Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> For people shooting it's not only direct sun but any bright sunlight
> around anywhere. Consider the shady/sunny family photo here:
> <http://www.chucknorcutt.com/family.php> This is one of the hardest
> things there is to handle and it must be done with flash. (and this one
> isn't done as well as it might have been)
>
Couldn't it also be done with reflectors and/or continuous lights?
I've been reading you and Jeff talking about difficulties with getting
even lighting of home interiors and you on the subject of fill flash.
And I wonder if the technique I use to even out illumination in post
would be of use to you. (And I notice Bob W has found it too, from his
recent post.)
I hope you don't mind my working with your shady/sunny family photo
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/Others/CNorcutt/Family.htm>, as well
as a couple of shots of mine
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/tech/Process/Lighting/Library2.htm>
& <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/tech/Process/Lighting/Kitchen.htm>.
It doesn't remove the shadows you refer to, but is certainly does open
up the folks in the back while putting some detail into the white shirts
and light pants in the front. And as usual, one could go anywhere in
between. (Apologies to those using IE. I don't know how to make the
family shot example work in IE, even though I used HTML from an MS
reference.)
I put in all the steps on the family shot, because it's something many
people wouldn't fall into, as it makes the image look worse in the first
steps. Details can vary, but in this case:
1. Shadow/Highlight expands the highlights and shadow in toward the
middle of the histogram.
2. Contrast shortens the histogram and Brightness adjusts its location
relative to the ends. Both are to leave room for the effects of LCE in
the next step. In this case, I wanted to let the darkest shadow detail
go, so left room only to the right. By this point, the image looks
pretty poor.
3. LCE brings back some of the contrast lost in the last two steps, but
not globally.
4. Curves brightens up the mid-tones and adds a little global contrast.
For a lower key shot, you could skip this step on this shot or try
varying the curve and/or layer opacity.
The room shots are of a house where we were guests. I had only the
little on-camera flash, which I thought would be terrible, so I was
stuck with what light was there. And predictably, I got pretty bad
images. At least I made sure to hold the important highlights. The
kitchen is lighted only by indirect sunlight through windows, some
behind and beside me. The library (yes, it has a secret door!) is
illuminated with mixed light from the chandelier and window light.
In neither case is he result entirely natural looking, but in each, it's
a LOT better than the image from the camera. The closer the lighting is
to even, the better this technique works as it looks more natural.
In retrospect, I should have also tried the flash set to -1.5-2 EV in
the library for fill. I don't know if it would be better or not, as the
lighting colors and directions would be even more mixed. In the kitchen,
flash reflections would have been bad.
Moose
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