| Author | Thread |
|
|
01/02/2007 07:05:45 PM · #1 |
| I'm continually haunted by blowouts. Does anyone know of a simple fix for this? I'll take a complicated fix too :-) |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:11:14 PM · #2 |
Underexpose?
Unless the subject(s) are in the same lighting, some things are likely to be blown and others in the shadows. Just a part of life. :-)
Take multiple exposures and merge the two images.
|
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:15:27 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
Underexpose?
Unless the subject(s) are in the same lighting, some things are likely to be blown and others in the shadows. Just a part of life. :-)
Take multiple exposures and merge the two images. |
Excuse my ignorance but is that legal here on DPC? |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:16:58 PM · #4 |
I have had reasonable success with the Healing Brush in the past.
Clone from a piece of the skin near the blow out and slowly paint into the white. Move the clone point slowly in the direction of the brush as you go. This will help to slowly lighten the skin as you move towards the centre of the white.
As always with any advice, YMMV! :-)
âLove is like playing the piano. First you must learn to play by the rules. Then you must learn to play by the heart.â
|
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:19:29 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by KMD600:
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
Underexpose?
Take multiple exposures and merge the two images. |
Excuse my ignorance but is that legal here on DPC? |
It's not legal in Basic editing, and I don't think it's legal in Advanced. But when you're trying to rescue that cute shot of the kids, or the bride, it's very handy. :-) |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:35:03 PM · #6 |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:37:39 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by KMD600:
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
Underexpose?
Unless the subject(s) are in the same lighting, some things are likely to be blown and others in the shadows. Just a part of life. :-)
Take multiple exposures and merge the two images. |
Excuse my ignorance but is that legal here on DPC? |
Sorry, you didn't specify that you meant challenge entries. :-) I don't participate in challenges, so the others can better answer that.
|
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:38:05 PM · #8 |
| Ok...i'll try burning...MAN! photography is a lot harder than i thought.:-) |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 07:57:45 PM · #9 |
If an area is blown out, it's gone, period. If you burn it can tone down the blowout, but depending on the amount of blowout it may not hide it very well. You could also try replacing the blowout with an appropriate texture from another photo by layering and making the white, blownout transparent.
If your camera allows, you can set the exposure compensation down, which will underexpose your shots. I used to always keep that set on my point & shoot. Black areas seem to be more acceptable to DPCers than white areas. Personally, blowout doesn't turn me off, but I'm a freak anyway.
I don't know whether or not your camera is capable of shooting RAW, but I've recently discovered the wonders of RAW. With RAW you can change the exposure of your shot during post processing, which doesn't affect me because my shots are always perfectly exposed anyway. ;-) But, the camera can't always cover the entire range of exposure and loses detail in dark and/or light areas. High Dynamic Range was a recent fad at DPC. Check out my New Orleans folder if you want to see some. It might not be a plausible solution for someone who can't shoot RAW, but you could do it with several differently-exposed JPGs.
|
|
|
|
01/02/2007 08:07:46 PM · #10 |
RAW won't let you regain blown highlights
I have a whole CF card of images to prove it! |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 08:07:54 PM · #11 |
Rather than suggestig a PP cure, I'll suggest a cure that you can use to optimize your exposure at the time of shooting. If you haven't already done so, familiarize yourself with your camera's histogram display. Become a student of what it tells you. Here is a good tutorial on the hsitogram.
Now, once you've digested that, read Expose to the Right.
Now all that said, there will be times where you *need* to blow out something to get proper exposure. Bright in-fram light sources or reflections are examples. Here's where you use your camera's flashing highlight display (it probably does have one) to tell you what's blown, and you be the judge. |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 08:09:23 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by digitalknight:
RAW won't let you regain blown highlights
I have a whole CF card of images to prove it! |
Oh yes it will! It does depend, though, on how far they are blown (more than about 1 stop and it's all over) and also on the RAW converter used (some will recover color information, others just shades of gray). |
|
|
|
01/02/2007 11:13:27 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by digitalknight:
RAW won't let you regain blown highlights
I have a whole CF card of images to prove it! |
Oh yes it will! It does depend, though, on how far they are blown (more than about 1 stop and it's all over) and also on the RAW converter used (some will recover color information, others just shades of gray). |
Yes, this is true. Raw can sometimes pull up detail in blown areas.
|
|
|
|
01/03/2007 05:15:23 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by digitalknight:
RAW won't let you regain blown highlights
I have a whole CF card of images to prove it! |
Oh yes it will! It does depend, though, on how far they are blown (more than about 1 stop and it's all over) and also on the RAW converter used (some will recover color information, others just shades of gray). |
Ya, I should've said that.
Also, like kirbic says, check out your histogram. Your camera may also allow you to point to one area, expose on it, recompose to a different area, focus & shoot. There may also be different exposure methods your camera can do, like 'spot' & 'averaging'.
|
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/31/2025 06:02:22 PM EDT.
