Image Help - - Huge light leak nightmare on the whole film!

senseBOP · #1 06-05-2005, 03:36 PM

Hey everyone, am I glad for finding this place!!!!

I don't know how, but my film was exposed in a very strange way to light, that caused a light wave across the whole film (probably a bad cap on one of the ends, or something). This was probably before even going into the camera, since I did notice the film being somewhat "exposed" when I pulled it out of the case and into the film grip in the camera.

Anyways, this is a true nightmare!!!! I had such beatiful pictures on this roll, and while I can Photoshop them one at a time, I was hoping someone here has a neat little script in PS to ease the pain for me.

There's a little snappy of the contact sheet at the end of this message. It makes the "light wave" very visible, and illustrates my problem quite nicely.

I'm a very well trained Photoshoper and Photographer, but having to go through 20 images, and fixing levels, dodging, burning, is not something I count as a good use of my (minimal) "quality time" infront of the PC.

Help and advice would be GREATLY appreachiated on this manner, especially if one can provide with a script for it in Photoshop.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to help others with their problems.

Link to contact sheet is RIGHT HERE.

A note about the contact sheet: Some photos were rotated (obviously), so the wave might not be as visible, but you get the idea...

cspringer · #2 06-05-2005, 04:57 PM

kind of small. Can you post a picture?

Gary Richardson · #3 06-06-2005, 12:23 AM

No experience with scripts here, but I'd say its going to be difficult, as the pattern is different on each contact print.

Have you thought of creating an Action to part automate the process. That way the only manual input would be selection of the affected area.

Should make the process a little less time consuming.

senseBOP · #4 06-06-2005, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

No experience with scripts here, but I'd say its going to be difficult, as the pattern is different on each contact print.

Have you thought of creating an Action to part automate the process. That way the only manual input would be selection of the affected area.

Should make the process a little less time consuming.

Well, I never really went through the process of making an action in PS, and I'm not quite sure how to go about it. I'm starting to think that I should just get somebody to fix these for me. It's going to consume too much of my time. I REALLY need to get myself a dSLR, now!

cspringer, here's a photo for you to take a shot at if you're interested: Blue Metal

senseBOP · #5 06-06-2005, 06:36 AM

Hey everyone, I hope this can be accepted by you as a "challenge", since it's quite a big one, but not really a "challenge" per se.

To get an idea of the "challenge", go to this link.

It's a contact sheet of the whole roll.
Notice that annoying "wave" running across all of the images? It was caused by some light-leak. I don't know if it was a faulty roll, or a faulty developement process, as I didn't do the developement myself.

In any case, here's a sample photo from the roll. See if you can remove the "light wave" from it, and if you can, let me know if you want more photos posted. I have 22 photos in total that need fixing.

If this is not an "acceptable" challenge, please forgive me, and get one of the mods to remove this thread.

I might be able to offer some "compensations" for a kind soul that will be willing to take this project on him/herself, and provide some good results.

PatrickB · #6 06-06-2005, 09:07 AM

Worked pretty good on this picture:

Duplicated the background layer.
Did a curves adjustment once based on the "good" part and once on the "bad" part.
Created a gradient along the bad part, copied to a channel, loaded as a selection and added to the background copy as a layer mask.

Don't know if it will work well on the other pictures though....

Patrick

PS: You see the edges of the bad parts, that needs a little tweaking on the mask

Flora · #7 06-06-2005, 10:32 AM

Hi senseBOP,

Welcome to RP!

What Gary said about scripts .... as for actions... I have my doubts about finding an automated way to fix color and contrast in such different pictures even if you do your selection manually ...

I had a go at your picture using Levels and Hue&Saturation ALs on a quick Mask selection ....

senseBOP · #8 06-06-2005, 10:58 AM

Hi, Flora, thanks for the warm welcome.

Wow, that is just an excellent job you did on that photo, can you send me the fixed version, or just upload it to imageShack?

Also, can you give me a it more details as to how you fixed it so nicely? None of my efforts have produced such a wonderful result.

