What follows may seem complex, but it really isn’t. It requires some familiarity with the interface, tools, and nomenclature of PS7, but all the techniques are pretty basic. I hope you’ll take time to walk through these and really understand cause/effect. I think your use of PS will be forever improved if you do. Coupla notes on key tools, then the steps…
(1) CLONE STAMP TOOL: When used with opacity set to 50% or less, it can be very effective in softening the transition from two tonal areas. Using multiple strokes, perhaps from several angles, a harsh border can be replaced with a smooth gradation. Takes some touch and some practice, but very helpful in removing artifacts from prior post-processing.
(2) BLUR TOOL: When used with strength set to 25%, it is very effective in removal of noise, grain, and artifacts from prior post-processing.
(3) DODGE TOOL: Keep exposure low (e.g. 10%), use a soft-edged brush, and use the largest brush the task will allow. The large, soft brush will better able your hand-touching to blend with unaltered areas.
(4) SPONGE TOOL: With flow set to 10%, both the saturate and desaturate actions can be very useful in cleaning up from prior post-processing. Like the tools above, takes some touch and practice to get a natural result.
OK, the steps…
(a) LIGHTEN ALL SHADOWS: Use a Curves adjustment on the entire image to lighten shadows. You can’t lighten just 2-3 faces, leave the rest in tact, and expect the result to look natural. The points on the Curve, all on the composite (RGB) channel: (0,0) (20,35) (50,70) (130, 140) (170, 170) (200,200) (255,255). After that, use a coarse Unsharp Mask (USM) filter to restore some lost contrast: Amount 15%, Radius 50 pixels, and Threshold 0. The photo should already look much better.
(b) LEFT-MOST CHILD: Several steps to reduce the shadow on her face and eliminate its harsh boundary, all best done with the view scaled at 200%. First, use the Magnetic Lasso tool to select the left half of her face and the shadowed region on the right. Be sure to include her neck and left ear. Feather the selection by 3 pixels. Using a Levels adjustment on the selected region, nudge both Gamma and White Point to the left until the tone is just a bit darker than the darkest portion of her right side (e.g. 0, 1.30, 155). Her face should be far more evenly illuminated, just a nasty “scar” across her check. Using a blend of the Clone Stamp tool (opacity 50%) and the Blur tool (25%), slicing from several angles to remove the “scar” and gain a soft transition between old and new. Also, use the Blur tool to clean up artifacts across her face and neck. Use the Sponge tool in desaturate mode (flow 10%, brush size 30) to notch excess pink back a bit, where needed. She should look pretty good now.
(c) BACK-MOST AND RIGHT-MOST CHILDREN: Again at 200% scale, perform these steps to soften their face shadows as well. Use the Dodge tool (soft 60-pixel brush, on shadows, 10% exposure) to lighten shadows. One swipe across left-face and right cheek should do it. Then use the Blur tool to clean up artifacts and ensure smooth complexion, and the Sponge tool (in saturate mode) to perk up any washed out colors. Don’t over-do the Dodging. Make certain some shadow remains, and the chroma therein should be rich (in this case ruddy). Repeat for the young boy, and remember to hit his left ear as well.
(d) FINAL CLEAN-UP: Use the Despeckle filter (under Noise) to remove grain, then use another Unsharp Mask to tighten detail (Amount 50-100%, Radius 2 pixels, and Threshold 5).
Total time, roughly 10-15 minutes. Took me a lot longer to
describe the steps. Hope this helps. Let me know if questions.
Joe
If you like what I did, let me know and I'll (a) outline steps, and
(b) post the full-sized image on PBase.
Joe
Any suggestions on removing or minimizing the shadows in the
picture?? I'm mostly concerned with the shadow accross my
daughter's face on the left of the photo.
Thanks,
-B
Here is the full size file:
http://www.pbase.com/image/10265033
--
Joe
DSC-F717,
http://pbase/misterpix
--
Joe
DSC-F717,
http://pbase/misterpix 
