Need help with fixing overexposed red/pink shirt in a portrait.

[julianliu]

Today I did a photoshoot of a twins. I was excited about the photos until I looked at several pictures of one girl wearing a red/pink shirt on my computer screen. The face was not over exposed but the red/pink shirt was! I lowered the exposure by one and half stops in LR and it still looks bad, so I just keep the original exposure I shoot. I like the lighting on her face and her expression so I do not want to throw the picture away.
What does it look it? It is bad? How to fix it?

 

[tirediron]

Export as .tif/.dng, open in PS, select the area, and create a levels or curved adjustment layer from the selection and deal with it.

 

[frommrstomommy]

I would try to handle it in lightroom some. Selective brush work and bring down saturation exposure and play with the other sliders as well.

 

[jaomul]

Is it overexposed or just very vibrant. I think the exposure looks good for the photo. I may try dropping vibrancy a little as this should not effect skin tones to much

 

[frommrstomommy]

I used a brush with automask on and -0.36 exp, -4 highlights, -4 saturation and it calmed it down a little bit

 

[frommrstomommy]

Also, I almost always recommend against bright reds/oranges for outfits when people ask me. lol I also say no neons because they tend to reflect on faces as you have beneath her chin.

 

[Braineack]

looks fine to me.

 

[Ysarex]

Today I did a photoshoot of a twins. I was excited about the photos until I looked at several pictures of one girl wearing a red/pink shirt on my computer screen. The face was not over exposed but the red/pink shirt was! I lowered the exposure by one and half stops in LR and it still looks bad, so I just keep the original exposure I shoot. I like the lighting on her face and her expression so I do not want to throw the picture away.
What does it look it? It is bad? How to fix it?
View attachment 109654

Yes it looks bad or at least it would look better without the error. Here's what's wrong: The red channel is nuked:

The green and blue channels are fine and the exposure overall is fine. Looking at your EXIF data it appears that you processed a camera JPEG through LR which leads me to assume this error was introduced by the camera JPEG processor.

How to fix? Don't do it in the first place which brings me to the question do you have an NEF file? This error would be easy to avoid when processing the raw NEF file. You wouldn't create the error in the first place and you'd have nothing to fix.

The damage in the case of this JPEG is done and so you can't "fix" it you can repair it. It's a subtle distinction but an important one. If you break a vase and glue it back together you're going to see the break lines and the glue job.

If a repair is your only option then what you need to do in this case is adjust the red channel separate from the other two. Since the other two channels still have detail in the areas where the red channel is blown the repair will work pretty well.

But first: Do you have an NEF file?

Joe

 

[julianliu]

I used a brush with automask on and -0.36 exp, -4 highlights, -4 saturation and it calmed it down a little bitView attachment 109667 View attachment 109668

That's good guidance about wardrobe selection for my next portrait project. Thanks a bunch. Regarding to your edited image, I do not think it's fixed, lol. I think it's hard almost impossible to fix when damage is done.

 

[Derrel]

Strong colored shirts and blouses in bright lighting conditions often reflect under the chin and on to the neck/chin area. But yeah...the red channel is nuked. I took the JPEG in to Lightroom and made some adjustments to the reds, and also then lowered the exposure .025 EV overall, and then burned down the face and much of the shirt .36 EV (should have burned down .50 EV or maybe even more I think).

I sacrificed the "red blouse" for a peach-type color of blouse and lipstick...that may not be acceptable to you, but hey, I wasn't there, so it looks okay to me to go with a different color.

As Ysarex is asking above...do you have a .NEF file to work on? The above image was already cooked...working on processed JPEG images is not a lot of fun, and in the case of nuked reds, is really a PITA, at least for me.

 

[julianliu]

Today I did a photoshoot of a twins. I was excited about the photos until I looked at several pictures of one girl wearing a red/pink shirt on my computer screen. The face was not over exposed but the red/pink shirt was! I lowered the exposure by one and half stops in LR and it still looks bad, so I just keep the original exposure I shoot. I like the lighting on her face and her expression so I do not want to throw the picture away.
What does it look it? It is bad? How to fix it?
View attachment 109654

Yes it looks bad or at least it would look better without the error. Here's what's wrong: The red channel is nuked:

View attachment 109678

The green and blue channels are fine and the exposure overall is fine. Looking at your EXIF data it appears that you processed a camera JPEG through LR which leads me to assume this error was introduced by the camera JPEG processor.

How to fix? Don't do it in the first place which brings me to the question do you have an NEF file? This error would be easy to avoid when processing the raw NEF file. You wouldn't create the error in the first place and you'd have nothing to fix.

The damage in the case of this JPEG is done and so you can't "fix" it you can repair it. It's a subtle distinction but an important one. If you break a vase and glue it back together you're going to see the break lines and the glue job.

If a repair is your only option then what you need to do in this case is adjust the red channel separate from the other two. Since the other two channels still have detail in the areas where the red channel is blown the repair will work pretty well.

But first: Do you have an NEF file?

Joe

I shot and edit NEF file only. So I do not know how you can get the idea from EXIF data that I processed JPEG.

Yes, I know the red channel is nuked. I think the camera does not handle this color well or it is very sensitive to this red/pink color under flash light.

I had to lower 4 stops exposure to make the blown out part of the shirt to look right, but of course the rest is way under exposed (see image below). So the information is there but just the way the camera or the software interpretes this information is wrong.

The NEF file is saved on dropbox here (Dropbox - ZJL_5989.NEF) if you like to play with it to see whether you can get both the shirt and the rest of the image exposed correctly. I certainly appreciate your time and effort on this issue.

