# How to 'remove' hot spots in a picture..



## Speedracer (Mar 11, 2018)

Operating System: Win7 x32
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info):5

I am very, very new and completely overwhelmed by this program and how easy some people make it look to do what they want. My problem: I have a picture and there is sunlight coming in through an overhead window that is casting bright blocks of light onto the back wall. I like the picture except for these distracting blocks of light. I tried "object removal" > 'heal' and 'clone' but that really didn't do the job (could be me or I am using the wrong tool). The exposure on the rest of the picture is fine (at least for me) but I just want to use the wall color to go over the bright spots and then I think it will look fine. HOW DO I DO THIS?? Thanks for everyone's patience and understanding while in this HUGE learning curve. I await anyone's advice or suggestion(s) to solve this. THANKS..


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## Johan Elzenga (Mar 11, 2018)

Without seeing the photo it's almost impossible to say how you should do this.


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## Roelof Moorlag (Mar 11, 2018)

When you post your (preferable RAW) photo we can take a look and explain what we can do to resolve it.


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## Speedracer (Mar 11, 2018)

I understand. Just tried to upload the file and received a msg it was TOO BIG. It's in a Canon .cr2 format. Is there a way I can crop it in Lightroom to just keep that portion that I am talking about and still be small enough to upload??


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## Roelof Moorlag (Mar 11, 2018)

Do You have a dropbox? You can put it in there and share the link here. Another option is to put it on WeTransfer WeTransfer and share the link here


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## Speedracer (Mar 11, 2018)

I sent the file to WeTransfer for you all to view. Here is the link: IMG_0001.CR2
Thanks..


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## Tony Jay (Mar 12, 2018)

I downloaded your image and had a look at in Lightroom.

Given that it is a raw image there is plenty of data play with.
All I did to take away the areas that were apparently overexposed was to pull back the highlights slider until detail became apparent in those areas.
So nothing is actually overexposed in this image.

If your question is really about actually removing those sunlit areas completely then Lightroom is not the application for you - you will need to use Photoshop for a good result.

As it is, with an appropriate highlight slider adjustment those sunlit areas look appropriate and would likely resemble pretty much what your eye would have seen at the time.

Tony Jay


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## Speedracer (Mar 12, 2018)

Tony Jay said:


> I downloaded your image and had a look at in Lightroom.
> 
> Given that it is a raw image there is plenty of data play with.
> All I did to take away the areas that were apparently overexposed was to pull back the highlights slider until detail became apparent in those areas.
> ...


THANKS for looking at it. Would it be possible to upload it back to wetransfer or send it directly to me (if allowed on this forum) so I can see what you did. Did you use a paint brush/roller or other tool to mark the areas that would only be affected when you moved the highlights slider? Appreciate your help.


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## Roelof Moorlag (Mar 12, 2018)

And you can soften it some by lowering the clarity in those (local) areas (brush tool)


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## Speedracer (Mar 12, 2018)

I will play with it to see if I can duplicate what you are saying. THANKS..


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## Tony Jay (Mar 13, 2018)

Speedracer said:


> THANKS for looking at it. Would it be possible to upload it back to wetransfer or send it directly to me (if allowed on this forum) so I can see what you did. Did you use a paint brush/roller or other tool to mark the areas that would only be affected when you moved the highlights slider? Appreciate your help.


No, I used no local adjustments at all - only global adjustments.
All I did really was to pull back the Highlights slider, and, bam, all the detail in the sunlit areas was evident.
They still look sunlit but they are NOT blown!

There is no mystery or huge difficulty here - just get that image up in Lightroom and pull back on the highlights slider and you will see the same effect.
I didn't need to play with any other sliders since global contrast was fine and overall exposure seemed good enough too.
I got to say that, IMHO, there is no need for a local adjustment in the image, but that is just me!

Tony Jay


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## PFO (Mar 18, 2018)

Speedracer - I see why you want to work with this image, it is good. At first sight there seems to be lots of range shadows to light areas.

I would say in LR, in the grid, use Ctrl-' on this to create a virtual duplicate and work (d) on that. If you want to use this image for further learning/experimenting, eg., brushes ... do Ctrl-' again on the original to use develop techniques on that. Possibly in the duplicates in the grid open Metadata to name each one with more meaning than Copy-1 or Copy-2.


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