A Few SEO BIFs

[drr1531]

To test new/newly acquired software I often dig images out of the files that I was previously unable to recover from noise, slight OOF, etc. Below is one such image. This short eared owl came up behind me and was right on me before I saw it. I spun around, threw the camera up and fired off half a dozen frames. This was a full frame image that was far enough OOF that I wasn't even able to correct it at web resolution. Today I ran it through Topaz Sharpen AI and was astonished at the results. It cleared up enough to be of print quality.

D500, [email protected]
1/1250s f5.6 ISO500

1) Checking me out.

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Since I went through the trouble to generate a post I might as well add a couple more. These didn't need the special processing. Just some interesting shots.

2) Starting his dive on a vole.

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3) I like the talons hanging down on this one. If I recall he/she was sparring with another bird.

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4) I just like bank shots.

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[Jeff1]

Nice shots and PP. i think I’ll take a look at Sharpen AI! Jeff

 

[Allan]

Beautiful bird too!

 

[Butlerkid]

DANG! That first image is stunning!!!!!! Wow!!! Nice action shots in the last three, also.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Very enjoyable series. The delicate foreground content in the last two images adds an artistic flair.

far enough OOF that I wasn't even able to correct it at web resolution. Today I ran it through Topaz Sharpen AI and was astonished at the results. It cleared up enough to be of print quality.

Future technological capability is a good reason to keep photos that don't stand up to current scrutiny. A lesson I've not yet put into practice.

 

[gchappel]

Terrific shots, made my day looking at these.
The first image doesn't look quite like a photo. Maybe even better than a photo, but I get the gestalt feeling something was done. Doesn't even look like normal processing, but something. Looks marvelous.
May I ask what settings you used in the AI sharpen? I assume you were in the focus mode? I have played around with it a little, but had no success stories like this one.
Thanks for sharing
Gary

 

[dossy]

Beautiful series, Dan! #1 for sure!

 

[drr1531]

Nice shots and PP. i think I’ll take a look at Sharpen AI! Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. It's an interesting too. No magic bullet but when it works, it works.

Beautiful bird too!

Thanks, Allan. They are interesting birds to spend time with.

DANG! That first image is stunning!!!!!! Wow!!! Nice action shots in the last three, also.

Thanks, Karen.

Very enjoyable series. The delicate foreground content in the last two images adds an artistic flair.
Future technological capability is a good reason to keep photos that don't stand up to current scrutiny. A lesson I've not yet put into practice.

Thanks, Mike. I have to say that I've kept some images for years based on the theory/hope of future software improvements. That has finally been coming to fruition in the past couple of years.

Terrific shots, made my day looking at these.
The first image doesn't look quite like a photo. Maybe even better than a photo, but I get the gestalt feeling something was done. Doesn't even look like normal processing, but something. Looks marvelous.
May I ask what settings you used in the AI sharpen? I assume you were in the focus mode? I have played around with it a little, but had no success stories like this one.
Thanks for sharing
Gary

Your perceptions are accurate, Gary. Not standard processing. I did some selective lighting adjustment on the bird. Likely the intuitive sense you're getting is that the underside of the bird shouldn't be that bright relative to the sky. And it wasn't.

Beautiful series, Dan! #1 for sure!

Thanks, Dossy.

 

[Louis Champan]

That first image is top notch Dan. I've tried Topaz DeNoise AI and found it most helpful on high ISO images, but also find if terrible slow.

 

[Palouse]

That first image is top notch Dan. I've tried Topaz DeNoise AI and found it most helpful on high ISO images, but also find if terrible slow.

I just spent a couple of hours using Topaz. Most impressive, but on my 2011 MBP it is glacially slow, especially when saving. My GPU is not compatible with the program.

 

[Randy]

#1 is WOW

 

[Darrell C]

yep an awesome set for sure, #1 is framer.

 

[drr1531]

That first image is top notch Dan. I've tried Topaz DeNoise AI and found it most helpful on high ISO images, but also find if terrible slow.

All of the new Topaz "AI" tools that have been released recently require a lot of horsepower to process in anything like reasonable time. It seems the GPU is more important than the CPU.

I just spent a couple of hours using Topaz. Most impressive, but on my 2011 MBP it is glacially slow, especially when saving. My GPU is not compatible with the program.

Per above the GPU seems to be the key to getting it to run well.

#1 is WOW

Thanks, Randy.

yep an awesome set for sure, #1 is framer.

Thanks, Darrell.