Advice on contrast or something

OK ignoring the merits of this photograph to me it looks like some of the white is blown out - but PS and the histogram say they aren't. What do I need to do to try and make the whites look better? Or is it a dead loss?




Thanks

Mike

on my screen it isn't blow out.... haven't calibrated with a spider or anything though.
I can see the details in the white and in the black.

Hmmm... it's a little tricky, if I understand your request properly.

Try this: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-~
(That selects the luminance of the image - works in Elements too)
This step prepares a layer mask for the next step...

Then add an adjustment layer - Brightness & Contrast. Set Brightness -28, Contrast +33.

That should add a little contrast in just the whites

There are plenty of other ways around this too, but essentially you are looking at controlling just the highlights. You can experiment with a Levels adjustment layer (just click OK on the dialog without making any changes) and changing the blend mode to Multiply. You can also manually paint in the adjustment by painting on the layer mask.
Curves can also do the same job, but I think you'd need to manually paint on the layer mask to control the effect to just the white area you need.

Have fun
Matt

Hi Mike,
If your goal is to make the whites stand out better, just try the following.

Duplicate layer in PS or Elements
Ctrl-L for levels.
Slide mid tone slider back to 0,75
Close levels.
Now warm up the whites a bit by using colour variations in Elements.

It makes a big difference. Oh...and cloning out all the grud on the white thing helps also.

Martin.

Thanks guys - the advice came a little late for me last night but I'll have a go later on today and report back.

Hang on Martin are you saying clone out all the black marks on the white plastic bag?

Mike

less black on the white bag, will result in the white standing out more ( No, I'm not volunteering...... )

Martin.

Hmm, I tried your various suggestions and then decided I'd go in a different direction accentuating the dirt on the bag.

All I really did was select the white of the bag
Create a layer
Used Exposure
Reduced the offset and raised the gamma
I'm still not happy but then that's probably understandable,. I wish I had taken more shots when I saw it.




Thnaks for the advice which had me learn some more PP.

Mike