Is this fixable?

[texassand]

I love this pic but I've tried to fix it and just don't know enough to do it. Can anyone fix it?

 

[Majik Imaje]

.. .. I hope you don't say.. button the shirt! or reveal the faces hidden in the darkness. There is nothing there I dont think, at first glance. I could be wrong!

 

[Peacemaker636]

No, the left side is too blown out and the right is too dark. You should've used more even lighting, and turned down the brightness or used a faster shutter speed.

 

[Digital Matt]

There are a lot of things wrong here, and the best way to fix it is to reshoot.

 

[texassand]

wow - i thought this was a photoshop challenge thread.

 

[Digital Matt]

Photoshop can't fix everything. It should be used to enhance, not to rescue, whenever possible.

 

[mr e]

While I would agree with the other posters, I figured I'd take a stab and see what could be done.

I brightened the man's dark face and the woman's half dark face, tried to darken the woman's half bright face, and tried to darken the stomach although it was totally blown out so it looks a little...off. But here's what I got after 10-15 minutes of photoshopping.

 

[texassand]

Thank you!! That looks much better at least. Did you use the "brightness" tool or the "burning and dodging" tool? Just curious. That looks way better than what I had attempted in PS Elements.

Thanks again.

 

[mr e]

I actually selected the dark and light parts with the lasso tool, copied them to a new layer, then altered the levels and contrast.

After I altered the levels overall I believe I upped the red a little bit (only on the faces) to give their faces the pinkish look again.