Blown out highlights in setting sun - how to reconstruct and avoid banding (xtrans)

Quick edit with the lowly basecurve :slight_smile:

DSCF2243_02.RAF.xmp (16.7 KB)

I used diffuse&sharpen to smoothen the highlights of the sun and color Bblance RGB for color corrections. I think it is hard to recover easily/quickly this type of issue during the post-processing.

Also, I tried to reduce the dynamic range with Tone Equalizer but this easily generates artifacts and I’m not entirely satisfied with my mask settings.


DSCF2243_01.RAF.xmp (15.8 KB)

The dynamic range on the scene is huge, you might want to use a graduated neutral density filter on your camera to avoid clipping the highlights while keeping a decent exposure in the lower part.

My version…

DSCF2243.RAF.xmp (22.0 KB)