A little help? Minimizing spots of motion blur and general processing.

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ACW

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A shot I took a little while back, this is as much as I could get out of it:


Las Vegas Strip by Helicopter by ACW#, on Flickr

But I feel this is not being processed as well as it could be? I've tried to sharpen it and get rid of spots of motion blur but it still lacks oomph. I don't normally have too much of an issue processing files, but this one is particularly annoying me. Any tips would be appreciated! Maybe a perspective change using photoshop would help?

The left side of the image seems to be the worst.

This is the original image:
View attachment 8165

Raw file here if anyone wanted to have a play:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7do4ga
 
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I think you're going to have to go back there at dusk. When there is still a bit of colour in the sky.
 
There is a lot of camera blur to rescue the shot but I have had a play with levels etc. in LR and this is my attempt: -
file711_zps76da046b.jpg
 
A quick 2 mins of adjustments: -

Straighten and slight crop (bottom left corner)
Enabled profile correction (Canon 50mm)
Exposure + 0.50
Contrast +18
Highlights +33
Shadows +100
Blacks +68
Clarity +100
Vibrance +60

Tone curve
Lights +24
Darks +24
Shadows +16

The colours were blowing out/muted in varying degrees so played with individual channels to get this

Red +67
Orange -33
Yellow +68
Green -48
Aqua -43
Blue +9
Purple -42
Magenta +36

I also sharpened the image to +62 with a radius of 2.0 and masking at 100% just to give some sharpness to the edges but its effect was marginal
I also apple noise reduction at 57

A few bits were still too bright so I used an adjustment brush to take down the brightness specifically on the central strip and the building in the centre with the horizontal blue strips
 
I had a quick go at sharpening it and lifting the lighting slightly.

13497028073_7f99eb262b_o.jpg
 
Buck said:
There is a lot of camera blur to rescue the shot but I have had a play with levels etc. in LR and this is my attempt: -
file711_zps76da046b.jpg
Click to expand...


You've just pulled noise out of it.

Terry's helps a little... I had a play with Smart Sharpen, but the fact is, you can't really get rid of motion blur.


What you need.. is a tripod.
 
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My phone won't let me quote any posts in this thread for some reason, I will type up my reply properly again when I get to a PC at lunchtime!
 
Buck said:
There is a lot of camera blur to rescue the shot but I have had a play with levels etc. in LR and this is my attempt: -
file711_zps76da046b.jpg
Click to expand...

swanseamale47 said:
I had a quick go at sharpening it and lifting the lighting slightly.

13497028073_7f99eb262b_o.jpg
Click to expand...

Excellent edits guys. Thank you for taking the time to have a play :)

The colours and clarity of yours Adrian really seem to make the image pop more, thank you for posting up the settings. I have Lightroom so once I've successfully (hopefully) sharpened the image, I will apply a similar preset.

Wayne, the sharpness you've brought to the image (especially noticeable on the right hand side) is pretty impressive. Was this a photoshop motion blur correct filter job or another type of photoshop wizardry like smart sharpen?

Did you guys do this with the Raw or the Jpeg?
 
ianp5a said:
I think you're going to have to go back there at dusk. When there is still a bit of colour in the sky.
Click to expand...

I'll nip over there tonight at dusk and reshoot, it's only an 11 hour flight by plane and then the hiring of a helicopter to sort out ;)

Pookeyhead said:
What you need.. is a tripod.
Click to expand...

I was having to act as a 'gyro stabiliser' :lol: as you have to bank quite severely to get that view. Unfortunately a tripod would have been useless.

overbez said:
helicopter go on the tripod?
Click to expand...

Lets not beat around the bush, had we parked the helicopter on a 200mm high tripod the picture would have undoubtedly been sharper. I'm going to steal this idea and take it to Dragons Den.
 
ACW said:
out ;)



I was having to act as a 'gyro stabiliser' :LOL: as you have to bank quite severely to get that view. Unfortunately a tripod would have been useless.
Click to expand...

LOL.. sorry. No idea how I managed to not notice it was an aerial shot. Blame the lovely bottle of Jura single malt I had in front of me :)
 
ACW said:
I'll nip over there tonight at dusk and reshoot, it's only an 11 hour flight by plane and then the hiring of a helicopter to sort out ;)



I was having to act as a 'gyro stabiliser' :LOL: as you have to bank quite severely to get that view. Unfortunately a tripod would have been useless.



Lets not beat around the bush, had we parked the helicopter on a 200mm high tripod the picture would have undoubtedly been sharper. I'm going to steal this idea and take it to Dragons Den.
Click to expand...


200mm high tripod? They have those for sale at my local photo store. I don't know that they're strong enough for a helicopter, though.
 
Winkyphoto said:
200mm high tripod? They have those for sale at my local photo store. I don't know that they're strong enough for a helicopter, though.
Click to expand...

Ok ok I made a typo! Thanks for pointing it out ;)
 
ACW said:
Excellent edits guys. Thank you for taking the time to have a play :)

The colours and clarity of yours Adrian really seem to make the image pop more, thank you for posting up the settings. I have Lightroom so once I've successfully (hopefully) sharpened the image, I will apply a similar preset.

Wayne, the sharpness you've brought to the image (especially noticeable on the right hand side) is pretty impressive. Was this a photoshop motion blur correct filter job or another type of photoshop wizardry like smart sharpen?

Did you guys do this with the Raw or the Jpeg?
Click to expand...


Hi

I used the raw file you had as a download. Mine was only a quick edit to bring up the brightness and colour without burning out. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the sharpness as good as Wayne's but I am a beginner and his skills are very impressive.

Enjoy editing it to your satisfaction and don't forget to post up here.
 
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