LITHIUM PICNIC studio

Thought I'd share this reply to a recent email... Please ask me technical questions on the forums so others might benefit as well

-------------------------

Dear Mr. Picnic,

I posted up some of my favorite shots of ***** but with the back lighting the white back ground and her milky white skin she is getting very washed out.... I shot all these in raw and I have Lightroom and CS2...

I don't where I should take these. dual process to recover the right arm or kick up the contrast and go Black and White? ... I would really appreciate any direction you can give me...


Thanks

L*****

------------------------


LITHIUM PICNIC studio to L****


Hi L****,

I would import the burned out image twice with adobe raw converter in Photoshop or Lightroom. In the first import I would expose it for the main image allowing the spot to burn.

In the second import I would expose for the blown out area, allowing the rest of the image to be darker than acceptable.

Use the "recover" option and reduce exposure to get as much detail and recovery as you can. You might be surprised how much data raw files hold in areas that appear to clip to black or white.

Set them up in a new file on 2 layers with the main one on top and the recovery version one underneath it on a lower layer.

Mask or erase with a feathered brush at 20% or so on the burned out area to reveal recovery area on the lower layer.

I wouldn't kick contrast as that pushes the black and white ends and it's already clipping.

Depending on your success with the recovery and how blown it was, converting to B&W might help it appear more natural.

Adding some grain might help too and make it appear more like film.

Good luck!

Philip