Noise Reduction
Posted on: April 8, 201011 Comments |
Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Blog. Blog. Blog. Blog. Blog. Update. Update. Update. Update. Update. Comment. Comment. Comment. Comment. Comment. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Flickr. Flickr. Flickr. Flickr. Flickr. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Blog. Blog. Blog. Blog. Blog. Update. Update. Update. Update. Update. Comment. Comment. Comment. Comment. Comment. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter. Twitter. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Flickr. Flickr. Flickr. Flickr. Flickr. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise.
If you clicked through expecting tips on how to remove digital noise while preserving details in your photographs, you are in the wrong place. (Did you really think I’d use that uninspired a title?) I will say this much: if you are struggling to clean up your images, I’ve heard good things about the Dfine plug-in. If you are shooting high ISO, especially on a cropped sensor camera, you’ll probably benefit from an add-on filter to cut the noise. The standard PS noise reduction filter leaves a lot to be desired….
And… I’ve managed to prove my own point before I even started making it. Jeez. You’ll understand in a minute. Let’s start over, shall we?
Hi. As many of you know by now, I’m trying to grow as a photographer, build my skills, establish an artistic presence, and maybe even lay the foundation for a dream of mine. (Eventually, I’ll share more about that last part, but for now let me debunk the obvious theory: the dream is not to “go pro,” though that might be nice, too.) In service of these goals, I shoot often, look for (and create) opportunities to interact with other photographers, keep a running list of techniques I want to develop and images I’d like to create, etc. And of course, I use the internet for EVERYTHING. The web serves as classroom, gallery, tradeshow, library, and therapy group. There’s a hell of a lot going on here. And a lot of people milling about, talking loudly and strutting their stuff.
After spending a few hours on the internet, mostly in photography-related zones, I’ve started to get what I used to call the “IKEA-headache.” I should explain:
IKEA is kind of awesome. Especially for furnishing your first real place on a budget. But whenever I spend a few hours there, wandering through 20 living rooms, sitting on 100 couches and chairs, and filling my basket with impossibly cheap kitchen utensils, I develop a POUNDING headache. The kind of cranial pain that a even a 99 cent plate of Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam will not cure. Too many things to see, sample, and consider. Too many aisles to navigate. Too many overheard bits of advice about decorating and kitchen design. Too many couples debating Ektorp vs. Hagalund?
Have I lost you yet? Do you have the headache, too?
Too much of a good thing is generally not a good thing. (A certain member of the withinaclick crew will demand that I note the exception for chocolate caramels. Obviously.) But has it really gotten to the point where there is too much photography in my life?
NO!!! Don’t be ridiculous.
The problem is that there’s too much digital noise in my very real life. And I don’t think they make a plug-in for that. It’s not photography that’s causing the problem, it’s what’s cropped up around it. Alongside the core industry of equipment manufacturers, software developers, and other service providers, there’s a teeming non-industry of climbers and promoters. Of dubious gurus, self-proclaimed authorities, and zealots of all stripes. There is no shortage of people who will tell you how they’re doing it right. (Of course, not everyone is a charlatan. There are quite a few genuine authorities out there.)
With photography, it is easy to get in on the ground floor — scrape together a few hundred bucks for a DSLR kit and some memory and you’ve got a ticket. (By the way, I’m not criticizing. That’s how I wound up here.) But folks quickly tire of the general admission and want more exclusive access. So they start telling people how it’s done: they blog, and publish articles, offer lessons. (Again, to criticize would be the height of hypocrisy. Pot to kettle: “You are black.”) Most see it as a way to try to make a buck — so they promote themselves relentlessly. And if you want credibility, you are expected to do the same. Noise. Buzz. Blog. Comment. Update. Twitter. Facebook. Flickr. Noise.
