I made this image capture when I was teaching my week long Texas School Class while we visited the Fort Worth Zoo. I didn’t have time to make sure my captures were “spot on” as I was helping my students. Soooo, my captures were somewhat less than stellar, which leads to today’s article. Just because an image is not exposed well doesn’t mean there isn’t enough detail to work if you photograph in RAW.
Capture
It’s always best to get things right “in camera” if at all possible. I usually share lessons on enhancing photos, not fixing, in post-production. Sometimes, at the end of the day, that’s an image you want regardless.
Photoshop
For me, it’s Adobe Photoshop to the rescue. Using Layers, Blend Modes, Masks and Adjustment Layers I go to work. You’ll want to do what you can in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) or Lightroom (LR) if that’s where you start. ACR and LR have the same basic tools, but they are laid out different and call for a slightly different workflow. In ACR’s Open command, the file automatically opens in Photoshop. In LR you’ll need to tell it to open in Photoshop.
To increase contrast consistently across the entire image I recommend making a copy of the layer and changing the Blend Mode to Multiply. This has the effect of darkening the photo by one full stop. If that is too much you can lower the opacity of the layer to taste. 33% opacity is 1/3rd of a stop change. 66% 2/3rds of a stop. But the beauty of Photoshop is you don’t need to know numbers. Just play with opacity and what you see is what you get.
Additional processing
For dodging and burning I created a blank layer set to Soft Light Mode. When you use a brush tool with a low opacity painting with black burns (darkens) in the image and white dodges (lightens). I suggest using a soft edged brush so the work blends well. It takes a little getting used to but it becomes a very powerful technique.
Yours in Creative Photography,
Bob
P.S. The Texas School of Professional Photography is held in Addison, TX at the end of April. You get to spend a whole week with a single instructor so you get a deep dive in whatever subject interests you. Sign up is on January 3rd at 11PM Central time and usually folks are standing by to get the instructor of their choice. Many sell out quickly. If I’m invited back next year I’ll have a beginner to intermediate class on Macro, landscapre, wildlife and nature class. We travel to different locations and work on Photoshop as well.