Tips for processing photos taken at noon.

[Tim]

We all know that photos look better when shot earlier or later in the day, but sometimes there is no alternative to taking photos at noon, when the light is harsh.

This may be the only available time you have to visit this location, or it might be a once in a lifetime occasion to grab a shot that can't be repeated at another time. Its better to have a bad photo than none at all.

With this in mind, I would be interested to hear any tips that people have for rescuing or repairing photos taken at the worst time of the day.

[Colin Southern]

Not sure if this is what you're after of not, but if you can, use a diffuser ...

[Tim]

Thanks for that, Colin, but what I was really asking for were some tips on how to recover, in image post-processing, a photo that has already been taken in the harsh light of noon, using PhotoShop or similar.

[jiro]

Tim, this was taken in broad daylight:



You can try to lower down the exposure on the post-processing (but don't forget to shoot in RAW!) and use the recovery slider (either in LR or Photoshop) to control the bright areas. Don't adjust the contrast too much and just be moderate in using the saturation on the colors. If you want to balance out the shadow areas against the bright ones, use the fill slider to do that for you. Hope this helps.

[LeoLeo]

I'm taking pictures most of the time in the mid day, when I'm in the park with my son.

I'm using a -1/3 or -2/3 exposure compensation sometimes. After importing and setting withe ballance (daylight or even cloudy, to warm up the colours) , I play with levels and curves. I don't have some precise values, is up to you ... Also, you may use dodge and burn to remove some shadows or to increase them.

Leo