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Hi All,
Just trying to see if with all the new updates if there is a better way to bring back blown out windows into an architectural interior from a darker shot. What's the best way?
LR 13.4
ps 25.9.1
Ventura 13.6.7
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Shoot raw. Shoot bracketed exposures. It all starts at capture.
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I'm a working pro with 40+ years of experience and I've always been skeptical of the "get it right in camera" crowd. At the same time, real estate photography is often shot on a tripod with plenty of time for multiple exposures. You should be able to bracket both exposure and white balance for blending into a final image if needed.
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I'm a working pro with 40+ years of experience and I've always been skeptical of the "get it right in camera" crowd.
Should photographers not try to take good photographs right away?
A lot can be done to improve problematic photographs after the fact but if that can be avoided so much the better.
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One of the most famous photos in history shows Robert Kennedy lying in a hotel kitchen immediately after being shot. I read about the process used to print that photo, it was majorly underexposed and extremely thin. Certainly in that instance as well as many others, stopping to change settings would mean not getting the shot.
That's why I mentioned that in real estate photography, you do have time to get it right (for post processing) in camera.
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One of the most famous photos in history shows Robert Kennedy lying in a hotel kitchen immediately after being shot. I read about the process used to print that photo, it was majorly underexposed and extremely thin. Certainly in that instance as well as many others, stopping to change settings would mean not getting the shot.
One can only do what time, resources, … allow.
No argument there.
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I'm a working pro with 40+ years of experience and I've always been skeptical of the "get it right in camera" crowd.
By @Lumigraphics
If one asks a child for a simple explanation of "What is photography?", they may reply "Taking a picture". If one asked a knowledgeable and experienced adult the same question, they might reply "Capturing or recording light".
My reply was based on the following – raw allows some room to try to recover blown highlights, those overexposed windows mentioned in the OP. As does exposure bracketing. I am not a professional photographer with 40+ years of experience. Shooting raw and or bracketed allows one to "not always get it right in camera" – but still have a usable image, even if one didn't have the benefit of setting up professional lighting, light metering etc.
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Sorry everyone. Maybe I didn't explain my question. I know how to shoot this and have also been doing this many years. I do shoot in raw, tripod, bracketed, etc. My question was about any new techniques in POST, to blend the windows back in lightly.
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Not a new technique, but Merge to HDR in Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic should do what you want.
In LrC, select the bracketed exposures, and press Cmd+H.
See also Exposing a digital image
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I know that some people hate the idea but you could try generative AI to change just how the windows look, if needed.
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Yeah, I hate that idea 😉
The optimal way to do this is to expose for the windows (slightly over but no burnout), and bounce flash for the interior. If you have time, it should always be possibld to balance the two the way you want.
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Thanks to all for your suggestions. This job had already been shot. It was shot raw and bracketed. I was only looking to see what the best way is, currently given the state of PS, to bring back the windows in an aligned layered document.
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Thanks to all for your suggestions. This job had already been shot. It was shot raw and bracketed. I was only looking to see what the best way is, currently given the state of PS, to bring back the windows in an aligned layered document.
By @SRPcashie
I am not aware of any new enhancements in Photoshop, apart from the established methods of raw processing and HDR.