Recovering prints from incorrect exposure

Example 1

This wedding photograph - below left - had been overexposed during the printing process, resulting in a photograph which was very dark, and in which the bride and groom could barely be seen. The negative had been correctly exposed, but unfortunately it was badly scratched (see below right for a close-up of some detail). Fresh prints - properly exposed - could not be made from such damaged negatives, but the negative could be used to produce a perfect print, by digitally editing out all the scratches. The restored, correctly exposed image, is shown to the left.

Example 2

This is a second example (below right) of an over exposed print from the same wedding. Again, the negative (below left) was too badly damaged to be used to produce a fresh print, until some digital editing was performed. The final image is shown, right.

The moral is - store your negatives carefully!

Example 3

Below is a photograph of the Iwo Jima memorial, in Arlington, VA. This was taken with a digital camera, and the original, below right, was very under exposed, so that the memorial is visible only in silhouette. Sufficient detail was contained in the image, however, to produce a good picture, with visible detail.