An underexposed image
Nothing beats getting it right in the camera. But if the exposure isn’t perfect, a lot can still be achieved.
My friend snapped this shot of yours truly at a viewing deck on the Gold Coast. Unfortunately the flash didn’t fire, but I wanted to save the photo for my collection anyway.
The trouble is, if I lighten the photo uniformly, I lose the fantastic view. So I need to be a little more clever.
First, I select the foreground …
… and lighten it. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a good start.
Then I invert the selection, so I can boost the colours of the view.
Time to get down to details. I select myself …
… and enhance various areas. I add more colour to the skintone, lighten the shirt a little more, and balance the light and shadow areas as necessary.
A few more little adjustments, and some sharpening, and I’m done.