I guess I'm not as good as I thought I was in Photoshop. :P

cspringer · #9 06-06-2005, 11:00 AM

I used my Paint with Light action (Shadow layer)but instead of black I picked one of the blues in the picture (www.atncentral.com) Take a brush and paint out the offending color. To darken the holes I used Selective Color Black.

senseBOP · #10 06-06-2005, 11:10 AM

Good job cspringer, it came out a little too blueish, compared to the original, but I like the idea you simply "painted" the white out.

And I'm loving the Action Central, so thank you for the link!

Gary Richardson · #11 06-06-2005, 11:33 AM

Hi Flora, wasn't suggesting an action as a total solution to the problem, just as a way of minimising the manual input needed. I only looked at the contact strip, and it was difficult to ascertain from that how much difference there was in degredation of individual images. I agree with you entirely that to get a finished result would require manual adjustment. By the way, like your work on the perforated drum, but I think senseBOP is looking for some sort of auto fix. I get the impression he doesn't want to spend any real time at all in fixing these images.

senseBOP · #12 06-06-2005, 11:39 AM

You're right, Gary, I am looking for a set and forget sollution, but since I'm a realistic person, and thus must accept the fact such a solution can not be found, I am looking for the shortest route to get there.
Going through 20 pics is going to be quite a hectic thing, and I'm trying to save me the effort, and cut time-costs to a bare minimum.

Cameraken · #13 06-06-2005, 12:09 PM

This is a VERY unusual fault. The light leak is in the middle of the film. This rules out light from a faulty cassette. As the leak is wavy it also rules out a problem with the camera back. I have been repairing cameras for 30 years and I’ve only seen this type of problem with a fault in the shutter. If one of the shutter blades is damaged ie off its tracks or a rivet missing or a hole in the shutter blind then light can be hitting the film while the camera is being wound on and this can cause a wavy pattern similar to your contact sheet.
(It’s usually a diagonal but it depends on the camera model)

IF I am correct then:-

The waves should all follow a pattern. They will just vary in intensity caused by light at the time the camera was wound on and the mirror return.

Your answer lies in images 5400 and 5401 which have formed natural masks.

These 2 unexposed images have created perfect templates of the leak.
All you should need to do is invert these and use them as layer masks then vary their intensity to repair the problem.

You need to check your camera shutter carefully as the problem will reoccur until the camera is repaired.

Ken

senseBOP · #14 06-06-2005, 12:55 PM

Wow, Ken, that's an excellent idea!
I should have thought of using those two images as masks. How silly of me.

As for your observation regarding the cause of this fault... It makes perfect sense. My shutter has been known to get stuck evry once in a while, but so far, all images came out ok. This is the first time I have seen such a defect.
I will have to wait for thedevelopement of the current film in the camera to know if the shutter is indeed faulty (other than its lagging, of course) before I go try fixing it.

This is an "old" Canon Elan IIe, and I'm in the process of getting Rebel 350, or something of that magnitude, so I don't want to spend that much in fixing this one.

Back to our diagnostics: The two "blank" shots are at the beginning of the film, which means it was exposed prior to the shutter being opened, doesn't it? Since it would have been wraped around the rod by the time the first shot was taken. This means it had to be exposed after the whole roll was shot, and the film was being rewind back into the canister. But, if that's the case, shouldn't the line be a straight one, and not wavy, since the source of light is straight on the film, and the film is flat?
A wavy line suggests it was exposed AFTER the film was already back in the canister, having a source of light expose it from one, narrow, specific angle.

Can this be a fault of the people at the developement center? I doubt they do it manually there, so maybe it was a faulty machine? I'm not too familiar with the process of commercial film developement, but I'm pretty sure the people there don't handle the films personally. Am I wrong?

I'd love to hear your input on these.

Thanks again for your excellent feedback, Ken!

cspringer · #15 06-06-2005, 01:17 PM

"Good job cspringer, it came out a little too blueish, compared to the original, but I like the idea you simply "painted" the white out."

It isn't on the original I did. I was having a hard time getting the resolution correct for this site. However, even if this is the problem with your attempt (if you try it), all you have to do is add a Hue/Sat. adjustment layer to tweak the color to your liking. It isn't "painting" ...that is just the term people used for Paint with Light...it is a dodge and burn technique.