[clarenceclose]

I found a nice haze buster in Photoshop that can salvage a problem photo.

Open photo, duplicate the background layer.

On popdowns, Image, Mode, LAB

Once converted to LAB mode make adjustment layer, curves

alt click on the background to make the poped up graph 10 squares each way

hold down the alt key and move the eyedropper over your photo while watching the major locations of a hollow bubble on the diagonal curve line.

This will tell you where most of the haze resides.

Click on the diagonal for the curve above where you observed the moving bubble and holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse to the left half a square.

Now go to the lower portion of the curve and pick below where the moving bubble, drag to the right approximately half a curve.

That should have added contrast in the major haze zone.

If not enough, move each dot in its respective direction a little more until it looks correct.

Once done you can turn off the bottom layer and merge visible layers.

Turn back on the bottom layer, Image, Mode, RGB, don't flatten. Now click on the eyeball of the upper layer to see the difference (of course you could have clicked on the curves adjustment layer and done the same) this way you have two versions in the same .psd file.

Let me know if this worked well for you.

Clarence

[slip]

I found a nice haze buster in Photoshop that can salvage a problem photo.

Open photo, duplicate the background layer.

On popdowns, Image, Mode, LAB

Once converted to LAB mode make adjustment layer, curves

alt click on the background to make the poped up graph 10 squares each way

hold down the alt key and move the eyedropper over your photo while watching the major locations of a hollow bubble on the diagonal curve line.

This will tell you where most of the haze resides.

Click on the diagonal for the curve above where you observed the moving bubble and holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse to the left half a square.

Now go to the lower portion of the curve and pick below where the moving bubble, drag to the right approximately half a curve.

That should have added contrast in the major haze zone.

If not enough, move each dot in its respective direction a little more until it looks correct.

Once done you can turn off the bottom layer and merge visible layers.

Turn back on the bottom layer, Image, Mode, RGB, don't flatten. Now click on the eyeball of the upper layer to see the difference (of course you could have clicked on the curves adjustment layer and done the same) this way you have two versions in the same .psd file.

Let me know if this worked well for you.

Clarence

Hi clarence

thank you for the tip.... I take it when you are in LAB mode you are selecting the luminosity channel to do this?

I will be giving this a shot soon, if I can ever get my wife off my computer with CS2 on it

cheers and thanks again

[arbutusq]

THe conversion ot LAB should be unneccessary in this case. Just create the curves layer layer and set blending to Luminosity, then perform the curves adjustments as you outlined.

Making adjustments on a layer set to luminosity is about the same as working on the luminosity cnahhel in LAB mode and it saves a step or two.

[clarenceclose]

Dang. Forgot to say 'be in luminosity channel'. Thanks.

I like to work in LAB mode because my color correction, noise reduction, etc is better done here IMHO. Making a correction with curves adjustment layer (layer, new adjustment layer, curves, blend mode luminosity) set to luminosity will have similar effect, but then I am still in RGB for any other processing. Thanks for the input.