make an image brighter

[ernie]

hey,

just took a picture and it looks way too dark, wasn't enough light actually. what is the best way to add some light to it in photoshop? so far i experimented with contrast/brightness, putting different layers over each other and fiddling with the blend mode. i get some results but i'd like to know what's the best way according to you guys.

 

[Big Mike]

There is no 'best way'...well, the best way is probably to get it right while shooting

Keep trying different things until you find a method that you like best. I like to use *levels*, curves and shadow/highlight.

 

[Peacemaker636]

Levels help tremendously with pictures that are either too bright or too dark. From there, I usually use curves to increase contrast (make highlights brighter and shadows darker)

 

[auer1816]

Levels help tremendously with pictures that are either too bright or too dark. From there, I usually use curves to increase contrast (make highlights brighter and shadows darker)

I second that. Levels and curves are the first two things I do with almost every photo. And use adjustment layers!

 

[ernie]

Thanks guys. Still experimenting with it after I did some googling. I had no idea you could make almost every picture look even better.

 

[fmw]

Thanks guys. Still experimenting with it after I did some googling. I had no idea you could make almost every picture look even better.

Getting it right in the first place is really important - particularly with digital which has almost no exposure latitude. shadow/highlight, exposure, levels, contrast/brightness, curves all remove data from the image and create artifacts. While the data loss and artifacts may be insignificant with small adjustments, they are certainly there and become bothersome with heavy handed adjustments.

Personally, I tend to use shadow/highlight, levels and contrast/brightness the most because curves is too touchy for an old timer like me. Curves, I believe, reduces data the least and is actually the best way. Perhaps I should spend more time with it.

 

[auer1816]

Getting it right in the first place is really important - particularly with digital which has almost no exposure latitude.

It's true. The best way to make sure you got it right the first time is to check the histogram on the camera after you've taken a shot. If your histogram is clipped on either end, you're losing data that you can't get back with any amount of editing. So if there's no clipping, there's hope yet. If you do have to clip (higher contrast situations), I would suggest to clip the shadows rather than the highlights -- the bright whites tend to be more distracting.