Removing Shadows? - DPChallenge Forums

05/13/2004 11:24:54 AM · #1

Just curious....
Is there a way to reduce/remove background shadows in a shot like this one?
girl
I was in a tight spot here. About 5 minutes to get a bunch of shots at the end of the communion. No way to move her away from the background more (the altar) because of so many other families wanting the same space for photos.
The mom is happy with the shots, but I was wondering if I could make them even better.
Thanks!

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

05/13/2004 12:20:23 PM · #2

no answers? impossible to do? :/

magnetic9999

Canon EOS-20D

05/13/2004 12:24:19 PM · #3

i think it would be very tough. but you could paint in the background color over the shadow. it wouldnt be as photorealistic but still might look ok ..

wewillexplore

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

05/13/2004 12:25:38 PM · #4

Do you want to know how to fix it for next time? Or how to fix it in Photoshop? Knock the girl out in PS and put her on a flatter background? Or burn the rest of the bg behind her so it's dark like the shadow? Could try creating a selection with just the shadow and taking the blacks out - may wash it out though.

M

Message edited by author 2004-05-13 12:27:23.

doctornick

Apple iPhone 13 Pro

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

05/13/2004 12:28:38 PM · #5

What you can do is apply Gaussian blur to the background. This will reduce the effect. Best thing to do is to use an off camera flash like this

C-Fox

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

05/13/2004 12:29:23 PM · #6

I have an idea, requires makeing at least three layer. the first layer is the girl and the sceen to the right. Keep that on top, teh next is to take the left hand side alter and cut it out from the shadowed area. next take that cut out section and flip it a>

General

Kodak Z7590

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

05/13/2004 12:30:33 PM · #7

you mean the shadow from flash?
It is not difficult, simply use lasso too on shadow and than you can do lot manupliation , like using clone tool and simply cloning leaf, flower BG on shadow or simple deleting whole BG, lost of choices

05/13/2004 12:33:16 PM · #8

Originally posted by mavrik:

In Photoshop. I think I know what to do next time, but input on this is always welcome too.
Burning sounds good .. I'll try that.

05/13/2004 12:34:11 PM · #9

Originally posted by doctornick:

What you can do is apply Gaussian blur to the background. This will reduce the effect. Best thing to do is to use an off camera flash like this

Is that a handheld flash?.. or on an apparatus attached to the camera?

05/13/2004 12:34:53 PM · #10

Originally posted by C-Fox:

fancy! I'll try this too! thanks :)

budokan

Canon PowerShot A80

05/13/2004 12:35:16 PM · #11

If you're using Photoshop CS you could start with the shadow/highlight tool - it can suck a surprising amount of information out of the original file. At the very least it'd give you a clearer outline of the face if you wanted to go on to use the lasso cloning tool etc.

05/13/2004 12:36:14 PM · #12

Originally posted by General:

Thought of this, but have to admit I didn't try it because I was hoping there was a way to reduce the shadow itself..
Okay.. I'll try everything posted here...

Thanks!

05/13/2004 12:36:44 PM · #13

Originally posted by budokan:

Is this in PS 7? That is what I am using.

pitsaman

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

05/13/2004 12:40:26 PM · #14

I tried healing brush here:

budokan

Canon PowerShot A80

05/13/2004 12:45:50 PM · #15

No - it's new to CS. If you can email the raw over broadband to someone with CS it may well be worth it. Unfortunately it'd be more than my inbox allows and I'm on a dial-up.

It doesn't do anything that 7 can't do by selecting the shadow yourself and upping the brightness/contrast, but in CS is guesses (pretty well) at which parts of the photograph are in shadow automatically and boosts just those areas. Big time saver.

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

05/13/2004 12:47:33 PM · #16

Originally posted by pitsaman:

I tried healing brush here:

wow! that's pretty neat. I will try this too.
oh good! lots of new things to try today :P

pitsaman

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

05/13/2004 12:50:46 PM · #17

I also used selective dark areas,6 % gaussian blur and edit/screen.
:-)
Very pretty girl though !

ElGordo

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

05/13/2004 12:51:02 PM · #18

The darkened area appears to be a shadow from the camera's flash. The 'magic wand' tool can be used to select just the shadow using a tolerance of 5.
Hold down the shift key and use the magic wand to add more area to the selection as necessary ('alternate' key to subtract area). Then 'smooth' the selection and feather slightly.
When you are satisfied with the selection, use the 'levels' adjust manually to lighten the area selected. There will still be some edges to be dealt with using the 'clone' and 'healing' tools.
A tedious process at best,but the photo is salvageable!

budokan

Canon PowerShot A80

05/13/2004 12:55:37 PM · #19

I've posted a VERY crude edit of Pitsaman's (which I can open for some reason) here.

I've overdone it just as an example - and this is only a 150k file.

With the originals and a spare hour I think the shots could really be improved. Maybe you know someone with CS?