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Airport approach pic, requesting touch-up - will donate


E

evamodel00

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Hey folks,

I recently took a picture of an approach at a famous airport in Rome and would like to frame it for work. Unfortunately, because of a bunch of factors (my poor cameramanship being the greatest factor), you can tell it isn't very clear/a bit blurry.

Would any one be able to touch this picture up so I can frame it?

I would be willing to donate via paypal for a job-well done. I apologize if this is in the wrong spot but unfortunately I cannot go back up and get another picture :(.

Any advice would be great. Thank you!!
 

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You could always Google approach shots to airports at night?
 
gohan2091 said:
This image cannot be saved, but If you can tell me what your camera settings were, I can tell you why this happened and how to avoid it in the future.
Click to expand...


I was using a cannon kiss 3x and i was just using the sport picture mode. I tried using all other modes but they were even more blurry.
 
Blur can be due to the following:

- Camera shake
- Shutter speed too slow

Do you have an aperture priority/value (AV) mode on that camera? I would set it to the widest aperture you can use (e.g f2.8, f3.5, f4) to let in as much light as you can. The camera would select a shutter speed it thinks would result in a good exposure and by viewing this shutter speed, you'd be able to tell if it's fast enough to overcome blur. Slow shutter speeds such as 1/60 sec and below handheld can result in blur, especially if the lens doesn't have an image stabliser/vibration reduction on it (if it does, turn it on). If you stick it on AV mode and the shutter speed is too low, you can raise the ISO until the shutter speed is fast enough. Anything over 1/125 sec should be ok. When taking the shot, keep your hands and camera as steady as you can, lean up against the window if it helps. Get a good auto focus lock on the lights and take the shot as quickly as you can.
 
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Isn't this moot "unfortunately I cannot go back up and get another picture :(."
 
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the nay-sayers who said that not much could be done to help the OP's image.

The blur is obviously due to camera shake. It turns out that because the motion in this case happens to be so simple and regular, one can improve matters considerably. The reason the unwanted motion is so simple and regular is almost certainly because it was induced by the periodic vibration of the engines. This is very different from the much more random shake one usually gets by hand-holding a camera.

If you look carefully at single points of light in the image that appear to be not otherwise corrupted (e.g., by distortion in the windshield, reflection off of metalic parts, etc.), one can see that there are two regular rocking motions involved. One motion is in a nearly horizontal direction (actually, tilted up on the right by about 15 degrees), and a second, smaller motion is in a nearly vertical direction (actually, the top tilted slightly to the right by about 5 degrees).

When I was experimenting with this image, two applications of Focus Magic (one for each of the above directions) really helped reduce the blur induced by these motions. A bit of selective application of contrast + some manual burning and dodging, and I was able to effect a considerable improvement in the image in only a few minutes.

Unfortunately, IMO, what I achieved isn't good enough to make a large print, and is probably not as good as the OP would like, so I have no intention of putting this up as a formal bid (ie, for money) on the request. However, since the forum rules state that freebies are not allowed in the "freelance" section, I can't post the full results of my experiment in this thread because it could be perceived as undercutting the freelancers. However, if any freelancers are interested in pursuing this method, I strongly suggest you consider using the plugin, "Focus Magic" to reduce the blur. I will be happy to give anyone who asks full details of this very powerful method.

HTH,

Tom
 
PS - re Gohan's comment: "...lean up against the window if it helps..."

While leaning against a support usually is good advice, in this case, it will almost certainly make the picture worse. The reason is because the camera motion her is induced by the vibrations from the engine(s). The photographer's body acts to isolate the vibration from the camera, whereas if you try to stabilize the camera by leaning it against something solid, it will experience the full, un-attenuated shake of the airframe.

Anyone who has ever shot from a helicopter has run into the same problem and the advice is always the same: Never rest your camera against anything solid on the helo.

