Is it possible to brighten this pic???

kassie

Hi all

I took a pic of my daughter with the aim of it being framed. The original pic was really really bad, bad lighting, wrong camera settings etc BUT i managed to get it looking half decent with picasa 3

original



edited



Edited B&W




i'm not look for c&c on the pic itself but rather advice on whether any other programme (preferably free) out there could help brighten it up? Or have i done as much to help it as i can?

Kenny Logins

Raw or Jpeg? With Raw you can often adjust the exposure a fair bit. What software came with the camera? Picasa really isn't up to the job.

Daveysil15

I don't know about free programs, but If you're new to editing I'd recommend PS Elements. When I first started doing photography I only used the free programs too, but getting photoshop was the best thing I ever did. There's a bit of a learning curve but its well worth it.

5uspect

Bring the GIMP out.
Learn all about levels and curves.

kassie

thanks guys, i have gimp - its scares me LOL but i will youtube some level and curve tutorials and hopefully i'll be able to ad that something i feel is missing! I'm trying to get my hands on photoshop by asking around friends of friends

kassie

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Raw or Jpeg? With Raw you can often adjust the exposure a fair bit. What software came with the camera? Picasa really isn't up to the job.

Its a jpeg i think, don't think my camera (canon powershot sx40hs) can shoot in raw not unless i download a CHDK to it, which i'm totally not ready for, still trying to get to grips with it as it is!

A programme called Canon Zoom Browser EX came with the camera bit i think it similar to picasa, will have a fiddle around with it

Kenny Logins

kassie wrote: »

thanks guys, i have gimp - its scares me LOL but i will youtube some level and curve tutorials and hopefully i'll be able to ad that something i feel is missing! I'm trying to get my hands on photoshop by asking around friends of friends

Photoshop CS2 was released with a universal serial number (accidentally?) by Adobe recently. You're not supposed to use it without a licence, but that's up to you.

frozenfrozen

here's where you can look at what he was talking about http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html

5uspect

kassie wrote: »

thanks guys, i have gimp - its scares me LOL but i will youtube some level and curve tutorials and hopefully i'll be able to ad that something i feel is missing! I'm trying to get my hands on photoshop by asking around friends of friends

Well Photoshop is as complex than GIMP, since the latter is essentially a clone of the former. Concepts like curves and levels are common to both, with whatever slightly different UI behaviour. You'll need to understand the image histogram and then these techniques will make sense.

Daveysil15

I wouldn't recommend CS for a beginer. You could always download a trial version of one of Adobe's products to see what you think of it. There are some good tutorials on youtube which can help you along the way..

Kenny Logins

Daveysil15 wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend CS for a beginer. You could always download a trial version of one of Adobe's products to see what you think of it. There are some good tutorials on youtube which can help you along the way..

Why not? All of the basic tools are there, and the more advanced aren't in the way. It's certainly more intuitive than Gimp...

magicbastarder

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Photoshop CS2 was released with a universal serial number (accidentally?) by Adobe recently. You're not supposed to use it without a licence, but that's up to you.

i'd love to see someone use this argument with using someone else's photographic output, rather than software...

Daveysil15

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Why not? All of the basic tools are there, and the more advanced aren't in the way. It's certainly more intuitive than Gimp...

Exactly, all the basic tools are there plus a lot you don't need if you're a beginer. Most of what you can do with CS you can do with elements. Although if you can get CS 2 for nothing then it could be a sweet deal. Otherwise its unecessary as its costly and takes up a lot of space.

Nate--IRL--

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Photoshop CS2 was released with a universal serial number (accidentally?) by Adobe recently. You're not supposed to use it without a licence, but that's up to you.

Nice one for the heads up, been using PS7 for ages, might give that a whirl.

Nate

Kenny Logins

Daveysil15 wrote: »

Exactly, all the basic tools are there plus a lot you don't need if you're a beginer. Most of what you can do with CS you can do with elements. Although if you can get CS 2 for nothing then it could be a sweet deal. Otherwise its unecessary as its costly and takes up a lot of space.

Isn't that a bit like the difference between a point and shoot and a DSLR?

Daveysil15

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Isn't that a bit like the difference between a point and shoot and a DSLR?

No I'd say its more like the difference between an entry level DSLR and a top end DSLR like a 5D Mark III.

frozenfrozen

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'd love to see someone use this argument with using someone else's photographic output, rather than software...

Except this isn't copyright infringement.

DaireQuinlan

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Except this isn't copyright infringement.

What, using CS2 downloaded from the Adobe site with the serial they listed ? Yes it is. They have explicitly said that they shared it only for people who had valid licenses already. Sure you can download it and use it, but from the perspective of the law (and adobe) you're in exactly the same boat as someone who downloaded it from a warez site.

Promac

I used to think the GIMP was great. Then I started using Photoshop. Fair play to the lads that work on it but the GIMP just doesn't compare in the long grass.

Syferus

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

What, using CS2 downloaded from the Adobe site with the serial they listed ? Yes it is. They have explicitly said that they shared it only for people who had valid licenses already. Sure you can download it and use it, but from the perspective of the law (and adobe) you're in exactly the same boat as someone who downloaded it from a warez site.

It's certainly not that cut-and-dry from Adobe's perspective.

They 'warned' people off it but it's clearly became an active experiment for them now, even if it really did begin life as a mangled migration program.

If I didn't have CS6 I'd have no compunctions about downloading CS2 as regards the law and nor should anyone else.

Kenny Logins

It is an odd one alright, and I'm sure Adobe knew what they were doing.

magicbastarder

sure that guy i knew who uploaded that picture to flickr - the one i stole and used in my newspaper - knew exactly what he was doing when he uploaded a non-watermarked, print res photo to a well known website.

If I was at my computer within the next 2 weeks, I'd give it a whirl.. Can't we just turn it into a little competition to see who can do the best job? Everyone wins.

Kenny Logins

magicbastarder wrote: »

sure that guy i knew who uploaded that picture to flickr - the one i stole and used in my newspaper - knew exactly what he was doing when he uploaded a non-watermarked, print res photo to a well known website.

What if he posted on his website a hi-res copy of and old photo he wasn't particularly keen on, with no watermark, knowing that some people might take it and use it (after registering their full contact details), but these people might also as a result take an interest in his more recent work?

kassie

Deleted User wrote: »

Can't we just turn it into a little competition to see who can do the best job? Everyone wins.

LOL

doroth

I'm supposing the photo is in JPG format, else Picasa couldn't have opened the file. There's not much you can do to lighten up the photo much more. The photo's quality will reduce by the amount of post-processing you apply. You might be able to get some better results with Adobe Lightroom:
1. Increse Exposure by +1 or +2.
2. Apply a Noise Removal Filter
3. Sharpen the picture.