Postprocessing an underexposed photo (Lightroom)

[nicolasnico]

Again, thanks all for your advices ! The reason I generally underexpose is because to get the real colors (which I saw with my eyes when shooting). If not, colors become kind-of “greyish”, not so intense as I think they appear in reality.

I appreciate the different feedback on the problems that comes up with underexposing (noise, for instance). So, you would rather advice to expose to the light and correct the pictures in post-processing? (in the case of my question, it would mean: use postprocessing to get closer to the colors I actually saw while shooting)

(YSAREX (Joe), thanks for the offer about the DNGs! I appreciate that! You might receive DNGs from me .

(smoke665 and adamhiram: you mention the problem with the white balance. Is that a problem at shooting (anything I should change in my camera settings?) or do you mean I should simply correct the white balance in post-processing?) (I use Lightroom 5.7.1)

(Studio101 kmh: thank you for the technical explanation regarding exposure! If I understand it right, it comfirs what others have said: underexposure means you lose information?)

 

[nicolasnico]

By underexposing you are just making things more difficult for yourself in post. If you are trying to keep as much detail as possible then you are better off overexposing as long as you don't blow the highlights as more data is retained at the lighter end (AKA ETTR). By underexposing you just introduce more chance of shadow noise

Hey, what are the main things you did to get that result, if I may ask? (in Lightroom?)

 

[nicolasnico]

But is it dill or no?

what is dill? the name of the plant? (Not sure of that plant's name. It actually grows quite high, mountain area here in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia). And I wonder if they don't have quite a strong smell

 

[weepete]

Hey, what are the main things you did to get that result, if I may ask? (in Lightroom?)

I didn't do much at all, just brought the exposure up by +1.5 EV, set the white point to +10 and black point -12, custom white balance by altering the tint to +5 and an ever so slight desaturation setting it to -3. I was really tryjng to just bring the shot closer to a proper exposure but keep the greens quite green and the yellows pretty yellow.

 

[smoke665]

(smoke665 and adamhiram: you mention the problem with the white balance. Is that a problem at shooting (anything I should change in my camera settings?) or do you mean I should simply correct the white balance in post-processing?) (I use Lightroom 5.7.1)

My suggestion would be to leave the camera set to AWB, if you don't have a white/gray card, take a piece of white Styrofoam (plate, cup,etc) before you start shooting, hold this out and take a shot of it. Then go on to shoot your set. When you open the set in LR, go to the shot of the known white, use the eyedropper tool to set the WB. Now highlight all the images in the set, and click on the Synchronize button, select just WB, and continue. All your images will be set to the same WB. If you want to make sure your colors are correct, get one of these Vello White Balance Card Set for Digital Photography WB-CS B&H
you can also find them on Ebay cheap. Spread the cards and put them at the front of your series.

 

[nicolasnico]

Hey, what are the main things you did to get that result, if I may ask? (in Lightroom?)

I didn't do much at all, just brought the exposure up by +1.5 EV, set the white point to +10 and black point -12, custom white balance by altering the tint to +5 and an ever so slight desaturation setting it to -3. I was really tryjng to just bring the shot closer to a proper exposure but keep the greens quite green and the yellows pretty yellow.

that's helpful to know, thank you! Hey, about the white point though, I'm going up/down between 0 and + 10. Not so easy to see the difference. Would you mind explaining what you try to achieve with the white point? (my question might show how little I know ;-)

 

[nicolasnico]

(smoke665 and adamhiram: you mention the problem with the white balance. Is that a problem at shooting (anything I should change in my camera settings?) or do you mean I should simply correct the white balance in post-processing?) (I use Lightroom 5.7.1)

thank your for taking the time to give me all this information, I appreciate it! I would have to try when I'm home (no camera here). Thank you!

 

[weepete]

that's helpful to know, thank you! Hey, about the white point though, I'm going up/down between 0 and + 10. Not so easy to see the difference. Would you mind explaining what you try to achieve with the white point? (my question might show how little I know ;-)

No problem. Setting a white and black point helps make sure you have a good range of tones in your shot (have a look at your histogram while you adjust it and you'll see what it does). Rightly or wrong I also find that setting them properly helps maintain good colour as well.

I should also probably mention I did my edit in lightroom mobile, and I'm not sure if its less or more aggressive with some settings.