The forests and mountains are beautiful but just about impossible to get good photo`s of. The reason being the haziness. Apart from the fact that now, in the rainy season, that the skies are mainly dull overcast the fires made to produce charcoal cause a perpetual haziness. Soon, after the rainy season stops, the winds known as the Sahel will start blowing desert dust for 100`s of kilometers to the southwest while the indigenous people will be burning 3 meter high grass in order to do agriculture.
So after this long treatise I`d like to know how one can get rid of the haziness in photo`s?
On the photo posting, if you're a paid member there's a posting dialog box right at the bottom of this page.
As for smoke/haze, it can be tough to impossible for large landscapes. In that situation I concentrate on closer views and forget about the big scenes.
Posted by John W. Wall on October 15, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Sometimes sliding a Levels adjustment can make haze less obvious.
It sounds like the haziness is a part of the landscape there... perhaps you can incorporate it, rather than fight it? If you must fight it.. curves/levels is about the best you can do I think, but watch the saturation, as the colors can really go wild in such cases.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 15, 2009 at 11:10 PM
One method that I use as a 'haze remover' or to make my images 'pop' is this:
Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp Mask.
Amount-20
Radius-50
Threshold-0
This will not sharpen your image at all, and is actually a local contrast enhancement. Note that if any part of the image is on the verge of being 'blown out' (overexposed), this method will push it right off the edge. This may not work well with extreme haziness such as you describe, but it's worth a shot.
Posted by Mark Stahlke on October 15, 2009 at 11:33 PM
In Real World Image Sharpening Bruce Fraser describes what he calls a haze-cutting brush. It involves some sharpening and warming. The book is a worthwhile investment even if Bruce Fraser's haze-cutting technique doesn't do the trick.
John, could you use that technique through a mask to protect the highlights?
Cheers,
Mark
Posted by John Mumaw on October 16, 2009 at 6:03 AM
John, could you use that technique through a mask to protect the highlights?
Discussion
6 repliesThe forests and mountains are beautiful but just about impossible to get good photo`s of. The reason being the haziness. Apart from the fact that now, in the rainy season, that the skies are mainly dull overcast the fires made to produce charcoal cause a perpetual haziness. Soon, after the rainy season stops, the winds known as the Sahel will start blowing desert dust for 100`s of kilometers to the southwest while the indigenous people will be burning 3 meter high grass in order to do agriculture.
So after this long treatise I`d like to know how one can get rid of the haziness in photo`s?
BTW where can I post photo`s to show the effect?
As for smoke/haze, it can be tough to impossible for large landscapes. In that situation I concentrate on closer views and forget about the big scenes.
Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp Mask.
Amount-20
Radius-50
Threshold-0
This will not sharpen your image at all, and is actually a local contrast enhancement. Note that if any part of the image is on the verge of being 'blown out' (overexposed), this method will push it right off the edge. This may not work well with extreme haziness such as you describe, but it's worth a shot.
John, could you use that technique through a mask to protect the highlights?
Cheers,
Mark
Oh, absolutely.
Thanks for the reminder, Mark.