some CS help


sinned79

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2009
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Singapore
www.dennislee.co
i am a noob when comes to using PS. so pardon me :p

- how do i selectively brighten up a certain part of the photo?

is it using the lasso tool to select the area then adjust using the brightness/contrast?

- another question... is there any ways to salvage a photo that had certain parts of the photo overly over-exposed due to camera flash (ok i am a flash noob as well *sweat*)?


:)
 

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Hello sinned79.
I am not too good with Photoshop myself.
But perhaps I could share with you a little bit of what I might do?

Yes, you certainly can use the lasso tool to select the area to be adjusted, then open up a Brightness & Contrast adjustment layer to do the job.
Sometimes, what I find is, if you just use a Lasso tool (or Quick Selection tool/Magic Wand tool), the selection has very sharp edge which after brightness adjustment, may look a little unnatural.
So I may use the 'Refine Edge' tool to feather the selection a little, say maybe about 20-30 pixels to make it more natural before I do the Brightness adjustment.

The other method which I particularly like to use is to:

  • open a Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer and increase the slider to the brightness i intend for THAT particular area.
  • Then I will Fill up the layer mask of the B&C layer with black. One good way is to ensure that the Foreground colour is Black, then press Option-delete to fill up with black.
  • Next, use a soft paint brush with White colour (and with varying opacity), I would slowly paint on this black mask bit by bit over the area to be lighted up until I obtain the desired effects. This way I like very much because I find that it gives me better control and a more natural look.
  • Finally I would do a Shift-Option-command-E to create another layer of the final picture above all the adjustment layer. Then I will do final touch up using Dodge and Burn on this layer if need be.
My humble method. Just to share with you.
 

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Oh yah... about that part on the over-exposed areas by flash.
Actually for the new models of cameras, especially knowing that you use the 5DMkII, sinned79, the amount of details that are retained in the so-called over-blown areas are still rather respectable.
Thus you can certainly open up the photo in Adobe Camera Raw and use the 'Recovery Tool' by pushing the slider up to the right to try and see how much of the details in the blown-out areas you can save.
 

i am a noob when comes to using PS. so pardon me :p

- how do i selectively brighten up a certain part of the photo?

is it using the lasso tool to select the area then adjust using the brightness/contrast?

- another question... is there any ways to salvage a photo that had certain parts of the photo overly over-exposed due to camera flash (ok i am a flash noob as well *sweat*)?


:)

(1) use layers - apply the brightening effect, and then erase away with large, soft, brush (gradually smaller brushes) to apply it selectively. you will have to read up and experiment for this, can't really just verbalise it. lasso tool will be giving over drastic transition between brightened and non brigthened areas (unless very slight changes made)

(2) no, lost highlight detail usually means lost. you can try to recover more in RAW - i am not aware if it offers any help in the highlight region, but it's worth a try. most of the time, highlights blown = gone case though
 

(1) use layers - apply the brightening effect, and then erase away with large, soft, brush (gradually smaller brushes) to apply it selectively. you will have to read up and experiment for this, can't really just verbalise it. lasso tool will be giving over drastic transition between brightened and non brigthened areas (unless very slight changes made)

(2) no, lost highlight detail usually means lost. you can try to recover more in RAW - i am not aware if it offers any help in the highlight region, but it's worth a try. most of the time, highlights blown = gone case though

thanks! :sweatsm:
 

i am a noob when comes to using PS. so pardon me :p

- how do i selectively brighten up a certain part of the photo?

is it using the lasso tool to select the area then adjust using the brightness/contrast?

- another question... is there any ways to salvage a photo that had certain parts of the photo overly over-exposed due to camera flash (ok i am a flash noob as well *sweat*)?


:)

bring your laptop one day when u r free.. i will show u how..
 

#1, soft brush plus layer mask with opacity.
turn on mask mode use a brush to apply ruby mask on the selected area, switch to selection and apply adjustment layer, change the adjustment layer opacity to suit your taste.

#2, if it is shot in jpg and it is 255, 255, 255, it gone, noting to salvage, if it is RAW, still doable.