The ordinary contrast enhancement methods in the low illumination images processing exist problems of not be able to improve the brightness, the contrast and details of images simultaneously, proposes a low illumination image enhancement algorithm based on guided image filter (GIF) . The algorithm converts the input image from RGB color space to HSV color space, then decomposes the image into a base layer and a detail layer by a guided image filter, after that, conducts an adaptive Gamma correction on the base layer to improve the overall brightness and contrast of the image; enhances S-shape curve on the detail layer to highlight the local details of the image; finally reconstructs and restores the colors and obtains the enhanced image. A control experiment is conducted on 2 low illumination images (Bridge and Street) by the proposed method, global Gamma correction and MSRCR, respectively. The results indicate that the proposed method is able to improve the image contrast and details simultaneously, and enhances the visual quality of low illumination images.