I often have to deal with photos that were lit from one side and hence are way too dark on one side and way too light on the other. A gradient seems like the right idea, but adding a color doesn’t always work–unless I’m missing something, which is quite possible. I keep wishing I could do a gradient with only lightness to darkness.
Can anyone help me or give me any other ideas for dealing with badly lit originals?
You can use Curves; you can add a Levels or Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer and mask it as needed; you can use a filter like SHO in Photoshop 7, or the new shadow/highlights adjustment in Photoshop 8.
Make an adjustment curve (layers>adjustment layer>curves) to correct either the shadow or the highlight then select it in the layers palette you’ll see it has a layer mask make that active now take the gradient tool adjust your gradient the way you want and in the document window apply your gradient with the gradient tool.
You can also get excellent results with PS CS’s Image>Adjustments>Shadow and Highlights.
If the S/H filter doesn’t get you all the way there; try using different curves to correct part of the image. Then make History Snapshots of each variation and use the History Brush to paint in the corrections to specific parts of the image.
Wow, thanks to all! You’re right, I’m still using PS 7. I do hope to upgrade soon, and this is another reason to make it sooner. I’ll try all the suggestions, though.
I wish I could choose which photographers’ stuff I get to fix….:)or at least which equipment they use.
There is no automated way to correct this problem effectively.
As Ann suggested it is a strictly manual process.
If you can envision the signature of the light fall off that was involved in the original shoot, you can fashion a gradient mask that conforms to the contours of this signature. Like what a uniform light gray card would look like photographed in the exact same lighting setup.
So you mess with blurring and gradients in an alpha channel ’til you think you have the right contour, then you load that as a selection and use curves or levels or brightness-contrast within that selection to even things up. Or convert that selection to a layer mask to be used in an adjustment layer for less-destructive editing.
It’s not rocket-science so you don’t have to be totally precise.
Even if you come close to the light fall off contour, you should be satisfied with the results.
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