It’s a double edged sword. I get that. Ours is a visual medium — and if you can’t drum up viewers, what’s the point? But it all feels hopelessly hollow. And in my travels across the world-wide-web, I come across a lot of crap. I’m talking about some really bad, trite, pandering advice. The kind of garbage that encourages mediocrity and consumerism. Articles like “ten photos you must shoot in every maternity session” and… and… and.. oh, I don’t even want to waste energy recalling another example. This stuff gets a lot of play — tons of people link to it, and I click. More wasted time and constricted blood vessels. I was so disheartened by the whole scene that I considered not writing a piece today. I mean, am I any different? Do I offer something more valuable? If I answer yes, does anyone but me agree? But then two things changed my mind:
1) I clicked on this link; and
2) I re-read Doug’s statement about the importance of intentions.
“One Hundred Metres of Existence” reminded me that, amid all the crap out there, there’s some pretty awesome stuff. So, I’ve got keep digging through. I just need to develop a better noise filter. And, as far as my membership in this mob is concerned… Well, my collaborators and I are trying to create a space that’s a little more enriching than most. Frankly, we’re careful not to talk out of our asses. We’re more concerned with content than comments. We’re looking for real dialogue and interaction. We’re not trying to sell you anything. And we honestly believe that you all have as much, if not more, to offer than we do.
In the next few weeks, I’m going to streamline everything. I’m going do some spring cleaning in my bookmarks and my RSS feeds. I’m hoping that you’ll all continue to participate here and invite like-minded folks looking for meaningful conversation about photography to join the conversation.
Maybe, together, we can demonstrate that not all enthusiasts are under-cutting the art.
Maybe we can be each other’s noise reduction filters…
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April 8th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Nicole,
Funny you should write this today. I have spent the last 2 weeks deleting 2/3 of my Flickr contacts and about 1/2 of my photo RSS feeds in Google reader. I don’t Twitter and I post on Facebook only if I have to. I made the conscious decision to shoot more and compute less. And I’m happy about it. And, for what it’s worth, Within a Click sits on my toolbar with very exclusive company.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:35 am
awesome post, nicole. i couldn’t agree more.
there is just so so so much crap out there, it’s very overwhelming. even on places like flickr itself, there’s the good and the bad of it all.
with arias, duChemin and jarvis, i’ve only recently learned about, and i’m really loving their energy and style, and their willingness to help us amateurs out, not by saying “you HAVE to do this”, but by relating it like they were just talking to a friend. helping to inspire and instilling dedication, but at the same time teaching, is all so important. thank goodness for photographers like them being filtered THROUGH to us.
another thing i think about, is how much DO we need to be a part of any and ALL social outlets? flickr, is obviously almost a no-brainer, depending on your intentions, of course. i have a twitter account that i seldom use. i quit my facebook acct. then again, if i’m trying to “get out there” should i be taking advantage of anyone that can see my photos? sometimes it’s a toss up. i see the pros and cons. i think i stray from them, except for flickr, b/c i get distracted. if i want to focus, i’m gonna need to cut the crap and keep only what i need.
maybe it’s dumb that we need to redo bookmarks and feeds and delete accounts, but really, it’s kinda cool how a weight can be lifted of by something that’s not even tangible.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Nicole, this is a great article. I appreciate everything you had to say here. It was an eye-opener for me. You are absolutely right that there’s a lot of noise out there. Maybe some of that has contributed to my recent identity crisis!
I like the idea of clearing out the noise. There’s something to be said for focusing on what’s important to you at any particular time. No one can take it all in at once. That’s why I like the ideas of projects – when I did 30 days of black and white, it was a revelation. I am hoping for the same with my 30 days of film project.
April 8th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
The noise is a real problem, Twitter, Facebook, all the bull. I killed almost 100 Facebook Friends a few weeks ago, I keep my Flickr Contacts and groups to an absolute minimum and am constantly adjusting my “contacts” list, trimming groups adding one or two here and there, then doing it all again a few weeks later. I really struggle with it, and as far as Twitter and that goes, honestly, it’s all a bunch of crap. It’s photographers talking photography to photographers. Sure, it’s good for keeping up with the people I really want to follow. Chase Jarvis for example is a good resource but more and more lately I see that it’s all about selling something to someone, and it isn’t photo sessions. I wonder how much business something like Twitter or Facebook actually drums up the average photographer.
