Hi ya!! Zakirah here with Photography Phriday. This week we’re going to learn 4 different techniques to lighten up those dark, underexposed photos that we have using Photoshop. Yes, Photoshop magic to the rescue!

For this tutorial, I’ll be using this cute picture of my niece, Ika:

1. Our first technique is to use Curves. You can find it at Image>Adjustment> Curves. (Note: I’ve searched through PSE if it has this command, but Curves is not available in PSE, so this command can only be used by PS users).

Play around with the settings until you get the result that you like. Here’s an example:

And the picture will look like this:

Much brighter than the original, isn’t it? If you want to make the picture much, much brighter, pull the curve higher until you get what you like.

2. The second technique is to play with Levels. You can access the menu thru Image>Adjustment>Levels. (Note: PSE users can access this menu through Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Levels).

You have much more control using Levels. If you pull one of the sliders to the right, it’ll make the picture darker, and if you pull one of the sliders to the left, it’ll make the picture brighter. The slider on the left is for darkness, the middle one is for medium, and the right slider is for brightness. Here’s an example of the settings I did:

And the result:

You can make it lighter by pulling the right slider more to the left.

3.  The third technique is to use the Brightness/Contrast menu. Access it thru Image>Adjustment>Brightness/Contrast. (Note: PSE users can access this through Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/Contrast).

This one is the easiest but we have less control over the result. Here’s an example of the settings I did:

And the result on the picture:

4. The last technique is very versatile. You can choose which part of the picture you want to brighten up and which part to keep dark. We’re gonna use the Dodge tool for this technique. I highlighted the tool with red in the picture below:

For PSE users, the dodge tool is highlighted below in blue (Note: In your PSE, you might see a Sponge tool symbol there. Just click on the symbol and drag your mouse a little to the right to bring down a drop down menu, then when you see the Dodge tool symbol, select it):

Grab a soft circle brush. Use ‘Highlight’ for Range and try ‘20%’ for the Exposure.

Now brush around the area that you want to brighten up. For this picture, I brushed the face and neck area. Brush until you get a satisfying result. Here’s mine:

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Isn’t it cool? There’s 4 techniques to choose, and you can even mix and match! For example, you can first brighten up your picture using the Curves menu, and then go to Brightness/Contrast and increased the contrast, and if you see any parts of the picture that needs a little extra brightness, you can use the Dodge tool on that area.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful! If you need any help or have problems with the steps or anything, don’t hesitate to send me a PM at ScrapMatters and I’ll do my best to help you!

Have fun playing with your pictures!