Parts of picture overexposed ..

[Daniel R.]

I took a group photo of about 35 or 30 orchestra members on a stage. Conductor was in a hurry and lighting was bad on front row of people to the point where facial features were really washed out.

Any suggestions as to what I can do to fix it? Other band members look fine lighting wise. How can I adjust the members in front row, without affecting rest of picture?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

Daniel

[MikeH]

Hi Daniel,

There are several ways that might fix this, bit it would help to see the picture in order to provide the best advice. You can upload it at www.pixentral.com and then post the url here...

Mike

[Daniel R.]

Hi Mike!

Will do!!

Daniel

[Daniel R.]

Here is the link Mike. Not too bad of an image considering it was taken in low light and with the kit lens.

I don't expect it to be a miracle cure which is what I may need for this. :lol: Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

Daniel

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1jnqJqmYXbQu0oMXtdTd09ORsco1

[Daniel R.]

Should I have downloaded it in RAW or JPEG? I downloaded the JPEG.

[Daniel R.]

I should say this is just for my brides band, not a paying job by any stretch of the imagination. I was still in the process of checking out the lighting etc when someone says I should take a group shot before rehearsal. :roll:

A little notice would have been nice ...

[MikeH]

Daniel,

I've tried three ways - selective adjustment of Shadows / Highlights, burning and adding layers with a multiply blend mode...

None of them really worked because the detail in the faces appears to be burned out...

I'll try a couple of other ways and get back to you...

Mike

[Daniel R.]

Daniel,

I've tried three ways - selective adjustment of Shadows / Highlights, burning and adding layers with a multiply blend mode...

None of them really worked because the detail in the faces appears to be burned out...

I'll try a couple of other ways and get back to you...

Mike

Hi Mike,

That's what I tried doing as well but to no avail. The light was SOOOOO strong in the center of the stage. I don't know why they had it up so high compared to the rest of the stage.

I thank you taking the time to try for me though. Greatly appreciated.

Daniel

[Foxhound]

As a side thought if you find yourself in this type of lighting again it's a good idea to measure the light with an incident light meter. Walk around the stage until you find the hotest spots and expose for those area's. If you stand back and use your camera meter it will unfortunately meter in all that black area and open your aperture to take it all in.

If you don't have an incident light meter then you can use your spot meter if your camera has one. Again take different metering's with your spot and expose for the highlights.

If your camera does't have a spot meter then you can walk up to the hotest part (front) and read right off their faces. Dark settings and dark clothing mixed with white faces AND spotlights pose's problems for everyone.

[Daniel R.]

As a side thought if you find yourself in this type of lighting again it's a good idea to measure the light with an incident light meter. Walk around the stage until you find the hotest spots and expose for those area's. If you stand back and use your camera meter it will unfortunately meter in all that black area and open your aperture to take it all in.

If you don't have an incident light meter then you can use your spot meter if your camera has one. Again take different metering's with your spot and expose for the highlights.

If your camera does't have a spot meter then you can walk up to the hotest part (front) and read right off their faces. Dark settings and dark clothing mixed with white faces AND spotlights pose's problems for everyone.

Thanks for the info! Plus I didn't have my tripod as it broke!! :twisted: We were in Norway when I took this. My brides band was doing a small tour of four concerts in ten days. What a lot of fun!

Even looking at some of my other pictures I have come to realize the importance of a tripod in lower light, particularly when I have photos at actual size. I'll show some examples here in a minute ...

[Daniel R.]

Here is what I mean foxhound ...

here is a picture handheld in low light ... we were on a tour of sod houses that show how the Norwegians use to live ... no electricity, only heat was from a fireplace in the center of the house ... the only light was from windows ...

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1MCQEhL32mltjJt1KtDoJcPd3cb3OX

in smaller proportions this photo looks fine ... at actual size it looks slightly out of focus and again, it was handheld ...

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1MCQEhL32mltjJt1KtDoJcPd3cb3OX


the following photo was just me playing around in the same setting. I noticed a small spider web on the foot of a bed. I set my camera down on the floor to get a good angle on it and it is just sharp as a tack ....

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1ltkUNG1ac50AUUOOI3rYdovTpJDc