December 26, 2009

Fix photo that is really dark

ORIGINAL

EDITED

EXIF Data:
Canon EOS 30D
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 XR Di LD IF Lens
@28mm
f/2.8
1/20th sec
ISO 200

Original is a Canon CR2 file, which I opened in ACR and converted to jpeg without any adjustments.

I first duplicated the layer (CTRL-J).

I changed the blending mode (Top of layers palette where it says "Normal" and has a "drop-down" arrow) to Screen. This wasn't nearly as light as I would like, so I made 3 more copies of the Screen mode.

I added a Curves adjustment layer (bottom of layers palette, 1/2 black 1/2 white circle icon) and pulled the curve adjustment up just a bit to lighten even more. Then I put my cursor about 3/4 way down on the curves line and pulled down very slightly to to adjust the darks a bit more.

This made the sky too light, as well as losing some of the nice color, so using a soft round brush at 100%, I "painted" back the sky. Now the sky is too dark on the right, so using the Gradient Tool (under the Paint Bucket Tool) with a white-to-transparent gradient, I pulled a gradient from right to left about 1/3 way into the image, starting on the right hand edge. This evened the sky light out nicely.

I have the basic lightness and coloring that I want, so I merge all of the layers into a copy at the top of the stack (SHIFT-ALT-CTRL-E). I make a layer via copy (CTRL-J), then do a high pass sharpen on the image by going to Filter-Other-High Pass. I set the radius to 15, then click OK. (Here I will note that when using High Pass Sharpen, I frequently choose a higher radius than I think might be necessary. I can change the opacity of the High Pass Sharpen layer to adjust the degree of sharpness there, rather then having to go back through HPS to try to figure out the "exact" amount needed.) This has sharpened it up nicely and I adjust the layer opacity only slightly.

I merge this layer down (CTRL-E), crop the image to the final crop I want, then make a layer via copy (CTRL-J). I add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (bottom of layers palette, 1/2 black 1/2 white circle icon), and boost the saturation in the photo so the colors in the sky are a bit more dramatic. I merge this layer down.

I use the Clone and Patch Tools to remove some foreground distractions.

I add a blank layer, set the blending mode Top of layers palette where it says "Normal" and has a "drop-down" arrow) to Soft Light, then using a soft round brush, I "paint" with white and black at low opacity (around 30%) to "dodge and burn". I use white to paint over the boats and the sign and lettering to bring them out more, and use black to "burn" the edges and other darker areas.

I add a small border and I'm done. Is this a perfect image? No, not at all. But if it's an image that you really liked and wanted to save, then you've got a pretty nice image compared to the original.