# Hotspots in Forest Scene - how to treat them in Lr



## ralf11 (Jan 5, 2018)

Operating System:OSX
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): CC 2015.14 [ 1149743 ]

I have a full-frame Nikon D610 raw (.NEF) file of a forest scene with a bridge over a creek.  Some of the logs of the bridge got over-exposed by sun dappling I guess.  I can't find a way to upload the .nef and the .jpg is too big but a screengrab is attached.




I am wondering the best way to 'fix' this as well as I can.  I am new to Lr (but not to Kodachrome...)

1st, I thought maybe I can use a radial filter.  But if no info is there that won't work.

2nd, I thought maybe I can clone some wood from elsewhere on this bridge and move it over there to the red parts - but I've never done that.

Any ideas?




Also, I'm not sure why Lr thinks I have the CC version.  I don't - I have the newest standalone version which I upgraded with the patch they came out with a couple of weeks ago.??


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## MarkNicholas (Jan 5, 2018)

It doesn't look too blown out. I would try the Auto Tone and see how that works and then incrementally reduce highlights / exposure and increase shadows and see where that gets you. Alternatively you could try and brush out blown out parts of the bridge using a brush with reduced exposure / highlights.


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## clee01l (Jan 5, 2018)

Two steps 1.) Reduce the White slider "some" then 2.) remove the remaining clipped pixels using the Highlights slider.


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## Dan Marchant (Jan 5, 2018)

Difficult to know if data is blown until you try but I would go with Cletus' suggestion first. 

Alternatively, rather than making a global adjustment to the whole image just to fix a small area, use the adjustment brush to brush over the affected area and then adjust the whites/highlights just in that area.


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## Tony Jay (Jan 5, 2018)

I completely understand that this is not a Lightroom solution - however it is absolutely pertinent to post-processing!

Prevention is way way better than cure.
The key to shooting in dense forest is to choose a cloudy day - light overcast is best - such that those bright highlights and deep shadows are avoided.
This is the real, long-term solution to your issue...

Tony Jay


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## Gnits (Jan 5, 2018)

If you have an image with blown highlights (raw or jpg ... but likely more dynamic range in raw to work with).

*General*
Use Exposure, Highlight and  White Point sliders.




You might also try to tweak the highlights using the curve tool.

*Local.*
Use the adjustment brush and tweak the Exposure, Highlights and White sliders.

If there is mainly just fully blown out areas, then you will most likely need to do repairs in Photoshop using a variety of simple to sophisticated techniques to try and hide the problem. In this case, clone colour and texture from the adjacent structural elements. (Use of clone tool in Lr may also be used, but I prefer the power and flexibility of Photoshop for such delicate localised repairs.

In some scenes there may just be too much range between darks and brights for your sensor to capture the full range of tones. In that case you need to bracket your exposures and use various techniques to blend the different frames.


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## Johan Elzenga (Jan 5, 2018)

Gnits said:


> If you have an image with blown highlights (raw or jpg ... but likely more dynamic range in raw to work with).


*Only* in raw. You cannot recover blown highlights in a jpeg image. Using these sliders would just result in the highlights becoming grey, but you won't recover anything.


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## Gnits (Jan 5, 2018)

Agreed.
Any reworked blown highlights will result in an uncomfortable grey result (Lr or Ps).  The advantage of raw is that initially the highlights might appear to be blown, but there may be some data in the raw file to work with.


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## Zenon (Jan 5, 2018)

ralf11 said:


> Operating System:OSX
> Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): CC 2015.14 [ 1149743 ]
> 
> I have a full-frame Nikon D610 raw (.NEF) file of a forest scene with a bridge over a creek.  Some of the logs of the bridge got over-exposed by sun dappling I guess.  I can't find a way to upload the .nef and the .jpg is too big but a screengrab is attached.View attachment 10395
> ...



That is odd. So when you check about LR it says CC 2105.14? From what source did you update?


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## ralf11 (Jan 5, 2018)

from Adobe's website

maybe they are trying some sneaky way to kill of the stand-alone LR users - I sure don't trust Adobe...


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## Zenon (Jan 5, 2018)

I have read many posts were people successfully updated to LR6.14. Perhaps it is just the new designation I'm not aware of as anyone who had a subscription LR CC 2015 got a free upgrade to Classic. As Adobe is heading towards subscription it is no secret that they would prefer customers to sign up so a standalone products won't be on the front page anymore. It seems to be working and  

However with a quick search it is easy to find where up can still purchase a standalone LR licence, where you can download all the old software versions as long as you have a key code, links to how to recover back to LR from LR CC 2015 and so on. Adobe provides quit a bit resources to address issues.      

Also it looked like if you missed the LR6.13 upgrade there were files missing which causes some issues. You can get application installers here. 

Download Photoshop Lightroom


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## Zenon (Jan 6, 2018)

As for the hot spot I'd use the brush.


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## ralf11 (Jan 8, 2018)

Thx I'll try the brush first - detail is lost with global adjustments

the update file is called 'setup.dmg' 

I don't care if it says something incorrect in the About menu - I DO care if they are using consumer confusion to kill off stand-alone programs...


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## Ian.B (Jan 8, 2018)

Tony Jay said:


> I completely understand that this is not a Lightroom solution - however it is absolutely pertinent to post-processing!
> 
> Prevention is way way better than cure.
> The key to shooting in dense forest is to choose a cloudy day - light overcast is best - such that those bright highlights and deep shadows are avoided.
> ...


That is why I love my EVF; everything is there in real time.
Not everyone can get to the "location" at the perfect time with the perfect light; and that is where the real beauty of digital photography shines IMO. As a slide user; I'm sure Ralf is familiar with the insurance within bracketing.
Bracketing for a natural HDR image; which can be made in a hdr program or done manually in any program with layers. It is also amazing how much detail can now be revealed  in an under exposed file

I hope you don't mind Ralf; but it is easy to show than explain for me. not to be considered perfect; I was not there and only quickly doing how I might edit a similar file if mine
added adjustment bush edits --- old fashion dodge and burn stuff really. Black clipping can seen in blue


1st edit adjustments; plus I also went to the tone curve H/lights -20 and one of my favourite sliders; Lights +50


how a 'finished' picture might look . To remove the original red clipping overlay I just desaturated with the adjustment brush --- looks a bit yuck!


original

true; somewhere in between is perfect lol

I hope that is as clear as mud in a forest lol
Happy to answer any questions or do a real edit

General comment for anyone interested: bracket exposures when in doubt --- Make the adjustment brush your best friend; learn and practice how much it can do for your finish picture  quality --- and remember _a little is often too much_ so three separate lighter adjustments is far better than one heavy adjustment
 Sorry for getting a bit carried away


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## ralf11 (Jan 8, 2018)

Thx much

Yes, I know about exp. bracketiig and should have used it...


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