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Lightening an Underexposed Image, Method 1

 

When I’m shooting concert images, the lighting often changes quickly, and I end up with an image that’s just a little too dark. One of the simplest and most effective tricks to lighten an image is to use the Screen layer blend mode. Open the image, duplicate the Background layer by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J), and then change the blend mode of the new layer to Screen. Then simply adjust the Opacity of the new layer until it suits your needs.

4 Comments

  1. Jason Lykins said on — June 18, 2009 @ 10:44 am

    Great tip. I don’t usually use this particular method, but it’s still solid none the less.

  2. Sharon Wright said on — June 18, 2009 @ 11:22 am

    Great tip, thanks

  3. David A said on — June 18, 2009 @ 12:07 pm

    Great tip, Corey. You can also experiment with Overlay to enhance contrast on a dull pic.

  4. Fun Friday: Links We Love - June 19, 2009 | A Blog For Portrait, Wedding & Lifestyle Photographers | PhotoOne Software Pingback on — June 19, 2009 @ 11:10 am

    [...] Lightening an Underexposed Image [...]

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Create A Composite Layer

If you have a multilayer composition and you
want to apply an effect to all the layers at once, don’t flatten the layers–use a composite layer instead. Hide the layers you want excluded, and press Shift-Command-Option-E (PC: Shift-Ctrl-Alt-E). A new layer will be created at the top containing a merged copy of all the visible layers.

Another option is to create a new layer at the top of the stack and make it active. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) each layer you want to include to make those layers active, as well. Press Option-Command-E (PC: Alt-Ctrl-E).
by Colin Smith

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