How to Fix an Underexposed Photo in Photoshop - Example: Sunsets Center | Photoshop Tutorial
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- How to Fix an Underexposed Photo in Photoshop | Photoshop Tutorial • How to Fix an Underexp...
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Part One - Recover Details from the Underexposed Foreground (1:30 min)
When I opened up the image the first time, I thought all is lost as there did not seem to be any detail in the image at all. However, thanks to shooting in RAW and therefore retaining a lot of information, I was able to retrieve what I thought was lost.
There are several ways of recovering the detail - the two easiest ones I show in this Photoshop tutorial - starting out, I used a curve adjustment layer, where I just dragged the curve up until I saw a foreground. This was a moment of revelation, seeing all the details come back! Similarly, you can also use a levels adjustment layer and drag the sliders to the left, which will to essentially the same thing.
Once the foreground had the illumination that I wanted, I had to make sure I do not also have this in the sky - otherwise, it would be far too bright there. To do so, I hit G on my keyboard to get the gradient tool, and on a white layer mask, I dragged with the tool from top to bottom. As I had a perfectly straight horizon, this worked just fine :)
Part Two - Remove Lens Flare and Fix the Color (3:50 min)
Having the tree in the middle of the image was great, but due to the low quality when zooming in about 150%, the colors of the tree were a little off. Further, there was a super annoying lens flare just at one of the amazing branches of the tree - we have to fix this, it is a problem that you will face often when learning how to fix an underexposed Photo in Photoshop!
For the lens flare, I started out by creating a new layer (CMD+Shift+Alt+N) and changed the blending mode to color. After doing this, I took a brush (B), selected a nice color from an actual branch (hold Alt to select when the brush is active), and painted this over the part of the branch that looked odd. Lens flare can exist for two reasons - color and brightness. Now that we took care of the color, we have to take care of the brightness. For this, I used a simple curve adjustment layer, which I then selectively brushed through using a layer mask.
I used the exact same technique to remove other strange colored areas in the tree, making sure it has a nice brown, as trees are supposed to have!
Part Three - Remove the Noise (7:10 min)
Removing noise in Photoshop can be done using a variety of ways. In fact, one of my first videos was about this, so instead of writing it all again, have a look here to quickly grasp the concept (the sound is not perfect, I did not have a proper mic back then haha). Noise will be a constant companion when working on underexposed images, so you might as well get all the techniques now in this how to fix an underexposed Photo in Photoshop tutorial.
Part Four - Lighten the Centre of the Image (10:00 min)
To draw extra attention to the center of the image, I created a simple curve adjustment and increased the general brightness a notch. Once done, I hit CMD+I to invert the layer mask on the adjustment and used a white brush to bring it out in the center. After this, I made a copy of the layer (CMD+J) and hit CMD+I to invert the layer mask. I then went into the adjustment itself and decreased the brightness a little. The two adjustment complement each other, and you will see that the center is nice and bright, while the rest of the image is darkened down.
Remember, shortcuts make your life easier and can speed up your processing a lot! Here is what I used in this image and most of my Photoshop tutorials:
B for the brush
X to change between background and foreground colors
CMD+I to invert anything
CMD+J to duplicate a layer or a selection
CMD+Alt+Shift+N to get a new layer
G for the gradient tool
On a Windows PC, just replace the CMD with Ctrl.
Intro music from Kevin MacLeod (Prelude and Action)
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Am new to Photoshop and this video make it easier for me to move around and I learnt more than enough
Wow, this was really helpful, Philip! Well explained and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Jessica! :) glad it helped!!!
hi I use affinity, how can I use a "selective clarity". I have seen this passage when you create a mask and the you use the pencil to clarify only the plants. but I can not understand how can I do (also with photoshop). thanks
Excellent tutorial Many thanks
Thank you John! Happy editing :)
Hello I was wondering if you can help me edit a photo that will help me for the true answer for me..
God this video was made a while back so this is kinda a long shot, but how would I darken the horizon? You mentioned it but didn't feel the need to darken for your photo.
Excellent Job My Friend
Thanks Alex!
Luminosity masking, "using color range," would have better results and less noise!
Hello :) please feel free to link any tutorial or page that shows how this is done to help the people here and let them check it out. Greetings!
Nice tutorial, not too over technical on this particular method.
+Keith Andrews thanks for stopping by Keith!
Thank you for the tutorial !
Amazing job
Thank you for stopping by Eriks!
