Forgot Polarizer, some reflexioin burnout, Yikes!

[bob_osullivan]

Ok, those of you that know me, know that I'm a fan of getting as much right as possible at exposure and avoiding

a lot of post. As a result my PS skills are not MAD like some of you, and I sometimes will outsource some of

that work.

 

On this shoot, I forgot to use my Polarizer to manage the backlit harsh reflection from the lake. As a result I

got some burnout/blending between the water and veil/gown. I adjusted contrast and exposure as much as I could in

Raw conversion. Fortunately I have plenty of keepers, but I really like some of the burnt ones too and want to

maximize them.

 

I'd like some of your opinions ( Especially Nadine! ) :-)

 

Any suggestions on how to further differentiate the veil/gown from the burnt out white water reflection in PS?

Or, do you think I should outsource this to a full time PS guru? Or is this as good as it's going to get, call

it "high key" and move on.

 

Here's a couple samples of what I mean. These have the minimal corrections in the Raw conversion I spoke of.

 

http://www.pbase.com/bob_osullivan/bridal

 

I'll try to paste some in this post, but I dont' see a button for that anymore.

 

BTW, general critique beyond this specific issue is always welcome, want to keep on my toes.

 

Thanks,<div></div>

[bob_osullivan]

Here's the other, found that button.<div></div>

[picturesque]

Hey Bob--if you are asking me about PS techniques, I will be the first to say I am not an expert. I would probably mask her hair and back on the first one and fill in the hot spot on the water right behind. Also, tone down the skin on the hotspot on her back. The halation of the riim lighting on the other parts don't bother me. On the second one, adjust the overall contrast and see if further separating might be needed--I think not. Again, the minor highlight loss on her dress is not a big deal, in my opinion. The veil does not look that burned to me. Probably a lot more PS knowledgeable people can do better...

[picturesque]

I apologize for my bad grammar and spelling. "The halation of the rim lighting on the other parts doesn't bother me." Just typing too fast.

[bob_osullivan]

That was quick, thanks Nadine.

 

I suppose these can look better or worse depending on whose monitor we are looking at. I think I'll print some 8x10s (should have done that first)..

 

Looking forward to more replies..

[think27]

MODERATOR NOTE:

 

Bob - Please only post one image and post the rest to your Photo.net Gallery or people can get images from the link you offer. If anyone wants to work on any of the images - they can upload them to this thread - with the corrections and those there are no limit to how many are brought in to the thread.

 

Just remember everyone - 700 pixels or less in width and caption Please!!

Any images that come in as a link will be deleted.

[ryan_smith10]

Hey Bob,

 

I don't know what the official way is to fix something like this, but this is what I would do:

 

Open in Photoshop

 

duplicate layer

 

Image -> Adjustments -> Shadow/Highlight... leave Shadows at 0, but increase highlights to whatever percent you feel makes it look better. Focus on the dress and other blown-out areas and don't worry if the other areas don't look good.

 

Add a layer mask on the image with the adjustments (this should be on top of the other one).

 

Invert the layer mask (Ctrl. i). This should make the layer mask black, and hide any changes.

 

Select the layer mask. Take out a large and very soft brush, and paint white on the areas of the pictures that has blown-out highlights.

 

Done!

 

My attempt below:

[ryan_smith10]

here:<div></div>

[gerrymorgan]

Bob, is there any chance you could make the RAW files available somewhere? It would give us a lot more to work with.

[manolis1]

I tried to do the best I can :).<div></div>

[bob_osullivan]

You guys are awesome! Gerry can't think of a site that will let me post anything but a Jpg. But I think I get where y'all are going with this. It was my intention to have the water be darker than the dress (if I had remembered the polarizer, no worries). But these edits darken the dress vs the water which also works. Not quite what I intended but good. I'll work with this.

 

Thanks, all.

[picturesque]

Bob--other than the darkening from the result of increasing contrast on the second shot, I don't care for the dress going darker. A wedding dress is white, not gray. I really don't see a separation problem with your original first shot. Increasing saturation and local contrast aside, I personally dislike the hotspot behind her hair more. To me, that (and the hotspot on her skin) takes away from her. If there was a way to mask the background water reflections and take that down a notch, that would be OK.