Ask Jim

Every month, Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.

Q: Jim . . . I photographed this Indian ruin in Arizona in midday light. The contrast was extreme, and the shadows at the roof of the dwelling show virtually no detail. I should have done HDR, but I didn’t. Is there any way of recovering detail in those black shadows? Judith Collins, Bakersfield, California A: If you shot this in jpeg mode, no, there is no way to recover the lost detail. If you took the picture in RAW mode, then you can possibly bring the image back into camera RAW in Photoshop (Filter > camera raw filter) and use the shadows slider to open up that detail. The problem, though, is that the dark areas may be too noisy. You’ll just have to try it and see what happens. If you do generate too much noise in the shadows, select just those areas and apply Topaz DeNoise. That may help a lot. §

© Judith Collins