Remove Flash Glare with Photoshop Elements

by Peg Christ
(Wills Point TX)

Q: Took some pictures using a flash inside. The flash makes her mother look awful. How can I remove the glare?


A: There are a couple pretty easy fixes you can try.

First duplicate your Background layer so your not affecting the original shot. Do that in the Layers palette by dragging the Background layer onto the Create a new layer icon (it's the little square with the curled up corner).

Go up to the Enhance menu and choose Adjust Lighting > Shadows/Highlights….

In the Dialog window make sure the Preview box is checked so you can see the affects as you make them.

Move the Lighten Shadows slider all the way to the left since you probably don't need to lighten anything in the photo.

Now start dragging the Darken Highlights slider to the right and watch the affect it has on your photo. Stop when it looks good or slide back to the left if you go too far. Click OK when your satisfied with the results.

Another technique that I like is to first duplicate the Background layer as before. Now with the Duplicate Layer active go to the Blend Mode drop-down menu (it's the box in the Layers palette that says Normal. Click on it to reveal other Blend Options and choose Multiply. Your layer will become darker. If it's too dark use the Opacity Slider located in the Layers palette and change it from 100% by clicking and sliding it to the left until you get the look you want.

When your finished with either of these methods go up to the Layers menu and choose Flatten Image. That will merge your Layers into one new Background Layer. Now go to the File menu and choose Save As…. In the Dialog box give your photo a name that makes sense to you. Choose JPEG as the Format Click Save and you're done.

I hope you found this helpful.

Until next time,
Rick