Let's talk exposure

[Groucho]

Yep, #3 was taken as I was riding on one of the canal boats. Hard to get any shots on that ride at night. Not so much because of the boat movement but, at least for me, all the interesting stuff typically winds up behind me on the side that I am on seemingly every time I ride it. Not to mention, they usually pack you in like sardines!

I think it was closed when we were there in '05 and in '07, I was with a friend who lives in LA and we were off riding CA Screaming while my wife and son rode it, so I've never ridden it (at least not in my adult life.) Next trip... I need to go out and see my friend again but then again, I'm kind of inclined to stay away until Cars Land opens. Dunno...

Groucho, how late do you stay in the parks after they close? It looks like you're one of the last people out. I try...oh, I try to stay as long as I can but my long suffering Disney companions always want to leave (or I feel guilty about keeping them there).

On the real late nights, I usually venture out solo (my son is conked out and my wife is not a real late-nighter) and stay until the park closes. The Main St shot here was taken at 2:06am.

The park hours haven't been released for our next trip yet but based on this year's hours, the latest MK will be open any night is only 11am... on the other hand, the parks ought to be very quiet!

 

[annnewjerz]

...the latest MK will be open any night is only 11am...

Geeeez, those really are some short park hours!

 

[Groucho]

Oooooooooooooooooops. OK, 11pm.

 

[WDWFigment]

Groucho, I keep coming back to those low to the ground shots of yours. Great work. They have given me some ideas for shots I want to get.

 

[Groucho]

Thanks! I appreciate it. I like low shots but I usually don't think to take them, and when I do, it can be a pain since I'm 6'2" so the ground is a long ways away. I think the Beach/Yacht Club ones were done just by holding the camera on the ground, and IIRC the Main St one was done with the tripod's center column inverted, though I don't remember for sure.

 

[BecBennett]

I took a few photos today, and generally I'm happy with them, except some of them turned out with an overexposed blur towards the bottom of the picture.

I tried the usual fix through photoshop 7, but it makes the photo too dark. Is there anyway to fix the exposer on the bottom, without changing it on the top? Without a defining line through it?

TIA

 

[dcg0317]

Will this work

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

How does a photo get exposed like that only at the bottom? Flare from something overhead? Something on the lens?

I'm Really curious! Thanks in advance!

 

[PhotographyDR]

This can be a very common problem depending on where the sun was. My guess is that the sun caught the bottom half of the lens and caused a flare. This can also happen when you get finger prints on the lens. (not to mention any names - my wife ) To fix this you will need to do a "Graduated Filter" in Photoshop or Lightroom. This will darken the bottom and you can control how high the filter goes. There should not be any lines as it is a smooth transition. It will go from a dark filter to a nice smooth lighter filter at the top. This should fix it. To prevent it in the future just what where the sun is. Rule of thumb is to have it behind the photographer.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I completely agree with Dr. Doug. I would also suggest that a lens hood or even a hand held in a place to block the sun from hitting your lens would be a big help.

 

[boBQuincy]

The other option, the one that we don't want to hear, is that your shutter is having a problem where it slows down at the bottom of the frame. Most of our shutters travel from top to bottom and this could be an indication of a problem. Taking a photo of an evenly lit, evenly colored object should show if this issue is consistent.

I had a problem like this years ago, when the shutter needed cleaning and adjustment.

 

[BecBennett]

Thanks for your help!

That photo looks great now, did you use the graduated filter as suggested? Because I've got a few more to fix.

I don't think it's a problem with the shutter because it didn't happen on every photo, but I'll try what you've suggested any way just to rule it out.

Thanks everyone!

 

[BecBennett]

ok, I've tried playing around with the graduated filter, and I can't quite get it to work...

Can anyone either give me step by step instructions on getting this to work, or point me in the direction of where I can find instructions?

Thanks.

 

[GrillMouster]

I'm at the office, where I only have a very old version of Photoshop Elements, crappy office monitors that are not calibrated or profiled at all. Therefore, for all I know the adjustments made the image worse.

First thing I did was even out the exposure by applying a layers adjustment layer. In the layers dialog I dragged the left slider to the right and I think I dragged the middle slider to the left. This darkened the entire image, making most of it look horrible, but I only paid attention to the very very bottom of the image and adjusted so it was closer to where I wanted the entire image. Then I used the gradient brush on the mask to paint white-to-black, from the bottom of the image up to the top of the guy's hat (holding down the shift key so the gradient was vertical). Then I adjusted the opacity of that layer so it all looked pretty even. Everything after that was optional.

