This isn't anything to really be proud of but it was a request & I had to take it today. The sun is bright and just out of the frame at 11 o'clock and, as I expected, introduced haze and lousy contrast. Time conflicts prevented me going at another time.

This is what I started with and what I did...

Before.jpg (146.41 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

The use of Unsharp Mask, and those settings, was learned from Butch. I still had to futz around with adjustment layers to get something close to "adequate".

After.jpg (150.91 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

I would love to hear any better ideas. I don't think the final result is "bad", but it's at best only OK IMHO. Maybe shooting at another time of day is the best solution.

Rusty

Rusty, I've used the 30-60-1 unsharp mask approach for years, and I haven't found anything that works quite so well. It does cause loss of detail in some cases, but when the haze is severe, it's a good compromise.

p.s. There are a bunch of suggestions at other websites: google 'haze removal photoshop' and dive in!

Looks good, Rusty. Have written down what you did for future use, thank you

Rusty, one thing I learned last night while reading Mikkel Aaland's book on Lightroom: the Clarity slider is the equivalent of a 20-50-0 Unsharp Mask, which is pretty close to Butch's recommendation of 30-60-1. Therefore.....the Clarity slider in Lightroom and ACR 4.2+ should help with haze reduction. You might want to try to open your image as Camera Raw and see what the clarity slider does for you.

Just another tool in the toolbox....

I've been using 20-60-0 on all my photos lately and it really seems to brighten them up. Found that at the NoBS Photo Success web site. Watch the tutorial that shows the before and after of the little girl on the left side, right above the ad for the book "Exposed". I generally apply both sharpening techniques mentioned in that tutorial.

Thanks for that great link, Gene,

I watched the entire video - not just the defog bit at the start; it really opened my eyes to a lot I've been missing. That site is now bookmarked for further exploration.

Rusty

Yeah...there was a lot of information in that tutorial, and most of it can be adapted in LR other than the sharpening. I'm seriously thinking about joining the site but it needs to wait until after the new year.

NOBS is one of my favorite sites - they have some good stuff, plus they just flat out crack me up. If I ever manage to get my hands on Photoshop I will so be signing up for there.

Rusty - I think you made the best of a bad lighting situation.

Someone else posted the link to them a little while back, so I can't take much credit for that. It is a good site!