This photo was taken at the Museum of Iron at Skinningrove, North Yorkshire. It's not exactly an extensive museum, but it vastly expanded my knowledge of the industry that brought my ancestors from Cornwall tin mines to Yorkshire iron ore mines in the 1850s.
The photo is of an old mine ventilation fan. I was pleased to see that it had a substantial guard on it. Many men were killed and maimed in the mines, where safety was usually an after-thought by today's standards.
OM Digital Solutions OM-1, 1/45sec at f5.0, ISO 6400, Olympus 14-150mm lens at 31mm. RAW file, processed in Affinity 2 – exposure change, removal of specks, minor cropping; the colour was unaltered, it was dim and dusty in there! Then the jpg was passed through Topaz Denoise AI, which made a good improvement in the texture and clarity – see main image (after Topaz) against the original image (after Affinity). I’ve only recently bought this Topaz programme, and sometimes it seems to do little, but most times it makes a good improvement, in my view.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 8 comments posted
John Roach
Stuart, the monochrome quality of the image is excellent. The subject is very interesting and well composed. The Topaz AI Denoise did make a difference. I resist getting the new Topaz products because I use Adobe LR and PS and ON1 little with DxO Nik. However the amount of grain reduction is tempting. I just hate buy more stuff, every time I turn around. Well done. Posted: 09/14/2023 15:06:33
Stuart Ord
Thanks!
You're right I think, it's so easy to keep buying new bits and pieces in hope. I also tried Topax Sharpen AI, and got little benefit, so I'm sticking to the free version to try occasionally and see if it is any help to me. Posted: 09/17/2023 05:14:43
Chris Prior
I dont think the mono conversion has worked as I see colour in a few places most noticeably in the shadow almost dead centre and beneath the circular element on the left. My main concern is the cage is sharp but the machine is very soft especially toward the back. Lighting conditions have made this a challenging assignment. Posted: 09/17/2023 04:55:43
Stuart Ord
Gosh, I think you're right about the traced of colour. The reason the conversion didn't work is that there wasn't one! It seemed mono to me, and when I did put a mono layer in, I got the usual black & white mono tones, whereas I preferred the more golden original.
In terms of focus, of course it was dim in there and the depth of field was compromised. I should have tried some focus stacks, but the tour was moving on and wouldn't let me stay behind! My OM-1 is so quick at doing computational photography that I could have done it hand held, but I was (still am really) in the learning phase of how this model differs from my previous M1 mk2 that I didn't have time. Focus stacking is on a button now! Posted: 09/17/2023 05:19:47
Jerry Snyder
The narrow focus on the shielding screen adds depth to the image. The Topaz Denoise did a good job of removing the noise. For dark indoor spaces like this I have started using manual mode, setting shutter speed and aperture and letting auto ISO go as high as it needs to achieve a normal exposure. I find that more noise is created by underexposure than by high ISO. This formula seems to work with my astrophotography. Posted: 09/21/2023 13:58:20
Don York
I use the Topaz Denoise regularly, especially for images with lots of sky. It does a great job, except with live animals were it can over smooth making them look waxed. By backing off the amount, you can usually find a better setting. Posted: 09/22/2023 11:44:19
Stan Bormann
I have trouble relating to this image. It means a lot to Stuart, but foreign to me. I understand anything to achieve more depth of field in the low light would result in more noise other rhan perhaps focus stacking, but I think under the circumstances I would prefer to let the screen go out of focus and focus about midway back on the fan. I still am having trouble seeing the color and I understand not wanting to lose the sepia feel of the image. In Nik Silver Efex you could convert to mono and stay with sepia, I am not sure if this works with other conversion software, but I would think you could do it. I am going to try to check that out with Lightroom. I am starting to do a lot of conversions using it. Posted: 09/22/2023 12:18:14
Stuart Ord
Hi Stan,
Yes, I could certainly give it a sepia tone using Affinity, or any other tone for that matter. I left it as it was as it's both an accurate record of its colour, and it's mono. Had I noticed what Chris noticed, I'd have cloned out the offending bits of colour.
I took one focussed on the impellor, but preferred this version. I could have taken two and focus merged them, although time was pressing, but again, I rather liked this version as it can remind us of how dangerous mining was. But you are welcome to prefer the alternative!
Posted: 09/22/2023 13:09:34
