Brightness and Contrast Corrections
The fundamentals of photo correction.
Probably the most basic and essential skill need to improve the quality of your photo is to know how to manipulate the powerful Brightness Contrast features provided in Photoshop. I shall go through various basic and advanced techniques to make your photos come alive.
In this example, we will take this dull and insipid photo of Jessica Alba, and try to make it just as beautiful as her. (Trying to be smart, don't tease me)
Here’s the original image:------------------------------------------------------------And here’s our end result:
Load the image in Photoshop. Be sure to keep a backup of the original so that you can compare it with your edited picture.
If your image is a JPEG or GIF image, it will currently not have layers – and the entire image will be read by Photoshop as one layer or a Background. You will first need to extract layers from this background. To do this, in the Layers window, right click on the locked layer that says Background and select Layer From Background…
In the Window that opens, enter Base as the name and press Enter.
Now that we have the image extracted, we can begin with our corrections.
The first thing you must do is reduce the “dullness” of the photo. To do that, you need to fiddle around with the Brightness and Contrast settings till you get it right. I will demonstrate three ways of doing this.
1. By using Photoshop’s Auto Correction Features (EASY)
In most cases, Photoshop’s automated features are enough to fix your photos. This is probably the easiest and quickest way to fix your images. The downside? You really don’t get any control over what adjustments are made to the photo. Photoshop fixes what it believes needs to be fixed – and sometimes this just ain’t enough.
Simply go to Image>>Adjustments>>Auto Contrast. That’s it, this’ll fix around 80% of your photos to perfection, or at least improve them significantly.
Sometimes, it’s better to select Auto Levels instead of Auto Contrast, but we’ll discuss that later.
2. By Manually Adjusting Brightness and Contrast (INTERMEDIATE)
A more powerful method of achieving this is by using the functions provided in the Image menu.
· In the Image menu, select Adjustments, and then click on Brightness/Contrast…
· The following window should open:
Make sure that the Preview option is checked.
· Move the sliders until you get a result you like. In our example, the image is LIGHTER and DULLER. Consequently, you must reduce its Brightness and increase its Contrast to get a better picture. Mess around till you like what you see. When satisfied, press Enter or click OK.
*In this image only, I set the Brightness at -20 and the Contrast at +40.
· Pretty good result, don’t you think? But still not good enough.
· Now let’s say you think there isn’t adequate lighting. To correct this, again from the Image menu, select Adjustments and then click on Exposure.
· Again, make sure that Preview is selected. The Offset and Gamma features work, at this level, just like the Brightness/Contrast features discussed above. Ignore these two, and increase or decrease the Exposure to bring out or hide the lighter spots in the image and thus improve overall lighting.
*In this image only, I set the Exposure at +0.75
· Your photo must be looking pretty darn impressive by now, huh? That’s the extent of this part of the tutorial. To further improve the photo, read the next step of the tutorial.
3. By Using Layers, Masks and Other Features (ADVANCED)
Everything discussed above can pretty much be done by any simple photo editing piece of crap that came with your camera. So what’s the advantage of having Photoshop CS2 or higher? We’ll now discuss how to use layers, masks, and some more advanced features allowed by Photoshop.
First and foremost, analyze your photograph. What’s wrong with it? What can be improved? All the features described below are optional, and their usage depends on the photo you’re working with.
· In our example, the pic-cha is clearly faded. It’s too dull and there’s no difference between white and grey, or between yellow and brown. It’s all blended together, there’s no difference in the level lighting. There’s no difference in the foreground and the background. There’s no lighting difference between Jessica and her arm, or between Jessica and the wall. The keyword here is difference. If everything in a photo has the same lightness, it look rather dull and faded… like the pictures your grandpa shows you when he’s rambling on about his days in the youth corps.
· So, our aim here should be to INCREASE the difference. To separate out the background from the foreground. To BRING OUT Jessica from the rest of the image.
· If you haven’t guessed it yet, we need to improve the difference. And in Photoshop, DIFFERENCE in lighting is achieved through adjusting the Contrast or Brightness. This may seem like an idiot’s rambling, but I want to stress the fact that whenever you’re photo is too dull or faded, it’s probably the CONTRAST that you want to adjust.
· Now let’s get to work.
· First, we’ll again use the features described above, but in a different and more efficient way using Layers.
· From the original image, select the Base layer.
