Overexposed wedding pictures

[BrightSpot]

Hi ladies,

I already posted some of my favorite professional wedding pictures of my recent wedding, but I have a dilemma about the photos. Nearly half of the shots were really overexposed. (I know my skin is pale, but it''s actually white & glowing in some of the photos & there''s no detail whatsoever shown in my dress--it''s just white & glowing as well.) I know it''s nice to be a glowing bride, but this isn''t what I had in mind.

I have a half dozen or so shots I really like, but the rest are a mess. I''d love to be able to save the overexposed shots if possible. The photographs are digital & I have all of the original images on disk.

Does anyone know if it''s possible to correct the photos & if so, how to do it? I have an old version of Photoshop (5.5), but am not well versed in using it.

Here are a couple of examples of the freakishly glowing bride & gown...

This is the worst example. You can''t see where my skin ends & my dress begins.

Glowing dress...

I swear I''m not that pale...

The shot above was taken by our professional photographer...

This is nearly the same shot taken by one of our guests. Big difference. (Doesn''t it look like we
won the Publisher''s Clearing House Sweepstakes?)

I''d really appreciate any guidance you could offer. It makes me really sad that so many of our photos turned
out poorly.

 

[jcrow]

i tried playing with the curves but if there is a way to fix them, i think there must be something better than the results i got with curves.

 

[katrina_33]

You can adjust the light / contrast for sure. However, if there was no detail on the dress captured at all in some of them, you won''t be able to add it back in from nowhere. But it should help with the skin tones, etc. With the exception of the first one where your dress and skin completely blend, I think they look cool though - I think a lot of times dress details don''t show up in pictures and you have some pics that show the detail in your dress for posterity- and that glow effect with your skin is really pretty i think!

i will tinker with the small versions you posted and see if i can make them look any better and if so will tell you how i did it!

 

[katrina_33]

also, your photographer might have digitally manipulated them in the first place, do you happen to know? maybe they could give you unedited "raw" files if you aren''t keen on the way they post processed them. don''t know for sure, but worth asking them!

 

[jcrow]

i tried the brightness/contrast on one and didn''t work as well as curves. i''ll try some other options.
but kat''s right, unfortunately if the details isn''t there, it can''t be brought back...

 

[jcrow]

yeh- looking at the histogram of the first pic, looks like it''s not there

 

[jcrow]

here's my attemp at photo #1. i used curves then color balance.
i think the darks get too dark...

 

[aljdewey]

Bright, I''m not sure what can be done to correct it, but I can offer a little insight on why you''re seeing this problem.

Standard point and shoot cameras are designed to produce photos that achieve something called "18% gray". Why? Because it''s been determined that if the light in an average scene is averaged out, it will produce an 18% gray tone.

One of the problems with this default is that it can make white items (snow, wedding dress, etc.) appear gray and not white. The way photographers compensate for this is to increase the exposure (either with wider f-stop or longer exposure time); doing so makes white items look white and not gray.

It''s a delicate balance, though, because overexposing *too* much results in washing out details in the white....which it appears happened with your photos.

Wedding scenes are usually very difficult to propoerly expose because you have 2 extremes of the spectrum - white whites and dark darks (black, etc.). It''s tough for the camera to achieve a balance that doesn''t lose all the detail in the blacks, but doesn''t grey out the whites. These challenges become even more compounded when you have a such a bright light location....outdoors, instead of very well shaded or inside.

Consequently, most photographers meter (take light readings) from your faces, as they are the most important points of the photos. Looks like that''s what your professional photographer tried to do here because the details in your faces do show.

The photographer also has to compensate for the different skin tones in the same picture. You''ll notice that the details of the face of the black gentleman in your professional pictures are much more defined than in your guest photo. That''s another reason the dress looks overexposed; he or she is trying to get the exposure correct for the faces involved, as they are the central points of the photo.

None of this helps you correct the photos, but it may help you to feel less disappointed in your photographer.

 

[jcrow]

wow thanks alj... very good to know!

 

[Scintillating]

Do you have the raw files? Or just the jpgs? High resolution jpgs?

Scintillating...

 

[snow_happy]

AHHH! My post got erased. Ok... here it goes again...

