Help with light spilling onto subject

[beichh4046]

I have played with this picture using every process I know. I still cannot get this and other shots from this session to show well. Too much light spilled over from the backlights.

I know this and other shots I took like this can be fixed but for the life of me I cannot get them to show their true colors. I did shoot them all in RAW.

After previewing this image it doesn't look to bad but there is spillage.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how to correct these shots.

[Juergen D]

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but a different background would help.

Juergen

[ktg222]

I believe your subject is underexposed because your camera meter was "fooled" by the bright, white background and less from light spilling onto the subject.

You mention you shot in RAW. You should have no trouble getting a good result manipulating the image in a RAW converter. ACR should handle this just fine.

I did a Curves adjustment layer to improve the exposure on the subject and then a slight contrast enhancement with the Brightness/Contrast adj. layer. I then used another Curves layer and tweeked the color of the skin (a lot more should be done though) I did select the foreground leg and reduced the amount of yellow. The skin could use a lot more work. The reddish fabric color probably has a bit to do with the skin colors. I don't mind the white background, but check your metering set-up in your camera; it probably is on an average or matrix mode.

[albatrosss]

How about a simple levels adjustment?

[beichh4046]

What would you recommend for the metering setup in the camera if not avg or matrix?

I appreciate everyone taking a stab at it. The retouches shown and explanations are a great help to me.

[bas]

just playing

[Aleksman71]

Nothing really wrong with it.I used just few basic adjustments.

[Yowser]

I would suggest getting a light meter and not relying on the one IN camera.

[TommyO]

If the jpg is any indication of the problems with the raw file, then certainly a different lighting setup would have helped. You can improve these, but not like a properly lit shot would have produced. As the others have said, certainly use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) for all the initial edits, as it is less destructive and works in a linear gamma ProPhoto color space (which helps tremendously). You need to maintain as much data in the image as possible prior to finishing up in Photoshop.

When shooting in a limited lighting setup, try not to have such a bright background. It makes getting the exposure on the subject more difficult. (and you can always change/tweak it later in PS) Try to get the lighting on the subject. Include an index in at least one shot so you can do proper color correction later. Set your camera's exp mode to spot if you have to. Ensure your darker regions are exposed properly - we can recover more from lighter areas; shadows are difficult to recover due to the way camera sensors vs bit depth work.

[beichh4046]

The lighting was setup as intended. I used a light meter for the background. I had it set one stop higher than the main light.

Now what I just realized as I was reading the previous post was that I did two things. One, I moved the model a few feet forward and on a few of the shots I changed the main light from f8 to f4 (I was trying to blur part of her body for a shot) and did not adjust the backlights. I don't remember metering again. Now that I think about it that could explain alot.

But, back to my question. The picture is what it is. Its my job to try to fix it. I appreciate all the help so far. You have certainly shown me it can be fixed.

[TommyO]

Well, back to fixing it. I found ACR good for some elements, but not all.

• Recovery helped with the clipping of the background;
• A little fill light, contrast and vibrance helped with the sheet;
• A small adj. in the parametric tone curve brought some snap to the sheet and skin;
• No point in sharpening a thumbnail;
• The HSL tab would help if it could be masked; while it brought out the sheet it also brought out too much in the face;
• I also noticed some aberration around the edges. They could be due to the thumbnail, but you may want to check it.