HELP! Need some PS help quick...

rahmonster

Ok last week I was asked by a freind to photograph her son and his girlfriend before they went to their end of grade ten formal do. I reluctatly accepted, I have never done this sort of thing before.

Now his date was 45 minutes late and I had no flash. These were shot on fuji superia 400 ISO film on a canon eos 30. I was really worried about the sun but it was the only light I had to go with....There was no light coming into the house, had no flash, very small garden.

Anyway I did get the negs scanned for a reason. I'm not happy with them and I would like some help (if theres any hope) at some post work to make them better....

heres a couple




More in the Gallery...

Thanks in advance

Owen

I played around for a bit and the black shadows are black with very little detail.. unfortunately I wasn't successful in doing any sort of saving. Too bad you didn't turn them away from from the sun and then expose for their bodies and not the BG. *shrugs* Hindsight is 20/20.

gus

Im no help RM...that is so typical of 0zzie sun though. Its just so harsh.

Next time get an esky lid or anything large & flat...cover it with aluminium foil for a reflector.

Dixie

Rah, there's some detail there in the shadows, but it's really going to have to be worked to bring it out. I created a duplicate layer and adjusted the bottom layer for detail in the shadows. Then erased the top layer where the shadows were. Opacity 50%, flow 50% with a soft brush.

I know it won't help for this one, but in the future when faced with this situation try to find a white or light colored structure opposite the sun. Hopefully, the reflection from the structure will help eliminate or reduce the harsh shadows. I would say use a reflector, but it's probably home sitting beside the flash.

David_S85

Is there possibly more information in the neg's that didn't get picked up in the scanning? If so, can they be re-scanned properly to gain more range?

rahmonster

I had the photo store scan the negs for me, I don't have a scanner of my own. And I don't have a flash or a reflector either which is why I really tried to weasel my way out of this one....I tried to tell them I've never done it before and I don't really have the right set up but, she kept insisting so I said I would try...

I was just hoping maybe I could come up with something a little better for her. Thanks for your help everyone.

nickphoto123

Help! Need some PS help quick...
Here is my try:

Regards, Nicholas

pathfinder

If these are really important images - like a friendship is at stake:): - I would consider having these rescanned by someone who really knows how to do it.

I don't know your scanning vendor ( they may be good), but I do know from experience that many scans from standard retail photo stores are just awful. They are machine done with no attempt to optimize them. That is why I have scanned hundreds and hundreds of my own families archival slides.

Negative film TENDS to be more forgiving in shadow detail than digital or slides, so there MAY still be more information obtainable by a good professional scan, done by a vendor that speciallizes in scanning and converting film to digital. You might want to give that a try if these are important for your friendship's stake.

binghott

i know it's way too late for this, but next time shoot in the shade!

rahmonster

:giggleI did stand them in the shade but it was that time of day all I had was really bright sun, really dark shade. Its an Australian problem our sun is just so harsh.

Pathfinder I was taking a look at the prints last night and they are better than these neg scans. The bright areas aren't blown but the shadows are still dark.

There is no friendship at stake, I guess I'm just a little disappointed in myself.

nickphoto123

PS help....
Guess you did not like the other versions of your image we posted.

This kind of shot realy requires Fill Flash.

Regards, Nicholas

DavidTO

pathfinder wrote:

If these are really important images - like a friendship is at stake:): - I would consider having these rescanned by someone who really knows how to do it.

Ahhh. Pathfinder. Always the voice of reason. All hail PF!

Yes, the image as it is posted is pretty hopeless of being anything to write home about...rescanning is definitely your best bet for a nice print. I have confidence that a good scan and some good post work would yield a decent print. This is exactly the kind of thing that it is imperative to get right in the scan, to try and compensate later is nigh impossible, at least with this one.

Hopefully your scan will come in looking flat, but it will have no blown highlights or crunched up shadows...it will be flat, boring, but full of good info, I hope...then comes the processing work...