For highlight/shadow or auto adjust editing I always use Picasa. I believe it also has a batch feature to apply your changes to a group of pictures so you don''t have to adjust each one individually. Picasa is free software by Google (or a company that Google acquired rather) that is available for PC users and is similar to iphoto on the mac. Just import your pics (save the originals of course) and then adjust and undo as you please. I find this easier than working with photoshop, the paths and curves.

Here is the link: http://picasa.google.com/

Also, you can google picasa and read the rave reviews about it! It''s really easy to use and totally effective.

Good luck!

 

[BrightSpot]

Hi everyone.

Jcrow, katrina, aljdewey, scintillating, & snow_happy, I can''t tell you how much I appreciate your responses to my post. I''ve been fretting over this since we left Jamaica & have not been able to get much information on whether or not these photos can be fixed. It''s been so frustrating. I really appreciate your help & advice.

I''ve looked at countless beach wedding photos online, including many taken at the same wedding site we used, & none of them looked washed out like this. The photos look even worse in print than they do online.

I''m so impressed at your knowledge of photography & digital editing.

Aljdewey, thank you for your detailed post & explanation of the cause of the problem with my photos. I''ve felt so in the dark about this that it really does help to have a sense of the root cause. Maybe I should''ve had my husband wear a lighter colored suit after all?

The shots in the garden are much worse than the shots on the beach--perhaps it was because of a darker background?

jcrow, thanks for photoshopping the picture of me & my dad. The color balance does look better in your edit, but I guess if the information isn''t there on my dress, etc., there''s nothing that can be done.

Scintillating & katrina, I have all photos on disk as high res jpegs. I don''t know if these are the raw files or if the images were edited. I just emailed the photographer''s company to ask, but I suspect it will be a while before I receive a response. (Island time....)

snow_happy, I did use Picasa for some color balance work on my photos (the good ones on the beach) & it did a nice job. Unfortuantely, it didn''t do much in the way of correcting the dress issues. I guess I know why now! It has been a really helpful & user friendly program, though.

katrina, thanks for saying the effect looks cool.

I think I do have a few photos that show the dress in details for posterity, which is what matters, I guess.

Would it be helpful to see the larger files?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[AmantdeChat]

Awww..so sorry about the overexposed pictures BrightSpot!

I don''t have any suggestions about fixing it, but I wanted you to know that they still show a beautiful bride and her handsome husband perfectly!!

Hopefully some of the suggestions above will work for you. Good Luck!

 

[BrightSpot]

Thanks so much for your sweet response, AmantdeChat. It really did make me feel better.

I guess, worst case scenario, we have several photos which I really like--enough to put up in our little apartment. I just really hoped for an album full of great photos, ya know?

This may be nuts, but I''m thinking that maybe DH & I should get dressed in our wedding attire again (we still have everything we wore on hand) & find a photog friend or someone from Craig''s list to take some photos of us together in Central Park. It would be nice to have another shot (no pun intended...

) at some good photos & another chance to wear my dress again might be nice too.

Poor DH....unfortunately for him, I don''t embarrass easily.

 

[jcrow]

wow brightspot, i think that''s a fab idea! who wouldn''t want to wear their wedding dress again and take post wedding pics with their hubby?!

 

[Mara]

i''m so sorry about this BS!!!! is there any way for your photographer to salvage them or fix them?? ugh! what a drag...i hate when professional people make a mess of a one time kinda thing. i think that doing some local shots re-dressed up would be a fab idea but of course you want the original shots too to come out nicely.

we had wedding pictures on the beach and hubby wore a dark suit and i was in white, and our pictures came out fine. i guess we should feel really lucky right about now?!!? ...keep us posted if you can salvage them!

 

[Odilia]

I can''t personally offer advice, but I know that my brother just finished a project of converting all my Dad''s old photographic slides into digital, and it was amazing what he was able to do with some of them. There was a picture of me & my siblings that always just looked completely washed out; it''s a wonder we never just threw the slide away. Well, somehow this digitizer managed to pull out some of the detail, and it was amazing. You could see things that you never knew were in the photo. I don''t know if that kind of thing could work with your pics, but it sure seems like it might. That digitizer seemed so powerful, like it could fix most exposure problems. That is truly a bummer if your professional wedding pics aren''t right. I looked totally washed out and pale in mine, but it wasn''t a problem so much with photography, as much as makeup. The girl who did my makeup totally botched it; I looked like a cadaver. Actually, in my case the professional''s were a bit better than friends'' cameras. But pale as a ghost in almost all of them. ugh. At least in your case you can tell you look beautiful, and that it''s just the photography! Although I know that''s not much consolation.

