how to fix half bright half dim picture?

[arialzy]

I shot a group picture and tilted the flash on a wrong angle. The result is the top half of the picture is too bright and the bottom half is too dark. I don't want to crop the picture. Any one can suggest a photoshop method to fix it? Thanks.

[admin]

This takes some experimentation ... I just did about 50 of these.

Drag the layer to the "New Layer" button at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Now, using an Adjustment Layer
Go: Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Levels

Adjust the levels slider until the lighting is correct.

Now, you have to select the TOP lighter portion of the photo, and predict the width of the "transition" in pixels.

Select the Lighter half of the image

Set the Select > Feather setting to transition approximately HALF of the transition width in pixels.

Here's where the experimentation comes in...

Delete

Does the transition look right?

If not, UNDO the deletion, and re-set the feather either wider or narrower

Delete again

The clue to getting this technique correct is being able to accurately feather the selection edge so that the fall-off from the lighting is transitioned by the feather.

For "Flash Burn-in" use an Oval selection

I'll do a tutorial for this at some point, but these instruction are exactly as I would do the conversion.

You can also set the LEVELS to match up the two parts -- then use the ERASER with a large, soft-edged brush -- to begin erasing the offending parts of the layer.

:cool:

[arialzy]

beautifully. after the first deletion (selected the top half), I found the top quarter of the picture is still too bright. I repeated the steps and this time selecte only the top quarter, and delete again. Now the picture looks fine. Thanks so much! This forum is great!