# Need Help in PP...Strange Striations? C&C welcome.



## GreggS (Aug 29, 2012)

Hi Everyone-

I'm in the middle of post processing on this photo. I can't seem to get rid of the obvious, and annoying, striations leading down from the clouds at a backward slant--especially in the middle to right part of the photo. I've tried using the smudge and blur tools in CS5. That helped a lot, however I'm still not there.

I'mm seeking any advice on how to take care of this. C&C is welcome as well.

Thanks.


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## zombiemann (Aug 29, 2012)

What are you using to tone map?


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## GreggS (Aug 29, 2012)

originally, Photomatx Essentials. Then, took that JPG into CS5 and continued PP.


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## vipgraphx (Aug 29, 2012)

is this a true HDR? Bracketed photos? 

Did you shoot RAW?

How many exposures was this?

I can help if I knew more info. If you are not shooting in RAW it could be lack of info in those areas if using just a jpeg. Could be your settings in photomatix. I noticed blown whites in the clouds and dock areas. This is a result of processing in photomatix and or not having enough exposures. I also noticed that there is some grunge factor in there which is telling me that your micro smoothing could be way to far to the left in combination with the strength slider way to the right this could cause what you see, along with the detail contrast slider.

Perhaps post the originals and we can take a stab at it and find out the issue.


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## GreggS (Aug 31, 2012)

I'm not sure what your definition of true HDR is. Hopefully this info will help....

3 exposures, -2, 0, +2 using AEB on my 5d Mk II. Shot in JPG, tone mapped using Photomatix and then further processed in CS5. I'll post originals tomorrow if you're still interested in playing around with them. I'll also try your advice. 

Thanks.


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## vipgraphx (Aug 31, 2012)

GreggS said:


> I'm not sure what your definition of true HDR is. Hopefully this info will help....
> 
> 3 exposures, -2, 0, +2 using AEB on my 5d Mk II. Shot in JPG, tone mapped using Photomatix and then further processed in CS5. I'll post originals tomorrow if you're still interested in playing around with them. I'll also try your advice.
> 
> Thanks.



True HDR meaning multiple exposures.  I asked because often times people post pictures asking for help with single shot images manually adjusted and wonder why things sometimes fail.Sometimes those single images just do not have enough info/range to get a decent looking photo. Thus why I asked.


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## GreggS (Aug 31, 2012)

Here are the originals...

-2





0





+2







vipgraphx said:


> is this a true HDR? Bracketed photos?
> 
> Did you shoot RAW?
> 
> ...


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## zombiemann (Aug 31, 2012)

OK, after feeding the 3 source images through photomatix myself I found the issue.  I'm not sure what settings you used and I don't really have time to try and replicate yours exactly, but I was able to get rid of the striations by moving the Smooth Highlights slider to the right


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## GreggS (Aug 31, 2012)

Thanks for the help! I'll give that a try. Are you using Photomatix Essentials or Pro?


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## zombiemann (Aug 31, 2012)

Pro, I use it enough that its money well spent for me


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## vipgraphx (Aug 31, 2012)

First question did you use RAW or JPEG? 

I don't think personally you had enough exposures for this photo. Your brightest picture is not that bright for details in the shadows. 

After processing it a few times different ways I have realized that the issue is in your actual photos and photomatix amplifies it at least using these low res jpegs you posted. I would like to use your high res originals if you want to email them to me @ vipgraphx@cox.net

Sure you can move the highlight smooth alllll the way to the right but then it blows out your whites in your clouds and other areas. I also messed with the strength slider which helps a lot keeping it lower than 70% along with adjusting the micro smoothing moving it more towards the middle. This really seems to help. I also notice that these are not aligned. Did you hand held these shots? If you used a tripod go buy another one because these were really off. This also will influence the streaks in the sky believe it or not. I also notice your sensor was really dirty there were a bunch of dust spots I saw. The problem with this is that you can not go crazy with this photo because the detail is not there and if you do it will show the banding/streaks in the sky so you have to be more subtle on your sliders. Adjust the light slider and luminosity also work. 

So I think it's in your actual photos and processing combo. Keep in mind that photomatix is just to get you 50-70% done and photoshop is to finish it off.

Here is a really quick edit I did. All though I did use the smoothing slider all the way to the right.. it blew out the white in the clouds and that highlight in the leave area. So I had to use the original exposures to fix that. It was somewhat flat from photomatix so I adjust contrast and then you can start to see that area again in the sky. Not as bad but since you know its there you can see it a little. 






Here is another edit with the smoothing all the way to the right, then adjusted strength to 70% and micro smoothing to 4. I adjusted the lighting to the right a little. Then I masked in the blown out highlights in the clouds with the original files. NO streaks...






like I said if you would like to email me the original exposures I can see if I can do a better job and hunting the problem dow. But, for now I need to know were these jpeg or RAW?


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## DiskoJoe (Aug 31, 2012)

Watch how high you set the black points too. Also the range you used was probably too much for this time of day. -1, 0, +1 would probably have been better.


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## GreggS (Aug 31, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> First question did you use RAW or JPEG?
> 
> But, for now I need to know were these jpeg or RAW?




I shot in JPEG. Be on the lookout for those originals in your email. Thanks for the help.


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## vipgraphx (Aug 31, 2012)

That could be the main reason is shooting in JPEG. Always try to shoot in RAW....


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## vipgraphx (Aug 31, 2012)

Ok, just got home and got your emailed jpegs. Just as I thought
 1) You should be shooting RAW. This is probably the most reason why its happening.
 2) There is not enough exposures in this photo for details in the dark areas. It becomes quite icky. You get colored noise in the post and chairs.

Now I processed your higher res jpegs and I still saw that streaking in the sky. There are ways around it like altering your sliders so I will post what I used.
I then had to mask in areas that highlights were blown as mentioned before. I then used nik software to bring in some detail and masked that area in.
in photoshop I created a selective color layer and adjusted the red, yellow and cyan.. I did a pro contrast in nik to make it POP.

Here is the result. 






and here is my photomatix settings.






So in the future please shoot RAW it will save you headaches in the end. Use a tripod when you can and get that sensor cleaned.


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## GreggS (Aug 31, 2012)

thanks a lot for the advice. I went back, started from scratch, and ended up with the result below. It's a bit more vibrant than the others, but I think it may fit in this scenario. After trying a number of things, including masking, burning, dodging, curve adjustment, smudging, etc. I think I got to a decent result--better than my OP anyway. Thanks for all the suggestions!


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## KmH (Aug 31, 2012)

JPEG discards most of the color data developed (about 80% of it as  JPEG fine) and is limited to an 8-bit color depth per color channel, which limits the gradations of tone in a gradient, like a blue sky, it can render. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG

8-bits, 11111111, only allows for 256 gradation is tone. A DSLR raw file is 12-bits (4096 tones) or 14-bit (16,384 tones), or the bit depth can be selected as 12 or 14 bits, compressed or not compressed.

Each binary digit can be a 1 or a 0. When the ones place is a one, it is full and a carry to the next place is done so the binary number 10 = 2, zero in the ones place and 1 in the 2's place. 111 = 7. 1 in the ones place, 1 in the 2's place, and 1 in the 4's place, so 4+2+1 = 7.

So for 8-bits the places have max values of 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 so 11111111 = 128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1 = 255 plus 00000000 = 0 for 256 gradations of tone per color channel.


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