Fix Backlight Problems in 30 Seconds using PhotoDirector

Backlighting is a common photo editing problem. There is a loss of detail due to strong back-lighting and when camera exposes for the brightest part of the background, the foreground subject turns into a silhouette. This can happen photographing any subject - portrait, wildlife, architecture, and so on. Fortunately, this problem can be easily fixed to restore the details and in this tutorial, we will show you how by in a few quick steps using PhotoDirector.

The sample photo is an image of an owl, as you can see the camera is exposed to retain the color of the sky hence the owl is overly dark.



Simply move the Dark slider to brighten up the owl and darken the Bright. The owl has brighten up yet the color of the sky is retained.



Next, you can add some contrast to the image by adjusting the Contrast and Clarity slider. Clarity brings more definition to the mid-tone areas.

Next to sharpen the image even more, use adjust the Sharpen slider.

Use the Edge Mask slider to sharpen on the edge. By pressing down ALT and Edge Masker slider, the image will turn into Black and White. The white parts indicate the edge detected and sharpening will only be applied in those areas.

Next, 2 graduated filters are applied to darken the bottom part of the image. This is done by adjusting the exposure to the graduated filter.

and adding a subtle saturation adjustment to Blue when applying the Graduated Filter on the top.

And here is the Before and After Images to compare the result.

So, there, PhotoDirector is a smart tool that lets you brighten up dark areas without blowing out the highlights.

If you are new to PhotoDirector, learn more and download a 30-day free trial here. For technical support via email, contact louis_chen@cyberlink.com