How to Fix Bad Lighting in a Photo

Summary: Photographers face myriad problems to seize that one perfect shot. Even after capturing a photograph worth a million dollars, professional photographers must use various post-production hacks and tools to improve picture quality. This blog covers some DIY methods and tools that can guide you on how to fix bad lighting in a photo. Using professional photo editing tools and photo repair software, you can change the fate of a badly-lit picture.

Not all days are bright and illuminating for a perfectly exposed shot. But instead of packing your bag to return home without taking a single shot in low light conditions, you may try adjusting your camera settings and then clicking your shot. However, this may or may not work. So you must try the post-production photo editing alternatives easily available nowadays.

Follow the instructions given in this blog to improve bad lighting in your photos.

Discover Post-Production Options to Fix Bad Lighting

There are two types of bad lighting – harsh and soft. Harsh light creates shadows in your pictures that can ruin them completely. While a soft light turns a beautiful portrait gloomy as the subject looks invisible or lifeless.

Fortunately, with the help of the below three simple solutions, you can turn a badly lit photograph into a picture-perfect shot. Let’s learn how to use them:

1. Convert it to Black & White in Photoshop

An aesthetically inaccurate image involves muted colors and unfitting background objects. By removing the colors from such pictures, you can shift attention toward the subject and wipe out its major flaws.

Follow these steps to turn a badly-lit image into a black & white photo using Adobe Photoshop.

2. Use the Burn/Dodge Tool

The Burn tool is another fantastic option to add mood to a photograph by intensifying the variation in darkness and adding shadows to the extremes. It allows you to create deep shadows in colored photographs. As a result, you can add new depth and richness to a badly- lit photo, which is impossible with a digital camera.

The Dodge tool is an alternative to the Burn tool. It can augment the distance between the darkest and the brightest areas of a photograph. Use it to create patches of light, as it adds richness, depth, and texture to your pictures. Observe the step-by-step instructions to burn or dodge an image in Photoshop:

Pro Tip: Using the Burn or Dodge tool on the background layer will permanently alter the original image. To experiment with such tools without ruining the original shot, always work on a duplicate layer in Photoshop. For information on duplicating layers, read Adobe Layer basics.

3. Use a Professional Photo Repair Tool

After editing a photo, you may find that it won’t open due to bad sectors in the storage drive. Bad sectors corrupt photo files stored as backup or archive. As a result, photos become inaccessible or damaged. There’s only one solution for corrupt pictures: a reliable photo repair tool. We recommend Stellar Repair for Photo, an advanced photo repair software that can automatically fix damaged file header, structure, and data. Be it RAW or JPEG, you can fix many flaws like grainy, blurry, greyed-out, or color-damaged photos. Read on to learn How to Repair Damaged JPEG/JPG Files from Digital Camera.

Key Advantages:

Stellar Repair for Photo allows you to fix damaged sections of a photo. Although there are multiple applications available online that can help you repair corrupted photos, we recommend Stellar Repair for Photo for the following reasons:

Follow the instructions given in this Knowledge Base to activate Stellar Repair for Photo on your Windows laptop or computer. Refer to this blog if you wish to reduce noise in your photos.

The Final Words

Fixing bad lighting in a photo with the help of a reliable editing tool like Photoshop is easy. If you capture pictures in a high-resolution RAW format, only then multiple post-processing options to fix bad lighting work. You can increase the brightness of a photo, modify shadows, reduce highlights, and adjust contrast in Adobe Photoshop. Further, you have a wide range of options like black & white to deal with washed-out colors. Moreover, you can selectively modify the subject or the background. So, stay mindful of your options and outcomes while experimenting with other Photo Editing options.

FAQ:

How do I make a photo light better?

Can you fix photos that are too dark?

To boost the brightness of a badly-lit photograph, you may use the Adobe Photoshop tool. Simply download the application on your laptop/ PC and open your image in it. Next, follow the path- Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast, or select Brightness on an Adjustment Layer. Brightness/Contrast is a great option if the overall picture is extremely dark.

Does the SD card affect picture quality?

Memory cards don’t significantly influence the picture quality as they just record 0s and 1s. Even the SD card speed plays a minor role when it comes to camera speed. It means if your camera doesn’t process the data swiftly, the card speed remains irrelevant while capturing the shot. However, sometimes you fail to load pictures from SD Card. Read this informative blog to fix any SD card error.

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