Newbie needs help

RonM · June 3, 2020, 3:19pm

I am new in processing foto’s, learning a lot through youtube videos,
There is one thing I really want to learn and that is brighten up some pictures.
I have this test foto where I want to see and learn what I could to to brighten up the orange from the sun and if its possible to regain some of the details on the foreground.

DSC_2930.NEF (24.1 MB)
DSC_2930_04.NEF.xmp (69.3 KB)

This file is licensed Creative Commons, By-Attribution, Share-Alike.

agriggio · June 3, 2020, 3:58pm

Hi @RonM, and welcome!
Is this what you had in mind?

DSC_2930.NEF.arp (10.6 KB)

Jade_NL · June 3, 2020, 4:22pm

Hoi Ron,

Here’s a relatively quick darktable edit:

ornage.sun.nikon.d600.nef.xmp (11.6 KB) darktable 3.0.2

I did not spend any time trying to “fix” the blown out sun part.

BTW: Welcome to pixls!

Thomas_Do · June 3, 2020, 4:47pm

When you “brighten up” the sun, the color saturation should decrease (from orange towards white) because very bright (> white) and very dark (> black) objects have no color information.
The good thing of raw files is that they contain also much information in image regions that appear dark. That’s why @agriggio and @Jade_NL could recover the foreground so well. For this there are different tolls available (exposure, tone curves etc.).

RonM · June 3, 2020, 4:53pm

yes thanks, amazing job

RonM · June 3, 2020, 4:54pm

Thx for the welcome, I hope to learn a lot here, you guys are amazing

RonM · June 3, 2020, 4:56pm

Thx for the tips, I will definitely go try to learn more about these modules

Jade_NL · June 3, 2020, 5:00pm

Downloading the sidecars (xmp’s in your case) that are posted (and if the RAW isn’t yours, that one too) and looking at how people did their edits will teach you a lot. I still do when I see an edit that I like or if I wonder how some result is reached.

Thomas_Do · June 3, 2020, 5:10pm

This happens, when you correct the whitepoint according to the color of the building.
Less impressive but maybe more realistic .
Done in darktable 3.0.2, sidecar file attached.

DSC_2930.NEF.xmp (12.9 KB)

pphoto · June 3, 2020, 5:13pm

Welcome to the forum
Played a bit around with the image

DSC_2930.NEF.xmp (11.8 KB, dt 3.1)

Increased exposure to find out how far I can brighten the darker areas
Denoising (didn’t invest much time for that because it’s not my camera and I didn’t want to search for good settings, same reason I skipped sharpening later)
Filmic to handle the dynamic range and highlights around the sun
Adjusted color and contrast with various modules