Phillip Glombik I often underexpose images. But sometimes the light suddenly drops and you got that super lovely shot but it's to underexposed. Definitely staying as sub for further tutorials
Haha I know what you mean - happens to everyone every now and again, especially if you’re in a hurry. At least it is possible to rescue some of these images in post :) I’m glad you stick around! Let me know if there is anything specific you’d like to know/learn. Have a great weekend!
Phillip Glombik exactly. And that's why I love photography. Alway gives me new challenges. Keep up the good work
So for some reason, the brush tool isn't working after creating the mask and then pressing the 'control I'.... any idea why this wouldn't work?
Hey there - mhhh there are a couple of reasons that could be responsible: when you invert the mask, you have to make sure you have the opposite colour selected for the brush. So if the mask is white, the brush has to be black to paint and hide the effect. Or if the mask is black, the effect can be painted in with a white brush.
Another thing that happens often is that the actual adjustment is selected and not the mask itself. You won’t be able to paint on the adjustment layer, so make sure the mask is selected.
These are the things that I see most often, though it’s difficult to say without seeing of course. I suggest taking a screenshot and throwing it in one of the many photoshop groups on Facebook to let users have a proper look :)
Hope that helps! And thanks for watching!
Very interesting video, great explained!
+Alois Lemberger thank you Alois! Glad you enjoyed my man.
love ur tutorial 🙌
Thank you! I am sure underexposure is a problem everyone has every now and again haha - glad this time it worked out so well :) Have a great day!
my ps doesnt have this camera raw filter option :((
Coole Tipps und Workflow. Aber eins wundert mich bei dir als Ps Anwender mit gutem Skill Level doch (sehe ich oft, nicht nur bei dir): bei ca. 5:30, wo du den Lens Flare raus pinselst, wieso setzt du da die Opacity auf 20% statt bei 100% zu belassen und nicht den Flow auf 5% oder 10% (wie ich das mache)??? Opacity 20% bedeutet, dass wenn ein Wert von 20% Opacity erreicht ist, auch das Ende der Fahnenstange vom Effekt erreicht ist, auch wenn du eigentlich 30% bräuchtest (die 30% ist eine erfundene Hausnummer zur Erklärung). Da kannst du Pinseln bis das Tablett durchgescharrt ist, das wird nicht mehr (und das merkt man auch im Video an der entsprechenden Stelle 😉🤓). Flow hingegen baut bei jedem Pinselstrich den Effekt auf, bis zum max. in Opacity gesetzten Wert. Opacity = maximaler Wert des Effekts der erreicht werden kann, Flow = Wert um den der Effekt pro Pinselstrich aufgebaut wird. Ich benutze ein Druck sensitives Tablett, da geht das dann noch feiner. Bei mir steht da normalerweise Opacity = 100%, Flow = irgendwas zwischen 5..10%. Mit dem Druck sensitivem Tablett sind das dann Komma-Prozente, mit denen ich den Effekt "Hauch um Hauch" perfekt aufbauen kann. Bitte versteh mich nicht falsch, ich will nicht Klugscheissen, mich wundert's einfach immer wieder, wie viele Photoshopper mit gutem Skill Level es gibt, die sich mit einem niedrigen Opacity Wert den Effekt amputieren, statt mit einem tiefen Flow aufzubauen - was auch dem normalen Arbeiten mit analogen Stiften entspräche und zu definitiv viel weniger Photoshopped wirkenden Resultaten führt 😉
+Roland Rick hallo Roland, sau cool dass du dir die Zeit nahmst für den Kommentar!! Es ist aber ganz einfach - meine Tutorials sind für beginner ausgelegt; ich selbst arbeite mit Flow natürlich, gerade wie du gesagt hast machst es ja nur Sinn wenn man ein Tablett hat :) ich hatte zu Anfang einmal hier in test Kreisen mit Flow gearbeitet - wenn man aber gerade mit Photoshop anfängt und erst dabei ist das Prinzip einer Layer mask zu verstehen, dann war der Flow eher etwas, was das ganze komplizierte. Ich hatte damals dann entschieden das erst einmal wegzulassen in den beginner tuts. Opacity ist da einfacher - x% wird gezeigt, fertig. Du hast aber natürlich absolut recht, Flow wäre etwas was man schon nutzen sollte :D ich versuche einmal es in den nächsten tuts einzubauen und schaue wie es ankommt :) Danke noch einmal für den Kommentar! Und Grüße aus Dublin!
You going to hit what on your keyboard to bring up the gradient mask?? I can’t understand what you’re saying at that one part. Literally sounds like you said “zhree”
Could have shot.