Capturing sharp, clean images of birds in flight requires fast shutter speeds, which often means shooting at high ISO settings. This can lead to noise, the grainy, speckled look that detracts from image quality. While high ISO performance of cameras continues to improve, noise is still a fact of life, especially when photographing fast-moving subjects like birds. Fortunately, there are steps you can take both in-camera and during post-processing to reduce noise for cleaner images of your avian subjects.
Use the Lowest ISO Possible
The most basic thing you can do to reduce noise is use the lowest ISO setting you can that still allows you to get the shutter speed and aperture needed for the shot. Each time you double the ISO speed, the noise visible in the image also doubles. So for example, ISO 1600 will show twice as much noise as ISO 800. The latest cameras can often shoot up to ISO 6400 or even higher with acceptable levels of noise, but when possible use ISO 400, 800 or 1600 for cleanest results when photographing birds.
Expose Properly
Underexposing images introduces noise in the darker areas when trying to lighten those areas in processing later. To reduce noise, it’s important to expose the image properly or even slightly overexpose if necessary. This means checking your histogram to ensure you are capturing adequate brightness values for the whole scene without large spikes at either end. Some cameras also have “expose to the right” modes which will bias the exposure to the brighter side without blowing out highlights.
Use Noise Reduction Features
Many cameras now include sophisticated noise reduction features that analyze the image signal and reduce noise in-camera. Options like Nikon’s Long Exposure NR and High ISO NR or Canon’s High ISO Speed Noise Reduction can be effective at smoothing noise in bird photos, as long as you don’t mind the extra processing delay. The amount of noise reduction can often be adjusted based on the ISO speed used. These settings may not completely eliminate noise but can help minimize it.
Shoot Raw
Raw images contain more image data like color depth and dynamic range than JPEGs. This additional data can help give you more flexibility for reducing noise in post-processing later. Shooting raw captures the maximum amount of data upfront before in-camera processing throws any away. Raw developers like Lightroom and Camera Raw filter out noise more effectively than editing a JPEG version of the same image. Just be sure to do any noise adjustments on the raw file before converting it to JPEG for final output.
Use Noise Reduction Software
Specialized noise reduction programs provide sophisticated tools for smoothing noise in post-production beyond what you can achieve in your camera or raw developer. Popular options like DxO, Neat Image, Topaz DeNoise and Noise Ninja use advanced algorithms to analyze the noise structure and selectively reduce it while preserving actual subject detail. This works best when you shoot raw and can process the pristine sensor data before artifacts are introduced by JPEG compression. Such software can make a big difference but takes more time than in-camera processing.
Shoot at Lower ISOs
Using a tripod or monopod helps make lower ISOs feasible by stabilizing your camera. At ISO 100 or 200 you can achieve noise-free images with most cameras, but this requires slower shutter speeds that typically demand a tripod for sharpness. Image stabilization lenses can allow up to 2-4 stops slower shutter speeds while hand-holding. You may also need to supplement ambient light with flash to reach these lower ISOs if light levels are too low.
Clean up Noise in Post
For minor noise, basic adjustments in Lightroom or Camera Raw can help clean up photos. The Luminance and Color Noise sliders under Detail can selectively reduce gray and colored speckles. The Color Mixer also lets you limit noise reduction to specific color channels to avoid excessive blurring of details. Sharpening and noise reduction need to strike a balance for best results.
Use Noise Reduction Selectively
Aggressive noise reduction can remove noise but also fine details and textures in the image. To avoid this, apply noise reduction selectively only where needed. Brush it onto specific areas like smooth skies rather than the whole image. Or create luminance masks based on brightness levels to target just the darker regions with more visible noise. Take care to retain details in key subject areas like birds’ feathers.
Shoot Multiple Exposures
Combining several exposures can help overcome noise in situations with low light. By shooting multiple frames and then merging them, minor noise variances get averaged out for a cleaner result. This noise reduction technique works best on tripod with static scenes. For birds in flight, using exposure bracketing can provide options to select the cleanest image in the series.
Use Flash to Add Light
Adding light from a flash or speedlight lets you shoot at lower ISO settings with less noise. Balancing ambient light and flash allows faster shutter speeds to freeze motion while adding light to reach cleaner ISOs like 200-400. Bouncing the flash softens its light. TTL metering automatically balances flash output. Off-camera lighting gives more flattering illumination. But even on-camera flash provides extra brightness to reduce the need for high ISOs.
Enable Long Exposure Noise Reduction
For longer exposures like landscapes, enabling the long exposure noise reduction function in your camera can help eliminate noise. This functions by taking a second dark frame after the main exposure, then subtracting any hot pixels found in the dark frame from the main image. The disadvantage is it can double the time each shot takes. But it may be warranted for exposures of 30 seconds or longer.
Use Dark Frame Subtraction
If your camera doesn’t have built-in long exposure noise reduction, you can achieve a similar effect in post using dark frame subtraction. After taking your main exposure, cover the lens and take an equal length dark frame. Then subtract the dark frame from the main image using Photoshop. This removes fixed hot pixels present in the dark frame from the final image.
Get a Faster Memory Card
A faster memory card allows the camera to move data more quickly to storage and clears the image buffer faster. This minimizes “noise banding” that can occur when the buffer fills up at high burst rates. UHS-II type SD cards provide maximum speed and bandwidth to maintain fast shooting and quieter images.
Conclusion
Noise can easily ruin an otherwise great bird photo, making proper exposure and low ISO technique critical. In-camera noise reduction provides a first line of defense upon capture. Shooting raw maximizes flexibility for applying noise removal selectively in processing. And advanced noise reduction software offers powerful tools for smoothing noise while maintaining critical detail like feather texture. By mastering these key strategies, you can minimize annoying noise and achieve beautiful, crisp photographs of birds in flight.