Cheat your way to better bird photos
In this video I show you how to cheat your way to better photos with tools that a lot of photographers use.
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Imagine this scene
A beautiful Blue Jay lands on your bird bath. But it’s in the shade, and you don’t have the fastest lens, so you need to use ISO 4000. But when you look at the photo on the computer, you see a lot of noise.
ISO 4000 - without any deNoise edits
Then you run it through Topaz DeNoise Ai, and even on the standard settings you can eliminate the noise, as well as sharpen the image. You get the beautiful Blue Jay in all it’s glory.
ISO 4000 with Topaz DeNoise AI applied. Hopefully you can see that it is also sharpened a bit.
For the past year or so I’ve been “cheating” with Topaz Labs Ai products. And you know what? A lot of photographers use these tools.
Topaz apps that I use, and some I don’t
I mostly use the Topaz DeNoise Ai, as I often find myself shooting at ISOs that are way too high. Especially when I’m tramping though the woods or taking photos of owls near sunset. A birding friend of mine jokes that the owls come out at ISO 5000.
So instead of boring you through my over the shoulder edits, (I did that in this video here) I’ll save you some time by showing before and after photos using Topaz DeNoise — my favourite and most used Ai Editing tool.
I sometimes use Topaz Sharpen Ai, but I find that DeNoise usually applies enough sharpening. But if it’s breezy and the bird’s feathers are moving a bit, Topaz Sharpen Ai has a motion blur setting that works good.
I don’t use Topaz Photo AI as much, but it has the automatic re-size built into it and if I just need a photo for social media, to prove I saw a certain bird, I’ll use it.
There are a lot of choices out there for AI deNoise products. In fact, LR and Photoshop have them too.
BUT I shamelessly shoot jpgs, and not all of those other apps work with Jpgs.
LR and Photoshop don’t work with jpgs. I’ve tested Lightroom deNoise with a RAW file and it’s very slow - even with a fast computer. I have about enough time to make a coffee during the processing.
Topaz is faster for me. Plus, jpgs! But of course, you can use RAW files with it too.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret, many of the top birders I know, shoot jpgs. Yes, it’s true.
I used to be a raw evangelist. When I started digital photography over 20 years ago, camera processors were not as good. So shooting raw was a necessity. But now I like to let the super smart camera processors do most of the work. That’s why I pay them the big bucks.
I’ve always said, get it right “in the camera” and it’s rare I’ll shoot raw files unless I need insurance. Maybe the lighting is tricky - with too much dynamic range, WB is tricky - with mixed light sources, or my client thinks pros only shoot raw.
Even when I shoot raw + jpgs, I usually throw out the raw files.
The major bonus to using Topaz Ai Tools
If you’re not sure if birding is your thing, or you can’t afford a long or fast telephoto lens right out of the gate, then it’s nice to have tools that upscale, sharpen and remove noise. The Topaz Labs suite has you covered.
Download the free trials and try them out for yourself. That’s what I did.
And… I want to let you know that Topaz has big discounts a few times a year. If it’s not that time of year yet, get the trial anyway, and wait for a sale if money is tight. BUT, if you can’t wait, I think it’s still worth it at the regular price, especially the deNoise AI.
And, lastly, if you use my affiliate link here, I will get a commission. Thank you kindly, if you do.