Softening Highlights with a brush

[Flora]

...come on you guys .... are you trying to make me believe there is more than one way to do things with Photoshop???? You must be kidding!!!

Great Tutorial and Tips .... thank you all ...

[photoshoplover]

Yet another method

is to duplicate the background layer and set it to multiply mode. If more effect is needed, make another duplicate of the duplicate.

[Leah]

slipchuck -- thanks for that suggestion. I'll have to add it to my armoury as another thing to try next time I get one of these pictures.

[slipchuck]

another way to do this

Hi
another way to achieve the same result (but with a bit more control):
open the image
turn into a RGB image (if it isn't already)
select image-then apply image from the drop down menu
next choose MULTIPLY as the blending option
Choose red for the channel
play with the opacity until you get the desired results.
if image is not dark enough repeat the above.

you can try the other channels to see which you like best.
I find the red channel a lot of times "cleans" up the colors especially if they have a red cast.

Please let me know what you all think
I like experementing, I am not a pro

slipchuck

[Ed_L]

Good job. Now I have another toy! The only thing I would add, is that if the effect is too harsh, you could just lower the opacity of the duplicate layer (the one that has been worked on) instead of re-doing with a lower opacity brush or painting with gray. But the tutorial is good, and it's easy. Thanks.

Ed

[copperman]

Sometimes a photo can appear bright, due to silvering or poor exposure. I found a technique to soften this problem. Use a brush set to soft light and color black. Brush over the entire photo once. [details]