I'd be very happy to, it's already been done (whether I now
remember exactly how I did it is another matter), but the photo is
not mine to post. If the OP is happy for me to post his image, I'd
be happy to oblige and explain how I did it
I suspect That DigitalTrinity might not want his photo reproducing
by me, in view that my offer to post an alternative has been
rejected several times already, so this is a photo I took yesterday
when setting up my camera and tripod in my office to see how
efficient the new remote switch I've made might prove for shots of
birds on my feeder, some of which are too timid for me to catch
when holding the camera. I was just setting up and testing it was
working and hadn't decided on flash arrangements and took this shot
to see if there was any lag etc. - I trashed the rest of the tests,
but the tongue poking out amused me as being a tad different and
worth looking more at. This is a small copy the orginal shot:
There are several techniques I use for lightening underexposed
shots, often in combination - this shot was heavily underexposed
and WB was wrong etc. Often applying a technique to solve one
problem creates others and separate techniques are required in
tandem to produce a decent end result - this was one such shot.
One of my favoured techniques is to use curves - it's an incredibly
powerful tool for adjusting images - but this can also kill
saturation and detail on dark images - so only good for modest
changes - although duplicating the image and making the blend mode
'soft light' can give the image a boost (at about 30 or 40%
transparency - 100% will be way too hrash). I also like to use
what I now know is a contrast mask. I was working on an image some
months ago and not paying attention and clicked automatically on
some settings and got the wrong ones and was amazed at the result I
got - I fiddled and played with the technique - posted a lengthy
post in Fuji Talk of my workflow thinking I had stumbled on some
magic trick and someone responded - oh that old thing, that's a
contrast mask. So much for my new invention.
A contrast mask is good for significantly lightening a very dark
image and improving detail, the down side is that it can introduce
a lot of noise and so I tend to use it on a full size image - even
for quick and dirty web publishing - then de-noise using Neat
Image, then continue the rest of my work.
To create a contrast mask (I use PSP, I assume PhotoShop and others
have similarly named tools) duplicate the image layer, set the
layer property to dodge - then make that image a negative, then
apply gaussian blur - fiddle with the settings to see what works -
I used 10 I think in this example - at this point it will look
horrible - something like a sketch of the image in negative
colours. But the magic happens when you reduce the opacity of the
top/dupliate layer - the image beneath re-appears and blends with
it. At this point you can adjust colour balance, saturation etc.
in respect of your newly lightened image.
In this example, I also cloned the bits of nut skin from the
outside of the glass and the tummy of the bluetit and cloned and
smoothed the debris and dirt from the glass. On smooth areas like
this, on subtle flaws, I like to lassoo the dodgy area with a
feathered freehand selection and apply gaussian blur - it often
gives quicker and smoother results than other techniques, but it
doesn't work on texture etc.
Another of my own favoured techniques for lightening localised
areas of shadow or dark was arrived at after discussion on Fuji
Talk of digital variants of combining multiple exposures from a
highly contrasting scene to get an average and imprived exposure.
Duplicate the image on two layers, by whatever your preferred
method is and lighten the lower one so that the localised area of
darkness/shadow is how you want it - you then eliminate that
section of the upper image to allow the lightened area to show
through just where it's needed - then merge the layers back to one.
One way for a very quick result is to simply erase the top image
and make a hole in it to show the layer underneath, which in simple
shapes etc. might be good enough - but perhaps not good enough for
many scenarious. My personal favourite however is to use masks to
give you more control.
I duplicate the layers and adjust the lower one as described, then
make a mask on the top one and paint the area I want to remove on
the mask. By using a mask you can adjust the transparency, soften
the edges etc. and you are in complete control before you even
touch your image - if you don't like the results, just delete the
mask and start again. What the mask does is to make the top layer
transparent in the area of the mask (when you delete the mask to
the layer) and allow the lower lighter one to show through. On the
mask you can control the amount of this transparency and I tend to
gaussian blur it to soften the edges too. I used this around the
eye and black neck feathers to extract detail.
This is the finished result - not ideal, but a useable shot if you
can't reshoot with the right settings:
--
http://www.peekaboo.me.uk - general portfolio
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk - live music photos
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk/lowlight.html - available light live
music tutorial
