Adjusting Dark Shadows and Bright Highlights

Adjusting Dark Shadows and Bright Highlights

Photoshop has a nifty little feature to help you fix photos with dark shadows and

bright highlights.

Solution

The photograph of the quilt below was taken in partial shade. Notice how the quilt

appears washed out in areas on which the sunlight fell.

Let’s recover some of the detail from those

shadowed areas. Select Image > Adjustments >

Shadow/Highlight. In the dialog box that appears,

check the Show More Options checkbox. Adjust

the values for Shadows and Highlights. If the

shadowed areas start to look too gray or dull,

increase the Color Correction amount. Click OK

once you’re happy with the effect.

For additional enhancement, try adding a Levels

or Curves adjustment layer.

The examples at the top of the next page

compare my original photo to the adjusted

photo. The difference is subtle, but the

adjustment allows us to see more of the detail on

the quilt, and more of its natural colors.