems with 400 speed slide film, i no longer use it because of the grain.
2. Perhaps try an unsharp mask in Photoshop.
I would suggest settings of up to 150% in sharpening
no more than 3 for the second option (radius?)
leave the 3rd setting at 0.1 (threshold?)
I can't remember which one is number 2 or number 3. Whatever the case, you don't want to move either one past the 3 as this will start to create more grain!
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