When you have a photo like this one, in which some of the areas are too dark and some too light, the shadows highlights adjustment is the best tool to reach for. Shadows highlights works particularly well with a photo like this that's back lit. In other words, where the light source is coming from behind the subject. Now, unfortunately, there is no shadows highlights adjustment layer. You have to apply this adjustment directly to the photo. So just to protect the original photo, I'm first going to make a copy of the background layer that contains the photo. And I'll apply this direct adjustment on the copy.
So I'll right click on that Background layer and I'll choose Duplicate layer and click OK. And then with the Background Copy layer selected, I'll go up to the Enhance menu, and down to Adjust Lighting. And finally, there I find the Shadows Highlights Adjustment. Clicking that, opens this dialogue box with its settings at their defaults. And just the default settings have had a positive effect on this image. If I uncheck Preview. That reminds us what the photo looked like without the Default Shadows Highlights Adjustments. And here's how it looks with them.
Basically what's happened is, that this feature has lightened the shadow areas but had very little effect on the bright highlight areas. I think this photo might look good with even lighter shadows, so I'm going to take the Lighten Shadows slider and drag it over to the right. And as I do, you can see that the building is getting lighter, but there is not much effect on the bright clouds. Now, I can darken down the highlights in the clouds without having much effect on the building by dragging the darken highlights slider over to the right. And as a tool tip says this is a good thing to do to correct back lighting problems.
And as I do that, you can see that the clouds are getting darker. And we can see more detail. And we have less blown out highlights. Now, when you do lighten shadows to this extent, you sometimes get this kind of a chalky look in the dark areas. To try to correct that, I'm going to increase the midtone contrast. Keep your eye on the building as I drag midtone contrast to the right. And that just crisps things up on the building. I'll click OK to apply these changes to the background copy layer. And that's how to use shadows highlights to even out the tones in a back lit photo like this one.
Author
Released
11/7/2013- Importing photos from a camera, computer, or iPhoto library
- Adding keyword tags and ratings to photos
- Automatically tagging people
- Organizing photos into albums
- Renaming and moving photos
- Correcting common photo problems automatically
- Retouching photos of friends and family
- Adjusting lighting and color
- Working with layers and layer masks
- Converting photos to black and white
- Cropping and straightening photos
- Adding text to photos
- Working with raw photos
- Making a slideshow
- Ordering prints
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Related Courses
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Introduction
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Welcome50s
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Elements overview6m 18s
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Working with catalogs4m 17s
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Using the exercise files2m 55s
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1. Importing Photos
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Preparing to import3m 34s
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Viewing imported photos2m 43s
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2. Streamlined Photo Editing
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3. Expert Editing Basics
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Customizing panels3m 42s
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Picking colors3m 17s
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Undoing and using History3m 31s
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4. Changing Size and Composition in Expert Edit
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Cropping photos4m 53s
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Resizing photos for print5m 43s
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Resizing photos for the web2m 31s
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Adding canvas size1m 36s
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5. Working with Layers in Expert Edit
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What are layers?3m 20s
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Text and shape layers5m 17s
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Building a layered composite5m 18s
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6. Using Selections and Masks in Expert Edit
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Why use selections?6m 46s
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Using the marquee tools3m 12s
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Using the lasso tools3m 3s
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Refining a selection8m 7s
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Modifying a selection3m 45s
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7. Correcting Photos in Expert Edit
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Auto smart toning2m 44s
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Adding adjustment layers3m 45s
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Removing color casts1m 50s
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Reducing digital noise4m 40s
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Output sharpening5m 50s
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8. Processing in Camera Raw
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What is Camera Raw?2m 40s
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Setting white balance3m 24s
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Reducing noise2m 49s
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Sharpening4m 31s
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Outputting from Camera Raw6m 14s
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9. Managing Photos in the Organizer
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Overview of the Organizer4m 52s
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Adding captions and notes1m 18s
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Sorting photos in Media view3m 24s
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Stacking related photos2m 34s
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Using Full Screen view3m 29s
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10. Working with Missing Files and Folders in the Organizer
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Moving files the right way1m 52s
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Renaming files the right way1m 25s
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Reconnecting missing files3m 19s
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11. Working with Virtual Albums in the Organizer
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Creating albums5m 10s
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Organizing albums1m 55s
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12. Keyword Tagging in the Organizer
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Creating keyword tags3m 24s
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Organizing keyword tags5m 27s
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Applying keywords to photos6m 45s
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Searching by metadata3m 33s
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Using Saved Searches3m 48s
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13. Organizing Photos by People, Events, and Place
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Working with People tags4m 28s
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Organizing by events5m 7s
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Organizing by Smart Events3m 21s
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Viewing photos on a map3m 45s
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14. Sharing and Printing Photos
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Setting up color management6m 30s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye40s
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Video: Improving shadows and highlights