[MSL]

What little post processing I do I tend to do in FastStone, which tends to work very well for quick tweaking. I have used Gimp enough to be somewhat comfortable with it, although I still have limited experience with layers. For either program one thing I don't tend to use much is playing with curves. I throw all this out as background to say that while my experience is limited, I should be able to follow instructions that are given to me for most programs and I'm happy to learn if I really need a new tool to work with. (I keep trying RawTherapee but ...) RawTherapee and FastStone are mostly full image at a time editors, although you can do a bit of clone and heal in FastStone, but I've not figured out how to do that efficiently.

With that preface, the one thing I would like to learn to do, and preferably as simply as possible is to remove shadows caused by direct flash. I'm sure there are many techniques to avoid causing them in the first place, but when you are trying to capture a moving toddler racing down the stairs, or conversely just sitting still long enough for one shot to be taken, you sometimes don't have the option of thinking about the lighting ahead of time.

Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

[Wingincamera]

Use a defuser and have the subjects step away from the wall. If you don't have a defuser, just place a piece of tissue over the flash. I assume you are talking about using the camera's pop-up flash. You can also tape a 3"x5" white card over the top of the flash.

Use a defuser and have the subjects step away from the wall. If you don't have a defuser, just place a piece of tissue over the flash. I assume you are talking about using the camera's pop-up flash. You can also tape a 3"x5" white card over the top of the flash.

Pretty sure you meant "diffuser", for more diffuse and softer light. A "defuser" would make something less explosive, like a bomb or a potential riot.

[MSL]

Use a defuser and have the subjects step away from the wall. If you don't have a defuser, just place a piece of tissue over the flash. I assume you are talking about using the camera's pop-up flash. You can also tape a 3"x5" white card over the top of the flash.

No, the problem is mostly when I use a mounted flash but shoot in portrait mode so that the flash is not in line with the subjects, but it can also occur in landscape mode.

[reeftool]

think the OP's main question is removing shadows in PP. Yes, it's always best to try to avoid the dreaded shadow but sometimes we get them. My PP skills are pretty basic but the easiest way is using the various spot removal tools and cloning. Other shots will need some serious masking and cloning.

This is the original with the shadows.



This is the corrected version with the shadows removed. I used the magic lasso tool in Elements and cloned in brightly lit areas of snow which in this scene was fairly simple due to all the Random footprints and ski tracks.



It's always best to try to be aware of shadows and shoot at an angle they are out of the frame if they are going to interfere with the composition. Flash techniques can be a work around. In PP, any editing software that can clone, mask, or adjust exposure with a brush tool can remove shadow. There may well be some plug ins that addresses this and hopefully some one will chime in. You are limited somewhat using free software but GIMP is certainly capable of doing just about anything if you want to tackle the learning curve. For this shot, I had no choice. I was standing against a fence and couldn't move.

[MSL]

@reeftool - yup you understood my question. I even found a program online called InPaint that might have handled your image with ease, because you were replacing shadow with a fairly uniform background. But it failed on my tough case of the shadows cast by heads and chins from a front on flash.

I'd consider a non-free program if there were other reasons for buying it. I definitely need a better workflow for my images. Having a way to deal with this particular problem would be a key feature I'd look for though.

With that preface, the one thing I would like to learn to do, and preferably as simply as possible is to remove shadows caused by direct flash. I'm sure there are many techniques to avoid causing them in the first place, but when you are trying to capture a moving toddler racing down the stairs, or conversely just sitting still long enough for one shot to be taken, you sometimes don't have the option of thinking about the lighting ahead of time. Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

If you are using a hotshoe flash and you are indoors with ceilings and walls to bounce light from, simply flag the flash with about 50 cents of black foam (Michaels) and an elastic hair band. The black foamy thing is explained by Neil van Neikirk. When I shoot events indoors, there always one on my flashes.

Even at home with visitors like the Pug below. It was heavily back lit with bright sun from windows on either side so I bounced a flagged flash off the ceiling. I shoot manual exposure but once I have an idea of the balance between ambient and flash, exposure doesn't change much so its just a matter of watching, kids, dogs, etc.



