Backlit Picture Example
Point-n-Shoot cameras certainly are convenient, but sometimes the environment makes it hard to get a good picture. One such case is shown here, where the subject is backlit by an open door. The camera exposed the picture based on the brightest object near the center of the frame (the open door) which made the actual subject too dark.
Original Picture
If you just use brightness and contrast, or levels, it doesn't help much, because the result is a picture with the bright area burned out. However, by using channels and masks it is fairly easy to get a good exposure of everything: the people aren't too dark, but the doorway isn't burned out either.
Channelized Picture