 

[Tybee]

Oh poop!
That really stinks!! I personally have no advice or helpful words for you. I do want to compliment you on your
wonderful attitude, though. I think you and your hubby getting redressed in wedding attire is a really sweet idea too.
You do look lovely in your photos, though, washed out or not.

 

[Odilia]

Date: 5/23/2006 2:37:13 PM
Author: BrightSpot
This may be nuts, but I''m thinking that maybe DH & I should get dressed in our wedding attire again find a photog friend to take some photos of us together in Central Park. It would be nice to have another shot (no pun intended...

) at some good photos & another chance to wear my dress again might be nice too.

That is a fun idea. I have fantasized about this myself. My seamstress botched my dress, my hairdresser botched my hair, makeup artist botched my makeup, so I dreamed of getting dress fixed, hair & makeup done right, and taking some more shots. It''ll probably never happen; maybe our 10th anniversary? Let us know if you do it; would love to see the pics!

 

[selflove]

I agree with some of the other posters that your photographer should be able to do something about this much better than you!

I''m so sorry! I understand b/c who DOESN''T want a huge beautiful album of wedding photos! But at least you got a few of them.

Getting dressed up again sounds like a great idea!!

 

[flopkins]

like katrina said, there''s nothing you can do if they are so washed out there are no nuances to work with...

if it really bothers you do a reshoot - it will be fun!

I''m so sorry that they didn''t turn out how you wanted....

 

[BrightSpot]

Thanks so much for your sweet responses.

Mara, our photographer is supposed to be reprinting our photos & sending them to us. Apparently the package should arrive this week or next. (island time...) I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but it really seems the problem was with the original images, not with the printing. Thanks so much for telling me that your photos turned out well even though Greg wore a dark suit! I was thinking it was my fault our photos were ruined because I suggested my boy wear a dark suit rather than a lighter tan suit.

old-fashioned girl, thanks for giving me some hope! What is a digitizer? It sounds impressive. I'm sorry to hear your wedding makeup didn't turn out well. Would it be possible to darken your photos so you don't look so pale? Maybe you could do another photo shoot! (Or maybe you could renew your vows & have some fantastic shots taken at that ceremony...)

Tybee, thanks, as always, for your support. I'm trying to be optimistic about all of this, but it's pretty disappointing. Although, if this situation provides me with an excuse to get dressed up again & go on another photo shoot, it can't be all bad...

Selflove, you're right--I am happy & relieved that a decent number of our photos turned out well.

Tybee, jcrow, mara, old-fashioned girl selflove & flopkins, thanks so much for encouraging my idea of the reshoot! I think we might just do it! Maybe we can find a photog on Craig's list or something. I'll definitely keep you guys posted & share the results.

 

[gingerBcookie]

i''m so sorry you''re disapointed in your photos! i think you look absolutely gorgeous in all of them and the glowyness does not detract at AT ALL from that! i love the idea of a re-shoot...i''ve been playing with the idea since i was unhappy with how the my makeup turned out and my hair by the end of the night. my photographer says people do it all the time. i''ll prob decide after my pics come in. let us know if you do decide to do it and how it turns out!

 

[griffitk]

I was just reading my favorite photography blog and saw that she is now offering to do photoshop work on photos that customers submit. She charges $5 a photo, but if anyone could fix those photos, it would be her! Perhaps you could see what she could do with one or two... might be worth a try... They probably wouldn''t look like the one your friend took as she tends to "pop" the colors a bit more. You might be able to hide the exposure problem a bit with some stylistic correction.

Here is a link where she demo''s the service: http://tarawhitney.typepad.com/photos/proof/proofheader1.html

You can see lots of her work on her blog: http://tarawhitney.typepad.com/

Tara Whitney is a bit of a legend in the scrapbooking community, so this is on the up and up.

Hope that helps!

