Overexposed Images

We all have times where we get into taking pictures and don't always catch that we are shooting to high.  Perhaps you started in the shade, and forgot to change your exposer when you moved into more sunlight.  Regardless of the reason everyone has had to deal with overexposed images.

Sometimes your images can be saved when this mistake is made. I will be showing a step by step on how you can save your image.  Remember this is a 50/50 shot depending on how overexposed your image is.  Also this depends heavily on what format you shoot in.  If you are shooting in jpeg the chances of saving your image is very very slim.  It is extremely difficult to bring back the information lost.  I will be showing you using RAW.  RAW is always the best way to shoot because of how much information is stored in it. 

We will start with what my image looks like straight from my camera.  

As you can see it is over exposed.  It's not extremely bad, but her face is completely whited out and detail on the tree has been lost.  

The first step is to open it in PS.  If you are dealing with a RAW image as I am then this awesome little pre-edit screen as I like to call it will open. The first thing I do move the exposure level down.

After I found a spot on the exposure that I am satisfied with, I then play around with the white balance button.  For this image I set mine to Flash.  A side not with the exposure slider: beware moving it to far because you can cause your highlights to be blown out.  They are already blown out, but moving the exposure to much can make it extremely obvious. Onto the histogram which is the next step: I play around with the sliders on this too.  This is helpful because it breaks the histogram down into four categories: Highlights, lights, darks, and shadows.  I moved my highlights and lights down to the darker end, and you can move your darks up to the lighter end (it's better to have your image a little more on the flat side at the point because once we get into PS you can correct that) and I moved my shadows slightly darker.

Here is what this step looked like. 

As you can see, I am starting to get detail back.  The one thing that is extremely difficult to retrieve are skin tones.  My daughter is already pretty white, so I know I can work with what I have.  You can see that her cheeks are highlighted, so I have to be careful not to try and bring to much color back into her skin.  If I do then her cheeks will stay white and it will look extremely weird. 

The next step I took was to change my camera profile.  This can help or hurt your image, so make sure to check out all of your options. For this picture I used the camera portrait setting. 

Now I am ready to click open and move completely into photoshop.  Remember these steps are not possible if you shoot in jpeg.  This is why shooting in RAW is so important because of how much information I have already been able to retrieve. 

And now to the Photoshop editing:

The first thing I'm going to do is create a curves layer. (if you follow any of the other blogs I've posted then you'll know I always work on layers.  I never mess with the background layer)  I created a simple S-curve.  Again there isn't a magical setting for this because it will change based on each picture. 

Next I created a levels layer.  I like using levels because it shows your the histogram.  This way I can see where my lights,darks, and midtones are.  In this image I don't have any true blacks or highlights (Since this started out over exposed I am not going to mess with the highlight section because as I darken the midtones the highlights will start to become noticeable.  I did move the shadows and midtones to darken the image. 

Now I'm going to correct the color tones.  This image is slightly yellowish.  You could use the color balance, but thanks to one of the blogs I read I have started using Channel Mixer.  The settings here are what I use on every picture.  I change it to monochrome, fix my settings, then change it from normal to soft light.  The only thing I don't do exactly the same on this step is the opacity level.  I change that based on each picture. 

From here I am going to smooth out the skin tones.  This will help smooth out the highlights a little bit.  There are a few different ways to do this.  I like to create a new working layer (I do this with the keyboard shortcut Command,Alt,Shift,E)  Then I go to filter-other-high pass.  Again this setting is based on each picture.  For this one I set it to 6.  I change it from normal to overlay.  At this point it's doing more of a sharpening effect instead of smoothing.  Hit Command I and it'll inverse the layer.  Now your entire layer will look blurry, so add a layer mask and fill it with black (or a shortcut would be to hold the ALT key while you click on the layer mask button) Once this is done use your brush tool toe paint over the skin.  Now your skin tones will start smoothing out together. 

This is what that layer looks like before you add the black layer mask. You will notice the image is slightly blurry. 

Now that the skin tones are smoothed out, I created another levels layer and moved my shadows over to create some darker tones. 

Next I used a gradient map with some neutral tones to create some creamy color and a little more contrast.  Set it to soft light and play with the opacity. You can see here that the image is starting to look much better than the original.  I know her cheeks are still pretty white, and there really isn't much I can do about that.  She does have very pale skin to begin with, so I am able to use that to my advantage in this image.  I do have another trick that can help hide the blown out highlights a little bit.  This trick will only work on outdoor images, and you'll see why in just a few more steps.

This next step I am showing you how it looks, but I am keeping what colors I used secret because they are the key colors I use in my editing when I use vintage based images.  I basically I added another gradient layer and changed the mode and opacity depending on the image.  You can see that now this image has a little bit of vintage blue overtones and a flatter matte look now. 

Apparently I didn't take a screen shot of the next step, but it's a pretty simple one.  This is the extra step I use to help hide the blown out highlights.  I create a lens flare.  First you have to create a new working layer (Command, Alt, Shift,E).  Then go to Filter - Render - Lens Flare.  Use whichever flare looks best to you and best on your image.  Once you have your settings hit use! 

I add an additional two steps after the sun flare to make it look a little more realistic.  The first step is to use a gradient layer and choose a yellow that would look like a natural hue from the sun.  This changes depending on the pic I'm using and what editing I've done.  Once I've chose the color I do a small color to transparent gradient in the corner that I've put my sun flare and bring it down a bit.  This can be trial and error to find the correct amount of yellow for the picture.  Once you have the right amount then play with the opacity to make it look natural. 

Here is how mine looked once I chose the color and opacity level.  There's not a huge difference, but you can see it adds a little bit more.

The final step I do to make my sun flare look more natural is to add a levels layer.  This time I'm not trying to darken the image at all.  I take the midtone adjuster and slide it to make the midtones lighter.

You could technically be done here, but I like to have a matte look when dealing with over exposed pictures, and I still have to sharpen my image.  Most times I sharpen my images first, but I just jumped into fixing this over exposed image. 

As you can see adding a matte finish is super easy.  Add a curves layer and then add three points to hold the line where it is suppose to be.  Then take the shadow corner and move it up until you get the desired look.  Remember just like anything you can over do it, so be careful not to over edit this effect.  

Now that I am done with editing this image, it's time to sharpen it.  Create a new working layer, and then go to Filter-Sharpen-Unsharp Mask.  This is just one of the many ways you can sharpen an image.  Sometimes I use high pass to sharpen also.  

Again be careful not to over sharpen the image.  I don't mess with the threshold slider, and I keep my radius on the lower end.  As for the amount that will be where you really see your sharpening.  Once you find the spot that makes your picture look crisp, but not over done then click OK and you are done!  

And here is the final image!  Again it's not going to be as greatest quality.  This is just to show that some overexposed images can be saved.  You will notice in the final image that her skin is still very pale, and in this case it works because Samantha is very pale all the time.