Adjusting contrast

fredjclaus

I see many tutorials on how to adjust the contrast in photoshop but my issue is a bit more than that. I have a picture of my daughter in her softball uniform. Her face is a bit shadowed due to her hat. Is there a way to brighten up just her face?

SlowWalkere

fredjclaus wrote: »

I see many tutorials on how to adjust the contrast in photoshop but my issue is a bit more than that. I have a picture of my daughter in her softball uniform. Her face is a bit shadowed due to her hat. Is there a way to brighten up just her face?

I assume you're using Photoshop...? (Since you mentioned that)

One way to accomplish that is to create an adjustment and then use a layer mask so that it only applies to your daughter's face (or any other area you want to brighten).

Pick whatever adjustment you want to use. Let's say you use Curves and brighten up the dark areas. Make changes to the adjustment until the face looks right; ignore the rest of the image.

When you look in the Layers window, you'll see the adjustment layer has a white rectangle next to the name Curves 1. That's an automatically generated layer mask. If you paint on that mask, you can restrict the adjustment to only affect the white areas. By default, the whole mask is white so that the adjustment applies to everything.

Click on the layer mask (the white rectangle) to select it. Hit Ctrl-I. That's the shortcut to Invert the layer, and turn all the white stuff into black. You probably noticed that the image went back to the way it originally looked. That's cause effectively you blocked out the whole adjustment.

Now, grab a brush and paint some white onto the layer mask where-ever you want that adjustment to show through. In this case, paint your daughter's face in. As you paint the layer mask, you'll see the brightening effect come through.

You gotta be careful, of course, that you don't brighten any single area too much or it'll look funny.

If you're working in Lightroom, you can achieve a similar effect with the "Adjustment Brush" (shortcut K).

Select the Adjustment Brush, adjust your settings (maybe Brightness +50), choose an appropriate size brush, and start painting the area you want to brighten.

- Brian

Peano

fredjclaus wrote: »

I have a picture of my daughter in her softball uniform. Her face is a bit shadowed due to her hat. Is there a way to brighten up just her face?

It would help if you posted the image.

zoomer

Use any selection tool to select her face. Use the levels tool to brighten "slightly" don't over do it.
Have you tried using the shadows highlight adjustment....or just a simple levels adjustment?

fredjclaus

Peano

The shadows/highlights filter should help. Put a black mask on that layer and paint with white to reveal the effect only on the face.