An underexposed image

Nothing beats getting it right in the camera. But if the exposure isn’t perfect, a lot can still be achieved.

My friend snapped this shot of yours truly at a viewing deck on the Gold Coast. Unfortunately the flash didn’t fire, but I wanted to save the photo for my collection anyway.

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The trouble is, if I lighten the photo uniformly, I lose the fantastic view. So I need to be a little more clever.

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First, I select the foreground …

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… and lighten it. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a good start.

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Then I invert the selection, so I can boost the colours of the view.

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Time to get down to details. I select myself …

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… and enhance various areas. I add more colour to the skintone, lighten the shirt a little more, and balance the light and shadow areas as necessary.

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A few more little adjustments, and some sharpening, and I’m done.

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