A useful tool: Topaz DeNoise

I took this original shot at 6400 ISO with lots of noise:

04_01_2014_287origweb

Original

And using Topaz DeNoise converted the shot to this:

04_01_2014_287_denoisebWweb

DeNoise, BW conversion, soft vignette

Topaz DeNoise allows one to get rid of the noise without destroying the clarity of the photograph.

If you click on each of the images they will open in a separate window where you can examine the larger image. I am particularly happy with her whiskers which still maintain their detail, rather than turning into a blurry mess (which is usually what happens with most “remove grain/noise” options in processing software).

Forty Years

As you are aware, I took a brief trip last weekend to Oklahoma.  Waiting at the other end were my two brothers and my mother. Only one brother knew I was coming. I was a surprise for Mom and my younger brother.  Forty years ago, when I was graduating from high school, we had a formal family portrait taken.

In all the intervening years, for some reason, we’ve never all been in the same place at the same time. Until last weekend.

Here’s one I got of my mom while I was setting up the shot and testing the shutter release. I’m just out of camera to the right, so yeah, it’s me she’s looking at.

Making a wish over her birthday cake.

 

Aftermath

In a tree in at the back of the property where my brother and his family live, there is something hanging in the tree.  At first it looks like it could be a long strip of cloth. It isn’t.

It is steel siding.

It appears to defy gravity, just hanging there, tangled in the branches of the tree.  Until you walk around behind the tree and look up.

It’s not coming down any time soon.

Tornado Damages Oklahoma School, but Shelter Beneath Stands Strong

At a Demolished School, Moving On and Looking Ahead 

The First Baptist Church mentioned in this story is the church my brother pastors, and is directly across the street from their home. The school has been rebuilt and the community made a point to use the bricks from the old school when constructing the new one.