Fixing Portraits

[gunn_henry]

hi guys,
Here is a photo i took of my friends... I knew it was not the best quality because it was a quick snap with the sunset behind them... As you can see all of the detail is completely washed out but i thought the shot had some good qualities so i tried to fix it up a bit and this was the result (2nd photo).

If anyone has any tips about how to fix this shot let us know

Thanks,

Henry

[gunn_henry]

Anyone?? I would be happy with any comments

[zona5101]

You can't fix what is not there. Your rework salvages an interesting-to-you capture. And that may be all you can do.

[swthomas55]

I took a whack at this using the "dodge and burn" tool in Aperture. I used "burn" to darken the faces a little and to reduce the visibility of the bright lens flare. I also upped the saturation and contrast of the faces a bit. Then I used the "repair" brush to get rid of the remnant of lens flare (just the one big spot, not the lighter rings). Finally, I adjusted the face color to be a little redder, because the faces had turned greenish when I darkened them. The result is this pic, which is somewhat improved. (The whole thing took about 5 minutes. With more time and care you could do better.)


The colors are still a problem, so I tried converting it to black & white. I then went through the burn-in process again, which was much easier in the black & white version. I overdid the lens flare, leaving a dark streak on her chest. I also upped the contrast a bit.


I think there's some improvement, and, like I said, you could probably do better with more time and care.

[gunn_henry]

Thanks guys... ill take it on board

[Trigger]

Thats the beauty of shooting with RAW nicely done to savage a great shot


cheers