How do I correct the lighting on this photo?

[USAF-SSgt]

I could not tell on the screen of my camera after I took this shot because of how bright it was, but what adjustments would you make on this photo to clean it up? I have PS Elements 6.0.

What camera adjust should I have made at the time I shot it to fix it in the first place?

I appreciate your advise.

Exp: 1/50, F/6.3, ISO 200, 21mm, pattern metering, no flash, manual mode

 

[o hey tyler]

Well, all the data in the image file on her chest and head was lost. It's all specular highlight. I would have have sped up the shutter speed a few steps (and shot it in raw if you weren't).

As far as photoshopping is concerned, if you were pretty ballsy and wanted to put the time into it you could probably make it look good.

 

[syphlix]

i'd say you would just have to position her differently so the harsh light doesn't hit her light hair... the rest of the scene looks exposed right...

i've never used elements, but in lightroom you can try and bring the highlights back... this might be blown though...

 

[DennyCrane]

Use as low an ISO as possible. This picture was shot at 200, 100 would have been better and sharper. Try using aperture priority. That probably would have yielded a 1/200 or faster shutter with that f/6.3.

As for post production, I'm horrible and best ignored on the subject.

 

[astrostu]

For Post-Processing: Did you shoot RAW or JPG? If you shot RAW, then there's a fair chance that you could still pull some detail out of those saturated areas. I've saved several photos that way. It seems like you also have some chromatic aberration in the lens which would also be corrected if you shot RAW. I'm not sure if Elements has RAW editing, though.

 

[Buckster]

I could not tell on the screen of my camera after I took this shot because of how bright it was, but what adjustments would you make on this photo to clean it up? I have PS Elements 6.0.

As mentioned, if you shot it RAW, you might be able to bring the details of the blown out areas back somewhat, but I don't think you can do it in elements. You'll need Adobe Camera RAW, Lightroom, Aperture, Bibble, or some other RAW editing software.

If you didn't shoot it RAW, it pretty much is what it is on the bright areas being blown out and detail gone.

What camera adjust should I have made at the time I shot it to fix it in the first place?

1. Get her in the shade to avoid the harsh light that blows out the highlights. If you can't get her into the shade, get the shade to her - If someone will assist you, they can hold up something to place her in the shade using anything large enough to do that, even cardboard or a bed sheet. If that's not possible, be sure to expose for the highlights - Using your Rebel XS go to center weighted average metering and get an exposure reading on the brightly lit hair at a fast enough shutter (see 3 below), then dial in that shutter and aperture, on manual if you have to. If that's too much fuss (recognizing that small children don't want to wait for such things usually), set up before hand to bracket your shots +/- 2 EV, shoot 3 frames, then choose the best one later.

(edit)1a. Get into the habit of reviewing the histogram just after you take the shot to see if you're clipping a lot on either end, then adjust accordingly with + or - EV and shoot again.

2. For children, it's a good idea to get the camera down to their eye level or below. Have a seat on the ground if possible.

3. Her hand is blurred because 1/50 is pretty slow for moving subjects like small children tend to be. If you can't get her to be still, increase your shutter speed and sacrifice aperture and even ISO if you need to - focus on the eyes. If shooting hand held, you'll probably want to go with a faster shutter even if you can get her to be still - try to get up to 1/125 or faster. Noise shouldn't be a big problem at higher ISOs as long as you're not planning to make posters from the image. Even then, there are ways to deal with it, actually.

4. Shoot RAW and get a RAW editor if you don't have one. You can pull a lot more detail out of highlights and shadows that are cooked and done for in a JPG straight out of the camera. In a case like this, it can often help significantly. If you shoot RAW and bracket +/- 2, you'll be covered for sure on light.

Hope that's useful to you!

 

[Village Idiot]

She wasn't far enough back. You can see the wall is shaded, but where the girl is standing, the sun hits her face directly.

It's like the basic rule of don't shoot a subject with the sun behind them unless you have the knowledge and tools of how to properly exposed the whole scene. Plus it looks like you focused on the wall and not the girl.

 

[Samanax]

For Post-Processing: Did you shoot RAW or JPG? If you shot RAW, then there's a fair chance that you could still pull some detail out of those saturated areas.

The highlighted areas on her head and shirt are totally blown out...no detail there to save.

I'm not sure if Elements has RAW editing, though.

Elements 6.0 has ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) as a RAW editor (but it's a stripped down version of the one found in Photoshop).

 

[KmH]

And the slider you would use in ACR is called Recovery.

 

[USAF-SSgt]

Thank you all very much for the great advise. I will try to remember what to do next time when I have my finger on the trigger. That's the hardest part for me. Remembering what corrections are the most benefitial for a certian situation.

It is hard with children as most shots are a split-second smile or something. You gotta be quick.

Thanks again

 

[astrostu]

For Post-Processing: Did you shoot RAW or JPG? If you shot RAW, then there's a fair chance that you could still pull some detail out of those saturated areas.

The highlighted areas on her head and shirt are totally blown out...no detail there to save.

Not completely correct. Again, I've had some images that when converted straight from RAW to JPG have completely saturated areas. But when I go to the RAW and bring down the exposure, I can still pull detail out of it.

 

[Village Idiot]

For Post-Processing: Did you shoot RAW or JPG? If you shot RAW, then there's a fair chance that you could still pull some detail out of those saturated areas.

The highlighted areas on her head and shirt are totally blown out...no detail there to save.

Not completely correct. Again, I've had some images that when converted straight from RAW to JPG have completely saturated areas. But when I go to the RAW and bring down the exposure, I can still pull detail out of it.

Up to a point, but when it's blown, it's blown. The head is definitely blown.