Same deal with violinist ( Brian Reagin of the NC Symphony), heavily back lit windows, bounced a flagged flash off the ceiling. Light hits ceiling, bounces off as a much larger source and sharp shadows are gone.



Long ago, I bought a good flash bracket to get the flash up so as to eliminate shadows behind, used it once. It's going on eBay soon.

[emalvick]

In terms of processing, you can reduce shadows utilizing curves or if you have the sliders available work with the contrast, black point, white point, and gray points to elevate that portion of your image. I think that a program like RawTherapee might have a specific Shadows slider to help you out. Any of these options will allow you to fine tune the contrast between shadows and the adjacent area, usually by brightening the shadows up a bit.

It won't remove shadows, but using this items help reduce the harshness you see with them. Further, these tend to be global type edits, which are better suited to complicated photos. Curves might be your best bet just because almost software has them. If you don't know how to use them, I suggest finding YouTube tutorials only because they make a lot of sense when you see them being used but typing out how to use them could get wordy.

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And for the initial capture, the best solution for avoiding the shadows to begin with is to bounce the flash off something (ceiling or wall). I find that diffusers are often not sufficient to eliminate a harsh shadow. They help, but bouncing helps a lot more. Hopefully your flash as a head that can rotate and tilt, which helps a lot for achieving what you want regardless of whether you shoot landscape or portrait.

[MSL]

Thanks @emalvick, this helps and gives me ideas for how to try things in both a global editor, and possible something like Gimp if I can select the shadow regions with enough precision.

Ideally, I'd avoid these problems, but sometimes I'm limited to the onboard flash for a quick family snap, or I quickly switch from landscape to portrait and forget to move the flash (or don't have time).
The problem is that unlike bugs, you can't put the kids in the freezer for a few minutes to slow them down.

[emalvick]

Understood about the kid thing. With practice you'll get it down. I used to be horrible with taking pictures of kids but I got to where I actually think of moving the flash while setting a picture up, and it's a lot better than it used to be.

As for shadow reduction, I'm not that great with Photoshop (can't handle Gimp at all), so global edits are my first resort. Selecting shadows for adjustments isn't horrible, but unless you are really good with the edits, it can be tough to blend the adjustments into the image. Layers and masks can work a bit better, but it can be amazing what a good editor can do if the right buttons/sliders are available.

It looks like you use a lot of freeware, but with Lightroom I can very quickly reduce shadows with its shadows slider. It's been a while since I've really used Rawtherapee, but it should have something comparable. Another great software for more local adjustments in terms of brightness is Lightzone. It's now opensource and built around the zone system, which means you can adjust specific brightness areas of an image. You'd probably have to use it in conjunction with Gimp, but it would work. It's not the easiest program to use, but there are a lot of tutorials on Youtube.

[MSL]

With practice you'll get it down

Problem is the older they get the less willing they are to be photographed!

I probably should break down and buy Lightroom, but I need to sort out the home computers first before I can have a dedicated machine for photo processing... so much to do...

Thanks for the tip on Lightzone - I'll take a look.

[emalvick]

That's true about them not wanting to be photographed... That's where you start practicing street photography, then you just sneak the shots when they don't know about it.

[reeftool]

I found myself very frustrated trying to do all my PP using free software. To me, buying Lightroom was worth the expense. That was back when LR3 was a free beta which I used for a few months. Once the full version was released, I needed to buy it but by that point, I had no issues spending the money and I kicked myself for not doing it sooner. I now do the $9.99 LR/Photoshop subscription which I consider a super deal although not everybody would agree. The only limits to what I can do in PP are only limited to what I'm willing to learn. That's also true with GIMP as it is also a very powerful editor but I found it difficult and there was a real lack of tutorials compared to what's available for Photoshop and LR. I probably use Lightroom for well over 90% of all my PP. I use Photoshop very little but the subscription price makes it easy to justify.

You obviously need to go with a Windows computer or a Mac if you go the Lightroom route. You will need buy Windows although there was a thread running in the Forum by a member who had who had LR running on Wine on Linux.