Beginner Diagnosis & Photoshop/Lightroom Process

[FireflyHeather]

Back again after attending to other things...

Advice would be very welcome and so would links to tutorials - I've never really gotten the hang of Photoshop or Lightroom and I'd like to diagnose what needs fixing here so I can do some post-processing and print it out and frame it. Do I need to start with Highlights/Shadows or Curves? Lightroom has another option for darkening some areas and lightening others, too, so I'm not sure what process to follow between the two programs.

Thanks for any help you give

 

[Alastair]

What have you got to work with - is it the raw file or a jpg? The raw would give a lot more flexibility with processing options.

When I started with LR I used to work my way down the Basics panel from the top, that seemed to be a good order. Add I've improved I know usually stay with the time curve -making only slight adjustment - and then back to the Basics panel.

It looks like you've got summer shadows to lift, but also some highlights to try and recover although it's not clear how much may have blown beyond recovery. I'd prioritise recovering the highlight on her arm if possible.

 

[seriousrikk]

I use Lightroom almost exclusively, so I can't comment on photoshop in any detail.

The first step to 'fixing' any photo is assessing the problems. The main problem I see with your photograph is the harsh backlighting which appears to have completely burned out some areas on her arm. If you have the raw file you can do a quick check by either setting the highlights slider to zero or reducing the exposure. If the detail comes back, great, that's your starting point. If not then I'm not sure what you can do other than lift the shadows a fair amount and go for an intentional low contrast/over exposed look (If that would work).

When shooting digital it is imperative that you try to keep the exposure as such that the highlights on your subject do not get destroyed. With lighting like this it would be a lot easier to lift the shadows than try and recover (I think non-existent) highlights. At the time you shot this picture it might have helped to intentionally dial down the exposure, and use a bit of fill flash.

 

[russellsnr]

Good site for both L/R and P/S
http://www.jkost.com/photoshop.html
Russ

 

[Ploddles]

These are quite good. Lightroom Killer Tips

 

[Phil V]

A straightforward 'adjustment brush' in LR will balance the exposure (but the lighting is still going to be a little irregular as lots of the reflected light is from below) .

But for me the lesson to take from this is to be aware of huge differences in light levels like this - the ability to 'see the light' should be the first lesson in photography - but it's not easy to do so everyone talks about the exposure triangle and composition rules because they're easy to articulate.

Back to the bridge and I reckon your built in flash was made for this job, just dialled down to stop it being too harsh.

 

[FireflyHeather]

Thanks for the info guys, I'm about to put it to work - just to clarify Phil, you mean 'look for where light is present and where it's coming from' by having the ability to 'see the light', right?

 

[Phil V]

Thanks for the info guys, I'm about to put it to work - just to clarify Phil, you mean 'look for where light is present and where it's coming from' by having the ability to 'see the light', right?

Yes; but I'd add...
'Seeing the light' is not just about the direction and quantity of light available, it's about the quality of it too.

In that image, it ought to have been obvious your friend was stood in the shade and the background was very brightly lit (the quantity and direction)

But the quality of light falling on your friend is actually heading towards flattering (flat even lighting fills wrinkles and other skin imperfections), however the direction of that light (as its reflected from the bridge) is completely wrong (remember putting a torch under your chin to tell horror stories as a kid).

So to improve that image at the taking stage, in order of simplicity: the pop up flash on your camera (a small hard light but as its just 'fill' balanced carefully wouldn't be too bad), a pop up reflector (softer but not so easy), on camera flashgun bounced off the ceiling of the bridge (softer, requires carrying more gear and needs learning), off camera flash in a large softbox (best option, not really practical for a snapshot scenario).

Do you remember the 1st image you posted here and I said there was better more contrasty light in one of the fields in the background, whereas the light at your location was flat and dull? That's 'seeing the light'

 

[FireflyHeather]

Not perfect, but here's my first attempt at using the adjustment brush in Lightroom...curves couldn't make much difference, so I just did auto tone before moving on to the adjustment brush. The sky and her arm couldn't be recovered, though the rest is now more visible. Just concerned about the strange effect it's had on the blown out areas, and I have trouble recognising tonal relationships because of my vision, so input would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Durbs]

An improvement, but where the sky has blown taking the highlights down has taken full white down to light grey which doesn't look natural.
Personally, aside from re-taking the shot as per Phil's advice, I'd stick a vignette on this to mask the worst of the blown-out sky. I may even go as far as converting to B&W so the grey sky makes more sense (you don't have grey skies on sunny days in colour photos), but having said this - this might just be one of those photos that can't be saved by PP.

Do you have "blinkies" available on your camera? i.e. when reviewing the photo can you enable highlight alerts to show blown highlights? For next time, I'd expose for the background using EV compensation, then expose for the person using fill-flash.