Original exposure from camera:

Lowered exposure by 4 stops in LR:

 

[julianliu]

Strong colored shirts and blouses in bright lighting conditions often reflect under the chin and on to the neck/chin area. But yeah...the red channel is nuked. I took the JPEG in to Lightroom and made some adjustments to the reds, and also then lowered the exposure .025 EV overall, and then burned down the face and much of the shirt .36 EV (should have burned down .50 EV or maybe even more I think).View attachment 109685

I sacrificed the "red blouse" for a peach-type color of blouse and lipstick...that may not be acceptable to you, but hey, I wasn't there, so it looks okay to me to go with a different color.

As Ysarex is asking above...do you have a .NEF file to work on? The above image was already cooked...working on processed JPEG images is not a lot of fun, and in the case of nuked reds, is really a PITA, at least for me.

Derrel,

I hesitated to reduce the luminance/saturation/hue of the shirt because it looks different to me which I did not like. But after many tried, I could not see how it can be resolved any other way. So even though you edited photos has a total different look of shirt, I think it maybe the only option I have.
I think in this situation, I can blame the camera for it's incapability of handling such colors. Of course, we human should realize its disadvantage and find ways to make up for it.
Thanks!

Julian

 

[Ysarex]

Today I did a photoshoot of a twins. I was excited about the photos until I looked at several pictures of one girl wearing a red/pink shirt on my computer screen. The face was not over exposed but the red/pink shirt was! I lowered the exposure by one and half stops in LR and it still looks bad, so I just keep the original exposure I shoot. I like the lighting on her face and her expression so I do not want to throw the picture away.
What does it look it? It is bad? How to fix it?
View attachment 109654

Yes it looks bad or at least it would look better without the error. Here's what's wrong: The red channel is nuked:

View attachment 109678

The green and blue channels are fine and the exposure overall is fine. Looking at your EXIF data it appears that you processed a camera JPEG through LR which leads me to assume this error was introduced by the camera JPEG processor.

How to fix? Don't do it in the first place which brings me to the question do you have an NEF file? This error would be easy to avoid when processing the raw NEF file. You wouldn't create the error in the first place and you'd have nothing to fix.

The damage in the case of this JPEG is done and so you can't "fix" it you can repair it. It's a subtle distinction but an important one. If you break a vase and glue it back together you're going to see the break lines and the glue job.

If a repair is your only option then what you need to do in this case is adjust the red channel separate from the other two. Since the other two channels still have detail in the areas where the red channel is blown the repair will work pretty well.

But first: Do you have an NEF file?

Joe

I shot and edit NEF file only. So I do not know how you can get the idea from EXIF data that I processed JPEG.

Yes, I know the red channel is nuked. I think the camera does not handle this color well or it is very sensitive to this red/pink color under flash light.

I had to lower 4 stops exposure to make the blown out part of the shirt to look right, but of course the rest is way under exposed (see image below). So the information is there but just the way the camera or the software interpretes this information is wrong.

The NEF file is saved on dropbox here (Dropbox - ZJL_5989.NEF) if you like to play with it to see whether you can get both the shirt and the rest of the image exposed correctly. I certainly appreciate your time and effort on this issue.

Original exposure from camera:
View attachment 109687

Lowered exposure by 4 stops in LR:
View attachment 109686

I got to run right now to the local Columbus Day festival -- back this evening. I processed this quickly from your NEF. Is this what you were looking for?

Joe

 

[julianliu]

Today I did a photoshoot of a twins. I was excited about the photos until I looked at several pictures of one girl wearing a red/pink shirt on my computer screen. The face was not over exposed but the red/pink shirt was! I lowered the exposure by one and half stops in LR and it still looks bad, so I just keep the original exposure I shoot. I like the lighting on her face and her expression so I do not want to throw the picture away.
What does it look it? It is bad? How to fix it?
View attachment 109654

Yes it looks bad or at least it would look better without the error. Here's what's wrong: The red channel is nuked:

View attachment 109678

The green and blue channels are fine and the exposure overall is fine. Looking at your EXIF data it appears that you processed a camera JPEG through LR which leads me to assume this error was introduced by the camera JPEG processor.

How to fix? Don't do it in the first place which brings me to the question do you have an NEF file? This error would be easy to avoid when processing the raw NEF file. You wouldn't create the error in the first place and you'd have nothing to fix.

The damage in the case of this JPEG is done and so you can't "fix" it you can repair it. It's a subtle distinction but an important one. If you break a vase and glue it back together you're going to see the break lines and the glue job.

If a repair is your only option then what you need to do in this case is adjust the red channel separate from the other two. Since the other two channels still have detail in the areas where the red channel is blown the repair will work pretty well.

But first: Do you have an NEF file?

Joe

I shot and edit NEF file only. So I do not know how you can get the idea from EXIF data that I processed JPEG.

Yes, I know the red channel is nuked. I think the camera does not handle this color well or it is very sensitive to this red/pink color under flash light.

I had to lower 4 stops exposure to make the blown out part of the shirt to look right, but of course the rest is way under exposed (see image below). So the information is there but just the way the camera or the software interpretes this information is wrong.

The NEF file is saved on dropbox here (Dropbox - ZJL_5989.NEF) if you like to play with it to see whether you can get both the shirt and the rest of the image exposed correctly. I certainly appreciate your time and effort on this issue.

Original exposure from camera:
View attachment 109687

Lowered exposure by 4 stops in LR:
View attachment 109686

I got to run right now to the local Columbus Day festival -- back this evening. I processed this quickly from your NEF. Is this what you were looking for?

Joe

View attachment 109690

Thanks for editing. I think it's close. I feel the rest of the image is desaturated a little bit though. What did you do?

 

[jaomul]

I still think your original posted edit looks the most natural. The shirt is less red than you'd like, but the picture looks most natural here.I didn't know it should be more red until I read it on your post