just looked up 'stacking' in Photoshop and did this test:
very effective way of reducing noise if you can use a tripod and take multiple identical shots.
100 percent crops:

1600 iso unstacked (400kb)

6 shots stacked and opacity of layers set to: 100, 50, 33, 25, 12, 6 (top layer) (300kb )

Ignore the softness - I probably didn't crop on the focus point.

Thanks Kris.
I have discovered that you can use InDesign and PDF the whole thing as CMYK thus removing at least one colour shift in the process.

I found that leaving text out of their text-based designs left the page unbalanced. I can't figure out why they don't offer a book just for photos - that must be the majority of their work surely?

Using InDesign is going to take forever tho'. I would normally be paid for at least a week's work to make a professional book, but I budgeted for this simple wedding book to be a drag and drop job and take a quarter of the time using the Blurb software. I MUST be missing something?

Incidentally, the money for your lens is coming directly from finishing this book so I could really do with getting it out of the way swiftly.

The wedding shoot took 12 hours and was very successful. Popping Flash not withstanding
The bride's Dad couldn't stop telling me how impressed everyone was!
The pictures are Ok. I'm not totally happy obviously! but the couple are, and I managed some beauties up on the Hoe when the weather broke.

Now... my problem... Blurb... Arrrgggg.
I discovered rather too late that it uses sRGB and doesn't follow colour profiles.
I then discovered that the software doesn't 'snap to grid' (despite offering to) or offer input of sizes for image blocks.
I also can't find a template without text. It is starting to drive me nuts! I'm used to InDesign and complete freedom, but Blurb would expect me to rasterise my pages and drop them into its software.
Does anyone have any advice or templates for Blurb 2?

Only from personal experience I would recommend just using a 1 inch flat pure sable water colour brush. Make sure it is spotlessly clean and grease-free and just wipe the sensor a couple of times with the camera facing down.
Has worked perfectly for me, including removing some dust that has been on for over a year despite multiple attempts to use the shake feature (as far as I can tell, that feature simply doesn't do anything).
I didn't dare touch the thing after reading so many scare stories, I used to just use PhotoShop, but not anymore.
Feel free to point out the error of my ways. But I've done it twice now with 100 percent success, so I'm assuming it's OK.

No... really Bob, let it go
Start again on this one

Beautiful!
Congratulations Clarky!

These are heaps better Bob you've been doing your homework!
The first two are great (although I would fix the colour in 2), 1 has a lovely journalistic quality. Would work even better with some movement.

Last one should go in the bin tho' I think

Beautiful! I love number 1 especially, and also 4 with its convincing narrative and nice light.
Definitely very 'editorial'. You could imagine them in a magazine but they are very staged, the idea of which I struggle with on a genuine wedding shoot, as a great wedding day would not really give a photographer any time for such careful compositions and artistic license and would the couple really want their photographic memories to be so contrived?
I'm not being harsh, they are first-class pictures, I'm just thinking out loud about the real-world use for this style.

Ah... yes, I guess that was an odd way of putting it.
The friend who was lending me the ist (which didn't work) also had a flash, so I had to tear off and find her parent's house.
Despite the appalling weather, I had decided to leave the studio gear at the venue then use the motorbike to get around in front of the bride. It was a good decision, and turned out to be fun too

Thanks Peter, that was what I was thinking and the lack of replacement tube suppliers tends to bare this out
I still haven't got to the bottom of what went wrong and I can't remember who I bought it off! but I'll keep you all informed when I know a little more.