Wierd effect

[DennisT]

This shot was taken some time ago in a local semi-desert where trees are few and far between and often leafless. Took this shot in the gloaming but was surprised to get the speckled noisy effect on the ground areas of the photo - do you folk think this is simply "normal" noise or is something else at play here that I am missing?

[llewpics]

Regarding the noise - can you share EXIF information - especially the ISO setting of the camera? I drive home from work going west every night and I have seen silhouettes of trees against the orange sky on several occasions where I thought that they may make an interesting photograph. i think this is a really interesting idea, but I would have composed it a little different. First off, I would include all of the tree with some ground around it, and I would have perhaps put it to the side, even though a centered crop may work. If centered, I would think about horizon being a little lower in the frame. The photo does have lots of mood, though - which I like.

[DennisT]

Thanks for the reply - I fully agree with your comments regarding the composition. Will go back to the RAW file and see what can be done. Believe it or not this was taken hand held. Wish I could understand the "sparkles" that are significantly more pronounced in the original - the re-sized has lost a lot and is somewhat more dull. The exif data relates to the processed jpeg before re-sizing.

File: Lonely hibernation _DSC7096.jpg
File size: 9,555KB
Camera Model: DSLR-A900
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows
Date/Time: 2010:09:24 18:52:07
Shutter speed: 1/13 sec
Aperture: 22
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: -1
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 1600
Lens: 16 to 35mm
Focal length: 30mm
Focal length: 30mm (in 35mm film)
Image size: 6048 x 4032
Rotation: none
White balance: Auto
Color space: AdobeRGB
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Color profile: Adobe RGB (1998)
User comments:
"SONY DSC"

[llewpics]

Couple of things I noticed in the EXIF info. ISO 1600 and exposure compensation -1. This would suggest a one stop underexposed imaged at "fairly" high ISO. I would say your "sparkles" are digital noise ...but to tell you the truth, what I see is textured ground, and it does not bother me much.

[monkey44]

An odd thought here - first thing came to mind. Crop to a vertical and make this an image of the tree and the sky becomes a very creative 'incidental'...

I agree, noise is probably high ISO