On 26 Dec 2000 06:01:25 -0800, Paul Rubin wrote:

>primary colors writes:
>> I'll keep it short...good friends got married the day before Christmas.
>> The ceremony, very private...only 4 people invited, took place in the
>> couples home, in front of a large window. A JVC DVC Camcorder (Mini DV
>> Tape) recorded the event for all friends and family who were not there.
>> The bride, who has a dark complexion, wore a dark dress. Disaster...no
>> back lighting compensation was used...the couple are silhouettes. Can
>> anything (short of restaging) be done? Can the tape be salvaged...cost
>> does not matter as the bride is in tears!

>One of the experts here might have better news for you than I do, but
>it sounds grim. There just isn't that much dynamic range in a video
>recording to recover useable image from. Better to restage.
>
>One of the fairly frequently asked questions on the photo newsgroups,
>by the way, comes from amateur photographers looking for advice on
>shooting friends' weddings. And the answer always is: DON'T DO IT.
>Get them to hire a pro photographer. It's only partly because the pro
>will have backup equipment and be less less likely to mess up than the
>amateur. The more important reason is that if there -is- a screw-up,
>it's better to have the couple pissed at some stranger than to mess up
>a friendship.

Good advice!
But, if the need is great, I have sometimes been suprised
by what (grainy-and-off-color..) images can be salvaged
out of the murk of vast underexposures with Mini-DV. I
would not be pleased with the results, but if it is REALLY
necessary, one can sometimes filter and mask enough in a
good editor-program to get results that may be good
enough to satisfy the bride...