Can this disaster be fixed in Photoshop?

here's my try....

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I thought I'd give it a go too.
Just wished she smiled a bit in the original.
A little softening using masks and enhancing the levels and this is what I came up with.

Dusty

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In PP, add some aging to the photo, shave her eyebrows, then call it a day.

DId some quick cloning and some curve masks-

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KidCr3nshaw wrote in post #13580204
I know some of the best shots I've gotten have come "in between" shots, if you know what I mean.* If possible, a few drinks are always good relaxers and invite stories which tend to generate laughter.

My girlfriend is hawt, but when she tries to smile it just looks so flat.* If I can get her "in between poses" with a smile or laugh the pictures never fail to look incredible, or I should say she never fails to look incredible.

Gotta love this forum, man.

I know exactly what you mean. A few drinks in me would probably help me to relax a bit too
Whenever I try to pose my wife, the shots never work. If I'm quick enough to catch her in-between poses while she's waiting for me to finish messing with my gear, that's when I can usually get one.

bob_r wrote in post #13580445
Have you tried a B & W conversion?

Have not but I'm liking the b&w examples above. I'm going to give that a try.

CanonGrl01 wrote in post #13580449
Aw crap, I read Halloween instead of thanksgiving sorry, wasn't trying to offend either

No offense taken. This is typically how she dresses. She got involved in the wrong crowd awhile back. She's finally moved on and is working on getting her life on track. We all keep suggesting for her to ditch the Goth getup.

PHughes wrote in post #13580538
I agree on the expression, but you probably captured her as she is so in that sense it is a good portrait. I would actually go black and white on this myself. I did two edits quickly, one in simple black and white and one with a slight warming filter. I also softened some of the complexion issues you mentioned. I don't like to see all the complexion "issues" taken away in a photograph because a person is who they are. Lighting though accentuates it at times so a little softening of that effect is okay by me. I made a layer and then blurred the background a bit using a gaussian blur, I then erased the top layer with a brush at about 43 percent opacity. I just hit a few areas with a small diameter brush, 5 pixels.

With warming filter, I believe it was an 81

I'm not a fan of her expression but I do love what you did with the b&w conversions. I'm going play around with your suggestions and see what I come up with. Thank you!

muskyhunter wrote in post #13580583
here's my try....

Dusty wrote in post #13580665
I thought I'd give it a go too.
Just wished she smiled a bit in the original.
A little softening using masks and enhancing the levels and this is what I came up with.

Dusty

JTant wrote in post #13581137
DId some quick cloning and some curve masks-

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. It's very much appreciated. I'll be using everyone's input to create several versions of this shot and see what variations I come up with in Photoshop.

I think if she saw these images here she would be really unhappy. This requires and experienced portrait photographer and if possible a make-up artist.

But if you can get a reshoot try this.
1. Raise the camera so that the lens height is equal to or greater than her forehead height. This will reduce the double chin.
2. Have her sit up. Use her shoulders to turn toward the main light - not her neck.
3 When placing her eyes, make sure that they are equal in the eye socket.
4. Use soft light that compliments her, keep the color temp around 4800k (warm).
5 Make sure that BOTH eyes have nice highlights.
6. Use a shoot location that has gobs of ambient light to reduce the pupils.
7 Watch the hard edge transfers, make them softer.

I enjoy messing with people face ..no pun intended.

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Here's my attempt.

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Well, I decided to join in and since I suggested a B & W version, here's mine.

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Why so serious?

[QUOTE=kjonnnn;1358830​9]A smile or at least a smirk always helps.

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote in post #13584815
I rather like her melancholic expression. It's a little romantic - like a tragic Victorian heroine. Perhaps in a Poe story as that would go well with her dark clothing and necklace!
If I had the skills, I'd be doing an edit around that theme.

I like this idea a lot. I wish my editing skills were good enough.

LBaldwin wrote in post #13584903
I think if she saw these images here she would be really unhappy. This requires and experienced portrait photographer and if possible a make-up artist.

But if you can get a reshoot try this.
1. Raise the camera so that the lens height is equal to or greater than her forehead height. This will reduce the double chin.
2. Have her sit up. Use her shoulders to turn toward the main light - not her neck.
3 When placing her eyes, make sure that they are equal in the eye socket.
4. Use soft light that compliments her, keep the color temp around 4800k (warm).
5 Make sure that BOTH eyes have nice highlights.
6. Use a shoot location that has gobs of ambient light to reduce the pupils.
7 Watch the hard edge transfers, make them softer.

Thank you very much for the tips. I appreciate it. I will keep these in mind for next time. I'm working on a portrait tips cheat sheet that I can quickly review before future portrait shots and these will be a nice addition.

I also agree with what you said, an experienced portrait photographer would need to work with her to capture her the way she's meant to be captured.

bob_r wrote in post #13588469
Well, I decided to join in and since I suggested a B & W version, here's mine.

I like it a lot

Thank you to everyone who did edits on this photo. I appreciate the suggestions and inspiration.

Would give it a try,but the link you have for the image is private.

My attempt;

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^^ Looks like too much recovery in Lightroom, her face now looks grey

drew22mader wrote in post #13592139
^^ Looks like too much recovery in Lightroom, her face now looks grey

kinda pink on my screen.