 

[Mara]

BS here is my fave wedding picture of us...hubby in dark suit and all! Our photographer was amazing though, we actually found him in SF and brought him with us and split costs with him, we were really lucky. Did you use an island photog? Did they use digital files or film? I would imagine with an original digital file SOMETHING could be done?? Anyway good luck and I hope you can fix them somehow. But you look stunning regardless, and you both look so happy!!

 

[Mara]

woops...here''s the image!

 

[BrightSpot]

Thanks so much for your support, everyone.

Ginger, you looked absolutely amazing in every wedding photo you posted for us! (Though an additional photo shoot is always fun!) That''s interesting that your photographer said lots of people do a wedding photo reshoot. If you have the digital files for your photos (if they were digital photos...) you could always fix your hair with Photoshop. I had a stray strand & dangling bobby pin that I removed from lots of photos.

I can''t wait to see your professional photos!

griffitk, thank you for posting the information on Tara Whitney. Her photos are just stunning! I did look at her retouching service & my only concern is that she said the photos needed to be without technical issues.

Maybe I''ll shoot her an email to see if she could work with some technically challenged photos...

Mara, that''s a wonderful photo of you & Greg! You look gorgeous & you two look so happy together. (And it''s properly exposed despite his dark suit!) That was really smart of you to bring your photog with you from SF. I didn''t do much in the way of planning for my photog & I''m surely regretting it now. The resort where we were married has an on-site photography/videography company that has an exclusive contract with Couples. We could''ve used an outside vendor, but the resot would''ve charged us a "vendor fee" on top of what we had to pay the photographer. We decided it was easier to just go with the on-site vendor as all of the photos we''d seen by this company (posted on the Couples message board & the Knot, etc.) turned out ok.

Our photog used digital files. We have all of the images on CD, but I''m not sure if they''re "raw" images or not. (I''m not really sure what this means--perhaps someone could clarify? Would raw files be in a jpg format or something else?) All of my files are all jpg files.

I just got word that our reprinted photo album is on its way to us. It''s due to arrive on May 30th. I hope that the photog has been able to correct some of these issues. I''ll keep you guys posted.

In the meantime, my brian is buzzing with ideas for a new photo shoot!

 

[aphisiglovessae]

I might have missed something, but the thing that bothers me about this whole situation is the fact that no one seems to be holding the photographer responsible. When I was jobless (thank god I'm not anymore!), I had a lot of quality time with the T.V., so I was addicted to those small claims court shows. I noticed a few cases in which a photographer was sued for the same problem! And the photographer lost! They ended up refunding a percentage of their cost or they paid for a new photo shoot. Not to say that you should sue your photographer, but I'm sure you paid a lot of money and you should get a product that you're satisfied with. I would try to talk to the resort or the photographer and see what they can do for you. You shouldn't have to play photographer and correct pictures you paid someone to be responsible for.

Also, I'm no photographer, but I think raw images are those that are not touched up, cropped or color corrected. They are strictly images that came straight from the camera. The file extension wouldn't be any different. I think that the CD you have might be raw images (if I'm right about what they are) since a lot of photographers give a proof CD containing untouched photos.

ETA: I just noticed that they attempted to reprint your album. I hope it's better!

 

[BrightSpot]

Hey aphisiglovessae!

First of all, congrats on your new job!

Secondly, perhaps I forgot to mention that the photography company has been very helpful in trying to resolve this issue with us. They deducted the entire cost of the photography/videography package from our bill even though, with the exception of one typo, our wedding DVD was a-ok & half of our photos were ok as well. They gave us the initial photo album with 35 prints & the DVD with the typo in it & what I guess are all of the raw images on CD when we left the resort. They are apparently mailing us a reprinted album (hopefully the pictures will look better?) & a new DVD with the typo corected. So all of this has been free to us. Of course, I would''ve much rather paid the fee & wound up with great pictures, but what''s done is done & the company has done everything they could to make it right with us. (Unfortunately, they can''t go back in time & reshoot our wedding...

)

So, we''ll see what arrives on the 30th.

In the meantime, I think I have a lead on a photog to do a reshoot in Central Park with us. I''ll keep you guys posted.

 

[Dodger Gurl]

Oh no!! So sorry about this, BS!

Glad to hear they refunded you the amount. I''m really rootin'' for ya, hope the reprints are just picture perfect!