· See the tiny circle below in the image? That’s the button for applying the very same effects you see in the Image>>Adjustments menu, but using layers. It’s called the Add Adjustment Layer button.
· Click on this button, and select Brightness/Contrast. Again mess around, like above, until you get a better image. Don’t try to make it perfect yet though, what’re the other functions for? Just fiddle around till you get an improved image.
*In this image only, I set Brightness as -35 and Contrast at +55
· Now, as you may have observed, the effects were applied just as earlier – BUT through a layer this time. This option has many advantages. First, the effect is applied through the layer. So if at any point, you feel like you don’t want the effect any more, simply hide/delete the layer without affecting any other part of the image. Second, it allows for more selective use of the effect, as I am about to demonstrate. And if, at any time, you want to change the properties of that effect, (in this case the brightness/contrast you applied), just double click on the layer thumbnail and the properties window will jump right up.
· If you’re applying the same settings as I am, you may have observed that the image is too dark and that there’s a little too much contrast. That’s so that we can now see the layer mask in action.
· The white empty page that you see next to the image thumbnail is the Layer mask. When working with the Layer mask, ensure that it is selected. If not, the actual image or layer will be affected.
· The Layer mask allows us to define what portions of the layer we want to be visible. In other words, it lets us hide and show the current layer and its effects wherever we want. Wherever the mask is empty, the layer and its effects are visible. Wherever it isn’t, the layer and its effects are not seen.
· Mess around with this till you get a better understanding of it. Take the paintbrush and just make weird circles and lines and shapes all over with the Layer mask still selected. You’ll see that wherever you painted, the Brightness/Contrast effect was hidden from view. Black areas in the mask are hidden, empty areas are shown, and grey areas are partly hidden, depending on its lightness/intensity. This will allow us to specify which areas we want brighter, and which areas we don’t.
· Now, you could do this manually, or you could use Photoshop’s different filters and effects to do it for you.
· In our example, we want the Brightness/Contrast effect to be applied MORE to the duller spots, and LESS to the more vivid parts. A simple way to do this is:
o With the Layer mask still selected, click on Image>>Apply Image.
o In the Window, select Base as the Layer and RGB as the Channel. Make sure the Opacity is set to 100% (or whatever percent you see fit) and click OK or press Enter.
o This paints/copies the Base layer on the mask. As a result, darker parts are excluded and lighter parts are included. This trick works for 99% of images, though sometimes it comes out weird and kind of has the opposite effect. If that’s the case, with the Layer mask still selected, click on Image>>Adjustments>>Invert. That should fix it.
o Maybe you think the effect needs to be stronger. In that case, just duplicate the Layer till you get the desired result.
· And this is our result using these steps:
· Another useful feature using Layers again, is by using the Blending Options.
· Load the original image.
· Right-click on the Base layer, and select Duplicate Layer. A new layer, which is the exact copy of this layer, should emerge.
· Right-click on the new Layer, and select Blending Options. A new window should pop up. Ensure that Preview is again checked.
· Under the General Settings, select a Blend Mode that improves the quality of the picture. You'll have to fiddle around to see which one first best for your photograph. Some commonly used Blend Modes are:
o Multiply: Darkens and fills light spots. Great for photos with too much light or glare.
o Color Burn: Really increase the Contrast. Useful for extremely dull photographs.
o Linear Burn: Decrease Brightness in lighter spots. Again useful for dull photographs.
o Color Dodge: Lightens already light spots. Good for making already light areas lighter. Used for special effects like glows, etc.
o Screen: Lightens the overall image. Useful in improving darker images.
o Overlay: Combines the Screen and Multiply features. A very impressive effect that works with most images.
o Linear Light: Automatically senses light and dark spots. Throws light on dark areas, darkens light areas. Quick and powerful for overall Brightness/Contrast correction.
· When you find a mode that fits (depending on the original image), you may change the Opacity (just below the Blend Modes) to adjust the intensity of the effect.
· When done, click OK or press Enter.
*In this image only, I used Linear Light with an Opacity of 60%.
· Et Voilà! You’re done!
· Here’s our result:
· Usually, it’s better to use more than just any one effect till you get the desired outcome. With a little more fiddling, combining the effects described in this tutorial, you can transform a simple click of the cam into a work of art.
· Dreamy, eh?
THIS CONCLUDES THIS PART OF THE TUTORIAL.
Part one is very clear and there's lot of information in there. Already waiting for the next parts, good luck with those! 
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