Open Shadows not Highlights

Original Image

From a RAW file I would use the “fill light” command in ACR to open shadows like this but here is a cool technique I think you’ll like.

Recently, I gave a presentation to the students at Chatham HS in New Jersey under the direction of Pat Lamorte. During the presentation we had a lighting setup on the stage and I had the pleasure of working with model Christina Cassar.

Setting up and presenting from their large stage and auditorium was fun and challenging but the primary point was showing the light… when demonstrating lighting the actual size of the large stage and auditorium made well for a rather contrasty ratio from Highlight to Shadow. The following is a technique to open shadows while keeping the highlights in tack.

This technique works great when you do not have access to the RAW file. To start out with we’ll create a shadow mask by creating a highlight mask (btw… Thanks to Katrin Eisman, Jimmy DiVitale, and Dan Bulkholder for revealing and re-revealing this kind of masking). Here are the steps…

STEP 1

Hold down these keys in this sequence:

Mac: Command + Option + Shift + 3

Windows: Control + Alt + Shift + 3

This will load the highlights in the image as an active selection.

Highlight Selection

STEP 2

Inverse this selection

>Select >Inverse

STEP 3

From the Layer’s Panel choose an adjustment layer using Exposure. Carefully change the Gamma slider to open the shadows(position cursor over the name “Gamma” to use Scrubby Slider for more control).

TIP: Using the Exposure control will allow you to open the shadows without having color issues (what I refer to as Color Crossover). Don’t over do this as it can generate a “digital look” if you open too much which is dependent on the shadow information that is originally in the image.

Final Image