Trying to salvage a poorly taken shot

[angkulturangewan]

The first shot was poorly taken. No special light, and the set was just our couch with white sheet. Hope you guys like it.

[AlieS]

I think that the purple is very distracting. If you adjust the hue I think that it could work.

I do like how the sofa turned out though!

[kencaleno]

Ctrl+J
blend mode screen: plus a little sharpening

[windrider86]

Would you mind returning and telling us how you ended up with the final look? Please and thank you

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by windrider86

Would you mind returning and telling us how you ended up with the final look? Please and thank you

Step by step:

1. Color Boost:

Ctrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Match color
luminance 119
Color intensity 126

2. DRE (Dynamic Range Extender) a)to f) recorded as an action-one click to activate.

a).Image>Adjustments>shadows/highlights

Shadows :amount 50%
Tonal width 45%
Radius 44px

Highlights :amount 67%
Tonal width 65%
Radius 46px

b) Ctrl+J; blending mode: color dodge

c)Duplicate background layer again
This time set blending mode to: Linear burn
Click “D” to get foreground color to black
Select ”Color range”-fuzziness 100
Click on “add layer mask” button in layers palette
Click on mask of layer and Set Gaussian blur at 5 px

d) Duplicate Linear burn layer, set blending mode to Overlay
Click on layer mask and press ctrl+I
Set overlay to 40-45%; set linear burn to 55-60%
Change foreground color to white
Select Color range-fuzziness 100

e) Duplicate base layer again, take it to the top
Click on add layer mask, add Gaussian blur at 5 px

f) Flatten and save

3.[Ctrl+j

blend mode - screen

Flatten and save.

[AlieS]

I think I came up with a mix of the two edits.



All I did was duplictate the layer and then adjust the levels (RGB) '0' '1.68' '182'

Then I duplicated the adjusted layer and set the blend mode to soft light.

I repeated this step and set the opacity at 67%

One more duplication but this time I removed the model from the picture.
(I did this to achieve a very clean, white backdrop.) (Still set a soft light 100%)

[windrider86]

Thanks Ken,
I was actually referring to the OP but was sure glad to see how you came about your ending results. Thanks again

[Heart]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

Step by step:

1. Color Boost:

Ctrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Match color
luminance 119
Color intensity 126

2. DRE (Dynamic Range Extender) a)to f) recorded as an action-one click to activate.

a).Image>Adjustments>shadows/highlights

Shadows :amount 50%
Tonal width 45%
Radius 44px

Highlights :amount 67%
Tonal width 65%
Radius 46px

b) Ctrl+J; blending mode: color dodge

c)Duplicate background layer again
This time set blending mode to: Linear burn
Click “D” to get foreground color to black
Select ”Color range”-fuzziness 100
Click on “add layer mask” button in layers palette
Click on mask of layer and Set Gaussian blur at 5 px

d) Duplicate Linear burn layer, set blending mode to Overlay
Click on layer mask and press ctrl+I
Set overlay to 40-45%; set linear burn to 55-60%
Change foreground color to white
Select Color range-fuzziness 100

e) Duplicate base layer again, take it to the top
Click on add layer mask, add Gaussian blur at 5 px

f) Flatten and save

3.[Ctrl+j

blend mode - screen

Flatten and save.

===================================

Hi Kencaleno !

Thank you very much for your time , for such full answer

I was trying to follow your steps too, and wow !!! Your explanations are so great and helpful!!!

Thanks again
Bless you!!!

[kentuckyranger]

Not a bad post edit but I agree, the hue is off.

The biggest problem with this image is there was no attention to lighting.
What I mean is that the angle of the lighting is all off, making it look very drab and uneven.
The other is your exposure, way too short.

The best images are the one that have the least done to them.
Every time you run an image through a filter it loses its original clarity as a trade off.
If you run an image through multiple filters trying to fix a bad photo it'll only add to the aggravation and turn out like this one did.

Next time think your light angles through and make sure your camera is set correctly before taking the photo.

[wulf]

FWIW, I rather like the purple-tinged result. It would be useful to have some information about how the result was achieved though - "Before and After" is for sharing two versions of the same photo AND the route between them.

Thanks,

Wulf