In the end I think the biggest thing is taking what you have, and using it. Sitting here reading this, or me sitting here typing it, isn’t helping me become a better photographer. The only way that’s going to happen, is for me to shut down the computer, close the books, and pick up the camera.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
great post right on the heels of a very funny south park episode about the digital noise that is facebook…i won’t get into it here, but it’s got the same “message” you have here about decluttering our lives and not being so connected as it were.
i need to streamline and just start getting out more and being with others who like to get out and shoot. you and i nicole still need to get together! i have been taking lunch hour wlak-abouts with flickr contacts who live near where i work and just being with them and shooting and enjoying each other’s company is enough. i don’t even edit or post a lot of what i shot, i think it was just the act of being out there that got me centered and relaxed me–these walk-abouts are great noise filters because my friends and i agreed to not bring any cell phones or electronic devices so we could shoot uninterrupted . now i need to do as you said, get a better noise filter to weed through all the noise online.
April 9th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Great piece Nicole, I think you rock~
I don’t twitter, set up a facebook only to close it out a mere 4 days later. Somebody told me “ya gotta have a facebook page dude, it’s so great for promoting your work” After reading the crap that came up on what they call “My Wall” about 3 times I said enough noise from this channel.
Besides, I am not looking to make money, I don’t sell prints anywhere but in a gallery. Don’t particularly want the online shops to have my SS#, call me paranoid perhaps.
But photography is my escape, my fun, my release it will never be my fortune.
Keep up the good work here!
April 9th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I have to add, thanks for sharing the link to We’re All Gonna Die, amazing~
April 9th, 2010 at 10:45 am
i agree with every word written here.
i think a lot of people, admittedly or not, jive on the noise. it gets them going, hypes them up…but inevitably leaves them empty and wanting. there is something about slowing down and actually producing work, outside the digital realm, that i still find comforting. a salve to the “pretend” part of all this.
i also wonder, in terms of drumming up viewership…what are we drumming it up for? sales? celebrity? the motives behind why we covet the attention are worth reviewing as well. all this noise for what end?
i know for me, that the photography would be happening regardless of flickr and whatever other media pops up. it is just part of who i am. it has been forever. i do not do it for anyone else. if i did? i would be producing work that would be more sale able. i mean, i know how to do it,lol, there are 40 million websites to teach me how for free;).
selfishly, i love the sense of community the “noise’ has offered to me, and i have taken full advantage of it. i am not one who feels overwhelmed by it…maybe i just have a good filter…or not enough time to be sucked in completely…but i also believe that every one of us has the ability to disconnect from it and not fall victim to it. sometimes we victimize ourselves…and then tweet that to the world. it gets old.
the beauty of it all? you can turn it off. really.
now go take a picture and worry about the other kind of noise;).
April 9th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I don’t Tweet.
I don’t Facebook.
I am getting in less Flickr these days.
I definitely try not to read “10 things you should shoot…” lists.
But I do try to visit this site regularly, mainly because of posts like this. Eventually, I may do some of those first 2 things I mentioned, but at this time I am not ready for that kind of noise in my life.
April 9th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I kindof agree with the sentiment that there is too much noise…as Thoreau said, “Simplify, simplify!”
I find myself in a situation where I am participating in things like flickr, twitter, facebook, but I have a problem that a lot of my contacts are drifting away!
I like to tap into the social media outlets to bounce ideas off of my peers and friends, get exposed to new things, and to thrive in environments that are located close to my heart, but may not be spatially close to me. I love to be a part of something that spans the globe and travels along the mythical information superhighway – something I cannot find on my streetcorner!
I was overwhelmed at one point, and almost culled away a large amount of my contacts on a lot of those sites, and I stopped and reevaluated what I wanted out of all of those people on all of those sites: inspiration, motivation, encouragement, friendship, and camaraderie. So I kept ‘em all around and decided to change the way I interacted with those people and those sites…it made all the difference to me.
April 19th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
I’m calling you out on your failure to attribute your source for “Pot to kettle: ‘You are black.’” Respect.