Blueprint: How to Deal with Haze and Add Sun Flare in Photoshop
March 04, 2011 | 6 Comments |Add a comment
Blueprint: all Photoshop actions shown in this Blueprint are from the MCP Fusion Photoshop action set
Question: I often get asked “How can I fix an hazy, low contrast image?”
My Answer: Add some contrast but also embrace the haze.. While editing, if the photo was too bright, decrease exposure using curves. Or if it was hazy, yet underexposed, as is the case on this photo, brighten it up when increasing contrast. here are the exact steps used to edit this photo.
- Started with the Lemonade Stand action (Lemonade Stand folder adjusted to 100% as this tremendously lightened the image and gave it a warm, sunlit feel. Inside the one click folder, I adjusted the Contrast layer to 100% and the Richen It layer to 100%)
- Next I used the Different Directions contrast action (opacity at 36%)
- Then finished with the Sunflare Left action which adds light and flare to your image (opacity left at the default 44%, I masked off the flare marks as I just wanted the top left haze)
As you can see, the photo still has haze, but we embraced the haze instead of letting it hurt our image. Here is a guest article by Kelly Moore to help you when shooting into the sun.
Photo credit: Thank you to Catherine Finn for sending in this photo.
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I can’t wait to read this one! I really want to perfect this shot.
Thanks so much!
That’s amazing…I’m sure its a simple fix for you (at least it seems so simple when you type it)but it amazes me! I’m trying to learn photoshop but I’m failing miserably! I appreciate your tutorials and info it helps me tons!
Hi, do you shoot RAW or jpg. ? And will image quality always decrease with each action that you add to the photo?
Nice! Can’t wait to get some nicer weather here in the Northwest to get out and shoot some shot to play around with!
I’ll be sure to share info on MCP on my website http://catherinefinnphotography.com/blog/
