Processing a High-Contrast Image

I wrote this in response to a request to discuss how I processed this shot.

On this particular day, the sunlight came through a few holes in the leafy canopy, creating a high-contrast situation. I like this kind of light for the drama it adds, but it adds exposure challenges, too. My way of dealing with this was to take two exposures, one for the majority of the scene, and one for the sunlit areas.

The Original Exposure

I used an exposure compensation of -1 on the original exposure, but even so, the areas in direct sunlight are overexposed.

Shutter Speed: 1.3, Aperture: 22, ISO: 200 Lens: 50mm
Original Exposure


After Masking

I copied a second, shorter exposure (0.5 seconds) into a layer and used masking to apply it only in the areas where the background layer was overexposed.

For details on this procedure, see our Tips on two-exposure contrast masking for Photoshop and for Photoshop Elements explain how the masking and erasing are done.

After Masking


After Selective Color

I made tweaks to the colors with Selective Color.
After Selective Color


After Levels

Since the original exposure was underexposed by one stop, I brought up the levels a little to make the shot look more like reality, and so the effect of the sunlight shows better.
After Levels



A Piece of Advice

Use a tripod :)