Can anyone tell me how I might fix this?

WingsOfLovePhotoWingsOfLovePhoto Registered Users Posts: 797 Major grins
edited May 13, 2009 in People
I posted this in the finishing school for some suggestions but no response so I thought I would give it a shot here....From a senior shoot today. Some weird shadow across the bottom of her face, looks like she has a mask of white around her eyes. Any simple fixes anyone could suggest? I have a feeling they would really like this photo. Thanks in advance for any help!

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Comments

  • divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited May 13, 2009
    It's a gorgeous shot, notwithstanding the shadow! Were you using a reflector or fill flash?

    I would probably use very opaque cloning to bring the bottom part of her face on the right up to the brighter part which to me just "glows" - it does'nt look that overbright on this monitor. If necessary you could use super sheer cloning on the brighter part too to equalize. Or perhaps past in skin from another shot in the series that doesn't have the shadow?

    I also sometimes use the freehand lasso to select an area and then use brightness/contrast on that as a separate layer, add a mask and brush away/blend down to make it unobtrusive. Time-consuming, but effective.

    Just thoughts - goodness knows I'm no "expert" so I'm sure the others will have far better ideas than I do!
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  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited May 13, 2009
    took me 2nd look to see what you are talking about heh..it actually looks like a 5-o-clock shadow! eek7.gif

    I will ask the obvious..have you tried some selective brushing/healing?
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  • WingsOfLovePhotoWingsOfLovePhoto Registered Users Posts: 797 Major grins
    edited May 13, 2009
    divamum wrote:
    It's a gorgeous shot, notwithstanding the shadow! Were you using a reflector or fill flash?

    I would probably use very opaque cloning to bring the bottom part of her face on the right up to the brighter part which to me just "glows" - it does'nt look that overbright on this monitor. If necessary you could use super sheer cloning on the brighter part too to equalize. Or perhaps past in skin from another shot in the series that doesn't have the shadow?

    I also sometimes use the freehand lasso to select an area and then use brightness/contrast on that as a separate layer, add a mask and brush away/blend down to make it unobtrusive. Time-consuming, but effective.

    Just thoughts - goodness knows I'm no "expert" so I'm sure the others will have far better ideas than I do!

    Thanks Diva! I shot this with a flash using Jeff's on location senior tips. I used an on camera flash with no diffuser and dialed down to minus 3. It was supposed to be shady but at the last minute the sun broke through so I had the mom hold up a flag that was close by to try to block it...thus the 5:00 shadow. and..funny enough..it was 5:00! I am going to try the lasso thing, tried a few other things and just wasn't happy with them. Didn't look too natural Despite the shadow can you tell me what you think about the lighting? For some reason I think most people here would think it is flat but I am not sure what else to do...I did what Jeff said ne_nau.gif
    Qarik wrote:
    took me 2nd look to see what you are talking about heh..it actually looks like a 5-o-clock shadow! eek7.gif

    I will ask the obvious..have you tried some selective brushing/healing?

    Thanks Qarik for responding...yes I tried...didn't like the fakeness....
    Snady :thumb
    my money well spent :D
    Nikon D4, D3s, D3, D700, Nikkor 24-70, 70-200 2.8 vrII, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.4, 105mm macro, sigma fisheye, SB 800's and lots of other goodies!
  • Tim KamppinenTim Kamppinen Registered Users Posts: 816 Major grins
    edited May 13, 2009
    Honestly if you had just posted this image for critique that's not something that would have bothered me at all. Shadows are a good thing, as they show depth and dimension. Without shadows everything looks flat. This shadow matches the shadow on the right side of her forhead, which looks natural and shows that her forhead isn't just a flat plane.

    Instead of trying to get rid of it entirely, how about just softening the shadow/highlight transition on her camera right cheek? You could just use a large-ish brush at 0% hardness to dodge it if you're in CS4 where the dodging and burning tools actually work well. Otherwise you could do a curves layer and drag the curve up to brighten everything, then fill the mask with black and paint back in the light with a large soft brush. Or use the clone stamp tool at about 30% in lighten mode, sampling from an area with little texture like the top corner of her forhead.

    Of course, all of these methods will work if you still want to nix the entire shadow. I would just try to soften the transition, personally.
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