The previous adjustment further saturated the magenta that was already in the dude's face, so I did another levels adjustment to the blue channel to add a little more yellow to his skin to balance the magenta, and I brightened the skin a little by dragging the middle slider over in the RGB channel. I think I duplicated the layer in screen mode, adjusted that layer's opacity, and masked the layer so it only brightened the subjects' (they were dark in the shade). I also added another duplicate layer in multiply blend mode, adjusted its opacity, and erased around the subjects' faces with a large soft brush, so they stand out a little more in the image. All of this took about two minutes.


Before:

After:

I'm not really happy with all the adjustments; there's more to do, and stuff I'd do differently. But, anyway, there ya go. If you had Lightroom or ACR you could use the gradient tool or even the adjustment brush at lower opacity and multiple passes to to even the exposure.

 

[RBennett]

I'm at the office, where I only have a very old version of Photoshop Elements, crappy office monitors that are not calibrated or profiled at all. Therefore, for all I know the adjustments made the image worse.

First thing I did was even out the exposure by applying a layers adjustment layer. In the layers dialog I dragged the left slider to the right and I think I dragged the middle slider to the left. This darkened the entire image, making most of it look horrible, but I only paid attention to the very very bottom of the image and adjusted so it was closer to where I wanted the entire image. Then I used the gradient brush on the mask to paint white-to-black, from the bottom of the image up to the top of the guy's hat (holding down the shift key so the gradient was vertical). Then I adjusted the opacity of that layer so it all looked pretty even. Everything after that was optional.

The previous adjustment further saturated the magenta that was already in the dude's face, so I did another levels adjustment to the blue channel to add a little more yellow to his skin to balance the magenta, and I brightened the skin a little by dragging the middle slider over in the RGB channel. I think I duplicated the layer in screen mode, adjusted that layer's opacity, and masked the layer so it only brightened the subjects' (they were dark in the shade). I also added another duplicate layer in multiply blend mode, adjusted its opacity, and erased around the subjects' faces with a large soft brush, so they stand out a little more in the image. All of this took about two minutes.


Before:

After:

I'm not really happy with all the adjustments; there's more to do, and stuff I'd do differently. But, anyway, there ya go. If you had Lightroom or ACR you could use the gradient tool or even the adjustment brush at lower opacity and multiple passes to to even the exposure.

Showoff! "I have a really old version of Photoshop Elements..." pfsh! I can't speak for the OP but that looks INCREDIBLY improved from what I see. Great job!! Pentax users are so smart.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I took GrillMouster's picture and darkened the black shirt and burned the tree a little.

Grillmouster- very nice edit, I really need to learn this software

 

[GrillMouster]

Showoff!... Pentax users are so smart.

LOL Sorry to burst your bubble, but I shoot Nikon. I have no brand allegiance, though. I also shoot Canon point & shoots.

...very nice edit, I really need to learn this software

At the office I have Photoshop Elements 5 (three newer versions have since been released). I don't often edit images at work, so I haven't gotten really familiar with that software. Therefore, I often find myself looking for a tool or feature that doesn't exist in Elements 5. For example, it doesn't have layer masks or curves. Also, some tools look and operate differently than they do in the current full version of Photoshop & Lightroom that I use at home. Despite all of this, I find that I'm able to accomplish most of what I desire in this old version of Elements. Sometimes I just have to be creative and find workarounds, e.g. faking layer masks. The biggest drawback is the monitors at work. They're still at the factory settings and have never been profiled, so I have to accept that what I see on-screen may not accurately represent the image adjustments that I make. Maybe I can convince my employer to pay for a cheap hardware calibration device (huey) and an upgrade to the current version of Elements (8).

 

[RBennett]

LOL Sorry to burst your bubble, but I shoot Nikon.

Oh, well. Nobody can be perfect.

 

[BecBennett]

ehh... Thanks, I really need to learn more about photoshop and what each tool does. I use elements 7, and there don't seem to be many tutorials online about using it.

I'll have another play around and see if anything that you've said makes sense in the newer version

Thanks!

 

[GrillMouster]

ehh... Thanks, I really need to learn more about photoshop and what each tool does. I use elements 7, and there don't seem to be many tutorials online about using it.

I'll have another play around and see if anything that you've said makes sense in the newer version

Thanks!

In my description of what I did I said "layer adjustment layer". I meant to say "levels adjustment layer" and "levels dialog". You'll find the link at the bottom of the layers pallete. Then in the layer you'll notice 2 thumbnails the one on the right is the mask. Click it, then paint on the image itself using black or white. Black hides the effect of the new adjustment layer
And white reveals it.at the top of the layers pallete is where you can change the opacity of the selected layer.