Any help on to dark of an image

[mtpfamily]

Was wondering if there is anything that can be done to lighten the subject in this picture. When I try the noise level goes up. I have used curves. Brightness and contrast adjustment layers. Noise reduction. Color correction and a levels adjustment. Even tried painting. Here is link to the original image.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/IMG_6155.jpg

[James Penner]

Is this something like what you were looking for?

[0lBaldy]

Did a single image HDR

Then using PS7:
Cropped
levels and curves adjustment
Imagenomic Noiseware
selective sharpening

[mtpfamily]

OldBaldy it would be most helpful if you can explain how you did the HDR. When I try I still blow out the image or get masive noise that when I try to remove it it just destoys the detail in the image. Makes it to blury. How ever your steps didnt blow out the image or make it blury.

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by mtpfamily

OldBaldy it would be most helpful if you can explain how you did the HDR. When I try I still blow out the image or get masive noise that when I try to remove it it just destoys the detail in the image. Makes it to blury. How ever your steps didnt blow out the image or make it blury.

You caught me!
I have an Older version of Photomatix Pro that can do a single image HDR and a newer version that I use for doing the Tone Mapping, it does not do a single image HDR, but has more control ..
The Imagenomic Noiseware did a fine job of removing the noise and providing a subtle initial sharpening. I ran it at the default settings twice on a copy of the background.. masking out and softening some of the over-smoothing and bringing back some of the original..

I revisited your picture.. Straightened first then cropped..
So it could be reproducible I used only the older version of Photomatix Pro (Vers 2.2.2). I used a different noise reduction program also, Neat Image at the default settings with sharpening added, on a copy of the background on this one masking out overdone areas, then did levels and curves adjustments and wound it all up with some selective sharpening. If this is to smooth and looks to cartoony you could do an overlay with a background copy and bring back some of the HDR/original texture

[TommyO]

MTP,
I thought I would include my take on it also.
I recall that you don't normally use masks. That is something you should continue to work on.

I only spent a few minutes on this to give you the gist of it.
It consists of two curves adjustment layers (al's) with masks, and one merged layer with Reduce Noise applied to reduce the color noise.
This way, you don't have to go out and purchase any plug-in's.

I did the masking using Quick Mask, so it would be super fast.
The masks help isolate where the effects will take place.
I did one curves al to adjust her contrast and reset her white point.
I did another to tone down the water and sky a bit, without affecting her or the grassy bank.

I've also attached thumbs of my result (which you could do better on by spending a little more time on it) and my workflow (simple like I said).

Also, the noise was introduced by the camera, not Photoshop. The ISO was set to 400, which will introduce noise in the darker areas where the colors are very similar. You may have to change how your camera meters the image, or override the ISO occasionally.

Best of luck and keep working on those masking skills.

[Flora]

mtpfamily,

you don't say what software you are using...

Working with Photoshop CS3 I worked on your picture in Camera Raw first adjusting exposure, lighting, noise, and colour.

Finished with Contrast and Sharpening in Photoshop

Let me know if you'd like the snapshots of the Camera Raw tweaks.

[chillin]

Certainly the camera raw adjustments first, after that the shadow/highlight correction (worked for me) & some masking for selective levels adjustments.

[0lBaldy]

Flora, you never fail to impress.. you have brought out the most subtle details and color.... excellent work!!

A little more detail using only PS7..
straightened
Cropped
Ctrl+J (copied background)
changed Mode to Screen
Ctrl+J, Ctrl+J, Ctrl+J (copy Screen layer 3 more times)
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+E (combined all previous layers)
uncheck lower 3 layer eyeballs (Top layer selected and eyeball showing... Background layer eyball showing)
Press Mask Icon at bottom of layer pallet (This should make a white mask)
choose black color, paint the water and sky (correct with white paint)
Create Curves Adjustment Layer
Large S curve paying attention to the face... paint in the mask that was formed with the curves layer with black on the vest and arms to brighten back up overdone areas.. adjust flow of brush for different effects
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+E (combined all previous layers)
Ctrl+J (copy layer)
Filter>Noise>Median (amount = 3)
Hold Alt Press Mask Icon at bottom of layer pallet (This should make a black mask)
choose white color, paint noise on arms, cheeks red shirt, etc..
Do not paint eyes, nostrils, mouth, or anything you want to keep sharp..
New blank layer change mode to color choose good color from face and paint face, arm. hands.. adjust layer opacity and hue saturation if needed
new layer change mode to color .. pick a good color from the vest then paint vest... adjust layer opacity
new layer change mode to color .. pick a good color from hair.. paint hair.. adjust layer opacity
flatten image
Ctrl+J (copybackground)
Sharpen.. (use mask to correct oversharpened areas or use layer opacity to blend)

[TommyO]

Very nice work Flora and Chillin... your results are always very nice

MTP,
I thought we should mention that only in CS3 can you bring a .jpg into Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). Previous versions require the image to be in proprietary format of certain supported cameras (alot though). However, you can purchase third party raw plug-in's, or separate applications, that work just fine on .jpg's. It makes adjusting for exposure problems much, much easier.

[mtpfamily]

Sorry for the delay in my responce. There was a sudden death in the family. My wifes uncle passed away yesterday. So anyway I dont have CS3 to exspencive for a persion on disability. I am using corel paint shop pro. Serif photo plus. I also have neat image and a free HDR program.
To OldBaldy I like the work og the HDR and am learning to get the right efects. I just have not acheaved the right looks, basicaly like yours.
To Tommy I do use masks alot. In every picture I work on. With your help from one of my previous post my masking has improved and getting better. The tutorials have tought me alot in improving my masking and not making things more dificult. The image was shot at 400 ISO. I sometimes forget to check my ISO settings before taking the picture, I have lost some good shots due to this so am learning the painful way of checking my calera settings. The flash should have fired as well on this shot but didnt.
Flora I do like the tweaks you have done as well. It would be nice to find a plugin I can use that would be able to do the camera raw ajustment with a jpg file.
Just chillin your picture is spot on. The detail and color is there. I hope to be able to reproduce your results. This is what I have acomplished so far with all your sujestions. Not as good as flora or just chillin but am working on it.

[lkroll]

Used an exposure Script-fu and created 3 layers (bright, dark, and normal) and combined them for this one. Had to do a lot of ACE and Neat Image cleaning to get to the result shown.

Click here for the result.

[ashphotoart]

I learned some interesting techniques. Thanks to all.

[Verywierd]

Thought I'd give it a try. PS C3. Much like OlBaldy's technique, except that I used an inverted layer applied using blending mode and then another two on screen mode, all applied selectively using black masks. Sharpening was done using a high bypass layer on soft light mode with adjustments painted onto a white mask to reduce oversharpening. Changed to Lab mode and used the blur tool to clean up some of the noise. Some tweaks using a curve layer and fixed the sky.