B&W Filter Saves a Harsh Lit Photo

Model: @anaplumpuddin • Photography: Rose Colored Life Photography

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Sometimes giving up on a photo is just not an option. My sister and I shot together on the Bridge of Lions last Saturday morning. We started around 8 AM when the light was still beautifully golden. I got a few great golden images to pull from that shoot. But one of my favorite images was her clutching her coffee cup and sort of half smile squinting into the sun while sitting perfectly positioned between two towers in the middle of the bridge. The light then was far from ideal. Very harsh and she was facing the sun. Anyone who has done photography is wincing right now.

I tried everything for about three hours. I tried to warm up the image. I gave her the perfect glow and a nice skin tone. I tried to desaturate the awful blue sky and bring up shadows. I got a decent result and posted it to Insta. Alas! The sky rendered awful streaky color separations across the sky. It was 1 AM and I took the pic down and called it quits.

It haunted me in the morning. I posted in Facebook Photo group asking for advice. "Help me fix this," I begged. A photographer admin answered, "Maybe play with the sky some more, but not much you can do to fix harsh light!" I was defeated. I tried one more thing - artificial golden hour haziness and sunlight beams. I added a rainbow flare and a white sunlight. I was desperate, but the harder I tried - the more I ruined my image.

I imported into VSCO hoping to find a magic "fix this harsh light" filter. I clicked on all 300 for nothing. Until...I accidentally made my image B&W. I stopped. I gave. "I like it in B&W", I decided.

I guess what I am trying to say is we all suffer from perfectitis. Have to have the perfect, amazing picture. The colors have to match my Instagram account. The tones have to be consistent with my branding. So we don't post an image that speaks to us because it isn't perfect.

How about - just post it! And maybe try saving it with a B&W filter. Or maybe trash it. But go easy on yourself. Everything does not have to be perfect. <3