Underexposed or not

[amarchadgar]

Hey, I recently started shooting in RAW and I've been finding it a tad bit difficult with all the options and so many parameters to set. I run Ubuntu 9.10 operating system and have low memory so I cant use Photoshop. Currently using Ufraw plugin for GIMP. Anyone with any tips on proper usage of these tools would be helpful.
Moving on to the Image. About a few days back, I went to a market in the city in hopes of finding interesting subjects to shoot. I got a few good captures and I'm still in the process of post-production on most of them . I've managed to upload a few. Here is one with members of a local Brass Band. I showed it to a friend and he says its underexposed. I'd love to know what you guys think. Sorry for the long post. Also if you want to check out other photos its at Flickr: Amar Chadgar's Photostream



Larger Version

EXIF:
Camera: Nikon D5000
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 500

[RichardTaylor]

To me the bottom half of the pic is very underexposed.
Have a look at the histogram.

Layering x 3 with a blending mode of screen makes a huge difference.

[LeeR]

If I had GIMP and this image I think I would be using a curves adjustment here. Your highlights are overexposed and your midtones are underexposed. This is easy to fix with a curves adjustment.
Click on the very center of the graph to create a point. We don't want this to move at all right now, so just leave it where it is. Then click midway between the middle and the bottom left hand corner and push the curve up a bit. You should see those mid to lower tones brighten right up. Not grab between the midpoint and the upper right hand corner and pull down to see the sky darken a bit. You want the sky to be white but still have some detail. This is the opposite of a contrast curve, which means you are actually removing contrast from the image. Two cautions with curves are A) you don't want and areas where the curve goes flat, this produces large gray areas on your image, and B) you don't want your curve to take a dip like a roller coaster as this will cause the colors in those areas to invert in those areas.

[Aleix]

What metering mode did you use? Not really sure but when taking that picture perhaps you should have used spot metering on the people, as I could imagine you shot it with evaluative metering and the backlighting produced the underexposing.

[amarchadgar]

Thanks all for replying.

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

To me the bottom half of the pic is very underexposed.
Have a look at the histogram.

Layering x 3 with a blending mode of screen makes a huge difference.

Forgive me for my limited knowledge but whats this "layering x 3 blending mode" youre talking about?

Originally Posted by LeeR

If I had GIMP and this image I think I would be using a curves adjustment here. Your highlights are overexposed and your midtones are underexposed. This is easy to fix with a curves adjustment.
Click on the very center of the graph to create a point. We don't want this to move at all right now, so just leave it where it is. Then click midway between the middle and the bottom left hand corner and push the curve up a bit. You should see those mid to lower tones brighten right up. Not grab between the midpoint and the upper right hand corner and pull down to see the sky darken a bit. You want the sky to be white but still have some detail. This is the opposite of a contrast curve, which means you are actually removing contrast from the image. Two cautions with curves are A) you don't want and areas where the curve goes flat, this produces large gray areas on your image, and B) you don't want your curve to take a dip like a roller coaster as this will cause the colors in those areas to invert in those areas.

That was so helpful. Thank you. I did exactly as you said. It worked really well for the midtones, brought out the details in the face but didn't do much for the highlights. I guess all the details there has been lost. Its just overexposed white now. Any suggestions for avoiding this while shooting? Any suggestions for post-processing work for people photography?

Originally Posted by Aleix

What metering mode did you use? Not really sure but when taking that picture perhaps you should have used spot metering on the people, as I could imagine you shot it with evaluative metering and the backlighting produced the underexposing.

I use Spot metering almost all the time. This photo too, I used spot metering on the face of the guy in the center. If I metered off his face and it showed me underexposure and I adjusted the exposure so their faces were exposed properly, wont the sky become overexposed by default because it was properly or overexposed already? I thought thats how it worked. I'm so confused!

[RichardTaylor]

I don't use Gimp. However this may help.

(1) Duplicate the background to make a new layer (layer 1).
(2) Change the mode to screen (this will lighten the dark pixels)
(3) Duplicate layer 1 to make layer 2 (keeping the mode to screen). This will lighten it again
Repeat as necesary.

[Aleix]

Originally Posted by amarchadgar

I use Spot metering almost all the time. This photo too, I used spot metering on the face of the guy in the center. If I metered off his face and it showed me underexposure and I adjusted the exposure so their faces were exposed properly, wont the sky become overexposed by default because it was properly or overexposed already? I thought thats how it worked. I'm so confused!

Yes it works like that, the sky would have become overexposed but there are many ways to fix that to a certain point:

* White sky replacement in PP
* Use of graduated ND filter
* Cropping the sky as much as possible, especially when it is not an interest point in the picture
* etc.

You could have - if you didn't - also tried using fill flash to throw some light on the people, and let the rest of the picture be a bit darker. It is a common technique when shooting photos of backlit people in the shade and also to soften shadows when shooting in harsh light conditions.

See this tutorial, and notice how the writer came across the same situation:
http://digital-photography-school.com/using-fill-flash

Further reading:
http://digital-photography-school.co...right-sunshine

Greetings

[Xerophytes]

Yes.

The lower part is underexposed, the faces of the people could have lighten up a bit.

I haven't use GIMP. I use Photomatix for HDR. Could it help if you use Photomatix to just provide some light on the people but not ruin the bright background?

[amarchadgar]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

I don't use Gimp. However this may help.

(1) Duplicate the background to make a new layer (layer 1).
(2) Change the mode to screen (this will lighten the dark pixels)
(3) Duplicate layer 1 to make layer 2 (keeping the mode to screen). This will lighten it again
Repeat as necesary.

Thanks, I'll try to find a way to do that on GIMP.

Originally Posted by Aleix

Yes it works like that, the sky would have become overexposed but there are many ways to fix that to a certain point:

* White sky replacement in PP
* Use of graduated ND filter
* Cropping the sky as much as possible, especially when it is not an interest point in the picture
* etc.

You could have - if you didn't - also tried using fill flash to throw some light on the people, and let the rest of the picture be a bit darker. It is a common technique when shooting photos of backlit people in the shade and also to soften shadows when shooting in harsh light conditions.

See this tutorial, and notice how the writer came across the same situation:
Using Fill Flash

Further reading:
3 Tips for Shooting Portraits in Bright Sunshine

Greetings

Thank you so much. That was some awesome advice. I didn't use fill flash on that photo. After reading up on those links, I have a good idea about how and when to use them. Also, I think a graduated filter can be emulated in software; I'll try to do that. About the cropping, I've already cropped about 25% of the height I'll read up on White sky replacement.

Originally Posted by Xerophytes

Yes.

The lower part is underexposed, the faces of the people could have lighten up a bit.

I haven't use GIMP. I use Photomatix for HDR. Could it help if you use Photomatix to just provide some light on the people but not ruin the bright background?

I use Ubuntu and couldn't find photomatix for it. I tried HDR on it though, You guys see any improvements in the picture?

[Xerophytes]

Definitely better.