Recovering parameters from a sub-optimal image

A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for changing an illumination condition of an image containing a face, comprising:

• inputting the image that was taken under harsh lighting conditions and identifying a portion of the image containing the face as a face image;
• segmenting the face image into a plurality of regions;
• generating an albedo morphable model for each of the plurality of regions;
• holding an illumination constant and solving for albedo and geometry in an iterative manner;
• generating a geometry morphable model for each of the plurality of regions such that the geometry morphable model and the albedo morphable model are two separate morphable models;
• and
• holding the albedo and geometry constant and solving for illumination in an iterative manner.

A computer-implemented process for improving an illumination of a single image containing a face and taken under sub-optimal illumination conditions, comprising:

• computing an initial shape estimation of the face to generate a face image, wherein the face image is the portion of the image containing the face;
• classifying each pixel in the face image as one of:
• (a) a saturated pixel;
• (b) a shadow pixel;
• (c) a regular pixel;
• (d) an occluded pixel;
• weighting each pixel in the face image based on its classification;
• assigning each pixel to one of a plurality of regions in the face image based on the pixel classification;
• generating using the computer an albedo morphable model for each of the plurality of regions;
• generating using the computer a geometry morphable model for each of the plurality of regions such that the geometry morphable model and the albedo morphable model are two separate morphable models;
• and
• obtaining image parameters from the morphable models that are used to improve the illumination of the single image containing the face.