Suggestions of fixing up pic

Hi, I took some photos of my daughter in the park and came across what I think is a nice photo but Sarah came out a little too dark compared to the background. I tried to fix her up in Photoshop to the best of my current ability. I would appreciate some comments on maybe ways to improve this photo. Thanks

This is the link to the original image.
http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/16018672


This is the link of the edited version.
http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/16018300

Just so you know what I did. I selected her entire body using the magnettic lasso and created a layer copy and then did some layer and curve adjustments on her. Thats basicall all that was done. I know the pic can be better so any suggestions would be great. Thanks

lasercomp,

I don't use Photoshop, but there is a tool in that program which is a "dodge tool". This is the equivalent of how the problem would be solved in the old darkroom days.

Maybe not the best solution but relatively quick and easy.

Bruce

Try this:

Open your picture.

* Image/Duplicate/OK

* Image/Mode/Grayscale/O​K

* Filter/Gaussian Blur (give a factor 4.0) OK

* Image/Adjustments/Inve​rt (or press Ctrl+I)

* Now select your original file leaving the copy open

* Original selected:
Select/Load Selection (Channel Gray)/OK

* In the layers palette duplicate the background layer and name it 'exposure'

* press Ctrl+H to hide the travelling ants.

* Edit Fill/ Use: 50% Gray / Opacity: 100% / Mode: Color Dodge

* on your 'exposure' layer slide the opacity to the desired level.

That's it. Post back and let us know how it looks.

It looks very good. And so quick. I wish I new what I did. I just followed your instructions but didnt really know what I was doing. Thanks for the instructions.

2nd the dodge tool as an option

I would 2nd the dodge tool as an option

...Assuming you already did the automatic corrective tool of "fill flash"?

i love the composition of the photo ~ very natural. and the sky is cool. can you post the photo with the edits?

This is the edits I made.

http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/16018300/large

thanks for comments

Two words (for the next time)

Fill flash.

And/or - spot metering w/AE exposure lock?

Dana

dana wrote:
Two words (for the next time)

Fill flash.

And/or - spot metering w/AE exposure lock?

Dana

Using fill flash or exposure lock should of been used. But this is after the fact. I didnt have my flash with me and with my daughter, I have a limited wndow of oppotunity to take the shot. I need to post process this image to make it look good. If I would of stopped and changed settings, she would of already been up the slide and I lost the shot.

lasercomp wrote:
This is the edits I made.

http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/16018300/large

thanks for comments

Looks a lot better. I forgot to mention earlier, after you do the exposure adjustment you can also add an additional 'Levels' adjustment layer and move the middle slider to the left if you want to add a little more brightness. But just do it to the point where you don't lose too much contrast and the skies don't blow out. To avoid this problem in the future where the subject is backlit you should use the camera's fill flash, or at least increase the exposure compensation up to around +2/3ev.

PFlor wrote:

lasercomp wrote:
This is the edits I made.

http://www.pbase.com/i​mage/16018300/large

thanks for comments

Looks a lot better. I forgot to mention earlier, after you do the exposure adjustment you can also add an additional 'Levels' adjustment layer and move the middle slider to the left if you want to add a little more brightness. But just do it to the point where you don't lose too much contrast and the skies don't blow out. To avoid this problem in the future where the subject is backlit you should use the camera's fill flash, or at least increase the exposure compensation up to around +2/3ev.

There is no setting for fill flash right? You just mean I should of used eitehr my internal flash or my external ex420 right? I think I should of used the spot AE metering and pointed the AF point at her.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was criticizing you. I was just confirming that fill flash and/or spot metering w/AE lock would have gotten similar (better) results. I didn't make my intent very clear!

Dana

No critisizing taken. I enjoy hearing peoples feedback. That is why I asked the question originally. If I sounded like I was annoyed at your remark, I wasn't. In the future I will try to have the scene setup prior to snapping away.

Yup, I meant fill flash from the camera. If you're using the 420ex set the switch to high speed sync (the H with the lightning bolt and leave it there at all times). Spot metering would've helped brighten the subject but would blow out the skies and other parts of the scene and the results would still not be as good as using fill flash.