@afre Point taken! Yes, tame and not slay, certainly!
@Jade_NL Thanks for linking those tutorials! I had not seen those, nor have I played yet with the wavlet based denoise. So I will experiment with these techniques for sure!
@all Thanks for the very inspiring edits! As I look over the results, I can see the most of us have tried to emphasize that striking neon blue of the waves (naturally! It’s certainly the subject of the image!). The interesting thing, and one that I will be studying in more depth is how we all chose to try to balance those blues against the warmer, but darker, tones of the sky. The noise issue was the main one that I was hoping to gain some inspiration and new approaches to, and you all have certainly delivered there! For me personally, the revelation is that the noise does not need to be totally eliminated, just “tamed” to borrow the phrase from @afre. I take that to mean that the denoise step can be considered “successful” not just by removing or reducing noise, but by transforming the existing noise into a more pleasing rendition of noise. For me, the edits by @Jade_NL in DT and by @XavAL in RT have achieved the best balance with the denoise vs detail. I will certainly be studying the routines they’ve employed! Thanks everyone!
PS. I also think that there is more I could have done “in camera” to reduce the noise. Hopefully I will get another chance to drive out to the coast before this phenomenon is gone…