Adjusting Shadows And Highlights

I. INTRODUCTION

IN ADDITION to using Curves and Levels to correct the tonality of your photographs, you can also play with the Shadows/Highlights feature to help recover details in the shadow and highlight areas of a backlit image. This feature works a little bit like the Recovery and Fill Light sliders in Adobe Camera Raw, plus it also has additional controls to help with improving the blown out areas caused by a camera fl ash and lightening shadows in well exposed photographs. Best of all, you can apply Shadows/Highlights as a nondestructive filter if you first convert your image into a Smart Object.

II. STEPS TO ADJUST SHADOWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

STEP 1 Start this project by opening a backlit image in Photoshop. If you don't have one to work with but you do have a digital camera, take a picture of someone or something indoors in front of a bright window.

STEP 2 Select your image layer and choose Filter > Convert for Smart Filters. Converting the layer into a Smart Object lets you apply the Shadows/Highlight adjustment as a nondestructive Smart Filter that acts a lot like an adjustment layer, including having its own layer mask that you can use to selectively edit certain parts of the layer. For instance, you may want to reveal shadow areas of the subject but leave the background darkened.

STEP 3 To add the Smart Filter to your Smart Object, select Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlight. At once, the Shadows/Highlight dialog box opens and the Smart Filter is added to your layer. If you happen to see a smaller version of the dialog box, click the Show More Options check box to reveal the rest of the sliders.

STEP 4 If you like, use the settings shown in the Shadows/Highlights dialog box as a starting point for your image. Otherwise, experiment until the image looks right to you:

1 In the Shadows area, shift the Amount slider to the left to darken or to the right to brighten the areas with shadows. The Tonal Width sets the range of values affected by the Amount slider. The lower or higher the number, the smaller or greater are the shadows areas that are affected. Keep the width somewhat narrow to produce the best results. The Radius softens the edges of the Amount and Tonal Width.

2 In the Highlights area, shift the Amount slider to darken the brightest areas, the Tonal Width to set the range of the values affected by the Amount, and the Radius to soft en the edges.

3 In the Adjustments area, apply a bit of Color Correction and Mid tone Contrast to improve the overall image quality.

4 When finished, click OK to close the dialog box.

HINT: To return to the Shadows/Highlights dialog box at any time to make further adjustments, double-click the Shadows/Highlights filter effect name in the Layers panel.

STEP 5 To adjust the strength of the Shadows/Highlight Smart Filter affecting your image, select the Smart Filter mask thumbnail in your Layers panel and use the Paint Brush tool (B) to paint across your image with a black or white brush to either conceal or reveal areas of the filter. You may also want to apply a Sharpening filter to your main image to sharpen some of the details.