Absolute Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography

CHAPTER 15 THE IMPORTANCE OF LEVELS AND CURVES 229

Fortunately with Preview checked, you can see the effects on the image as the curve

is dragged upward. The middle tones are now clear and visible in Figure 15.14.

FIGURE 15.14
After editing.

Using a Curve to Correct Excessively Light Tones

Curves fix problems with light tones as well, such as when you overexpose an

image. This occurs commonly at night with a flash. The image in Figure 15.15 has a

problem: The camera flash has overexposed it after a valiant attempt to capture the

natural look of the bar with a slow-sync flash setting.

FIGURE 15.15
A slow-sync
shot overex-
posed by too
much flash.