Tom
 
Tom First you say unfortunately you have to disagree with the naysayers, then you say your results weren't good enough to put on display or for print which is it? Save your money or waste your money?
 
iDad, I CANT display my results in this thread, not I won't. Rules are rules.

If u like, I'll be happy to send you the result by PM.

Tom
 
No I don't need to see them but as I said "save your money" is probably not a naysayers attitude, your writing comes across to me as a "realistic attitude" even more than when I said it the first time. Do I sense a hint of agreement amongst us? lol
 
tom id like too see what you achieved for the sake of seeing if its a program id be interested in , can you send it please
 
Tom Mann, your comment on airplane vibrations when leaning against the window is correct, I didn't realise but I also have Focus Magic but what I meant was that's not going to fix an image that's going to be printed. I doubt that software could have much of an effect but you can display your results on here if you want. It won't be a freebie if you stick a watermark over the image.
 
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@idad - yup, I was trying to strike a balance between a flat out "no" and leading the OP to think miracles are possible. For all I know he might be satisfied with just a moderate amount of improvement.

@ego & gohan - I'll get something to u later today

T
 
Tom Mann said:
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the nay-sayers who said that not much could be done to help the OP's image.

The blur is obviously due to camera shake. It turns out that because the motion in this case happens to be so simple and regular, one can improve matters considerably. The reason the unwanted motion is so simple and regular is almost certainly because it was induced by the periodic vibration of the engines. This is very different from the much more random shake one usually gets by hand-holding a camera.

If you look carefully at single points of light in the image that appear to be not otherwise corrupted (e.g., by distortion in the windshield, reflection off of metalic parts, etc.), one can see that there are two regular rocking motions involved. One motion is in a nearly horizontal direction (actually, tilted up on the right by about 15 degrees), and a second, smaller motion is in a nearly vertical direction (actually, the top tilted slightly to the right by about 5 degrees).

When I was experimenting with this image, two applications of Focus Magic (one for each of the above directions) really helped reduce the blur induced by these motions. A bit of selective application of contrast + some manual burning and dodging, and I was able to effect a considerable improvement in the image in only a few minutes.

Unfortunately, IMO, what I achieved isn't good enough to make a large print, and is probably not as good as the OP would like, so I have no intention of putting this up as a formal bid (ie, for money) on the request. However, since the forum rules state that freebies are not allowed in the "freelance" section, I can't post the full results of my experiment in this thread because it could be perceived as undercutting the freelancers. However, if any freelancers are interested in pursuing this method, I strongly suggest you consider using the plugin, "Focus Magic" to reduce the blur. I will be happy to give anyone who asks full details of this very powerful method.

HTH,

Tom
Click to expand...


Thank you Tom, I just sent you an email via my own.

It was kind of a spur of the moment event. I was just thinking "I am going traveling to this airport so I will bring my camera along". I didn't really plan ahead and consider the problems you could experience when taking pictures at night. Taking pictures while flying during the day is generally a snap for me, so I didn't think much of it at night time. However all of the pictures I took were horrible. I tried all settings modes and each one turned out blurry (this one shown here was by-far the best). I know the very bottom-line basics of camera settings and that's it. On most settings I could hear that it was taking such a long time to snap the photo to get the required light and the longer it took, the more horribly blurry it was from my hands shaking all over the place from getting knocked around by the wind. I figured the sport-mode would be my best shot because it snaps the pictures quickly not allowing for that time inbetween for my hands to shake around. But anyways, that didn't really work either.

I appreciate every one's input.

Thank you very much.
 
Photographing at night without a tripod is difficult, especially if you don't know what you're doing. Sports mode is for freezing fast action by using fast shutter speeds. This mode isn't suitable in low light scenarios, as you need to use slower shutter speeds to absorb the ambient light. Put your camera on manual, set the iso high to say 3200 or above, set your aperture to its widest, and start adjusting your shutter speed. If you can't get a shutter speed that's fast enough to overcome camera shake then bump up your iso further or use a lens that's faster (wider aperture)
 
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