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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> help with lightening shadows?
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08/18/2009 12:06:26 AM · #1
can anyone help me learn to 'fix' shadows. i have a lot of photos of some lovely friends getting married and no matter where i stood could not find good light.



any tips would be greatly appreciated

Message edited by author 2009-08-18 00:09:08.
08/18/2009 01:48:50 AM · #2
What PP software are you using? Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop CS, Corel, Picasa, GIMP, etc, etc, etc...?
08/18/2009 08:43:29 AM · #3
i have lightroom and cs3. i need a new direction to go in. nothing i tried with my limited knowledge is working.
08/18/2009 08:54:01 AM · #4
In CS3, try the Image/Adjustments/Shadow-Highlight. It will even things out, and give you a lot of detail that's lost in the dark areas. Then it's got a couple of sliders that can bring back some shadow or highlights, depending on what you want.
08/18/2009 08:54:50 AM · #5
Some dodging could help with selective lightening, though effective dodging can take some time. To not appear obviously retouched, the dodge brush must be used with a very low opacity, with a soft edge. I think that may be the best bet here.

I do have another technique I sometimes use for such situations:
-Duplicate layer
-desaturate upper layer
-negative image upper layer
-Gaussian blur upper layer (I use a value of 4 in PaintShop Pro, but see what works best for you)
-overlay blend
-Adjust opacity of overlay to desired appearance. (I usually end up using somewhere between 15-30%)

This will have the effect of lightening dark areas, and darkening overly bright ones. I tried it on your image, but I didn't care for what it did with the strong sunset tones. It will probably be more useful on the b/w version. Try it and see, however. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Another option could be to duplicate the layer, and adjust one layer to lighten the shadows a little, then erase or mask through to reveal the lightened shadow areas. This approach will take a fine touch to keep it natural looking.

Message edited by author 2009-08-18 08:57:28.
08/18/2009 09:44:16 AM · #6
This is what Nik Software Viveza is for. Try the demo, you will love what it can do for you. I played with your shot, Viveza on shadows, light opacity cloning on the edge of shadow on jaw...10 minutes, done.
08/18/2009 09:47:00 AM · #7
Another option could be to use LAB and adjust the contrast in the Lightness channel of the curves dialogue.
08/18/2009 10:32:22 AM · #8
This can be done simply enough with the clone tool in photoshop, but it's time-consuming. I'd hate to do it on a LOT of images from a shoot:



1: Do a shadow/highlight layer to flatten everything quite a bit.

2. Select for the objectionable shadow along the jaw, then make a new empty layer in "screen" mode filled with balck and paint on it with white to even the tonalities (the color will go wonky, don't worry)

3. Merge the screen layer into a copy of the base layer, then duplicate that.

4. Select the jaw shadow area again here (preferably by having saved the selection in step 2) and then ADD the neighboring cheek area to the selection.

5. Use the healing brush tool set to "color" mode to change out the wonky color, sampling from the cheek area

6. Finish it off with light applications of healing brush in normal mode to smooth out irregularity.

7. Set this entire layer to soft light mode to bring back contrast.

R.

ETA: I had a play with the color rendering as well to warm it up, but that was entirely separate from the repair job.

Message edited by author 2009-08-18 10:33:20.
08/18/2009 01:33:25 PM · #9
Well since you asked for suggestions. Perhaps fill light them with a speedlight next time. :D

But since its after the fact, I would suggest using levels and curves to bring them out a bit. Perhaps even doing an adjustment layer and being selective to where it is applied.

Matt
08/19/2009 12:17:18 AM · #10
lots of things i've never done before. thanks for all the suggestions. i have spent the evening trying to follow them. i need lots of practice. lots. :)
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