Possible to clear up Haze?

Gambler

Hey everyone,

I took some pics from the top of the sugarloaf today, went up hoping that the cold would help to keep the haze to a minimum but the pictures still came out fairly washed out looking. What sort of post processing would people recommend for trying to give landscape pictures a bit more umph and ideally loose some of the haze

dakar

What software have you at your disposal? Also did you shoot RAW?

In my (limited) experience, it seems easier to cut the haze out with a polarizer rather than trying to PP it out later.

Gambler

I've got Lightroom and Photoshop and I shot in Raw

I've used the autotone in Lightroom and it does seem to have made a bit of difference alright but I'm wondering if there are other things I can try

dakar

Might be worth playing with the clarity and recover sliders in Adobe Camera Raw. The seem to work well for me adding a bit of punch to otherwise drab shots.

Dero

Depending on the type and amount of haze, I find using USM for local contrast enhancement can help a lot. Worth a shot anyway.

Jagera

Did you adjust the levels? I find this brings back a lot of life into hazy/washed out shots. Not sure what software you have, but in Photoshop: Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Levels

On the histogram chart, drag the two end points (bright & dark) inwards until you achieve what you want.

AnCatDubh

Depending on the atmospheric conditions a simply addition of contrast in post production can work wonders. Not guaranteed to work though and it may not even be suitable to your shot but I have seen it make incredible differences to shots on an overcast day with a haze in the distance of a scene. (ps - i don't know why it does it so this is only a casual observation than a scientific approach!).