Help Remove Shadow

kstrat2008 · Jul 29, 2014

I searched the web and found many techniques to remove shadows on him but none that really worked well. Can anyone please help?IMG_9988_zpsa1dff049.jpg Photo by kstrat2014 | Photobucket

Light Guru · Jul 29, 2014

First off you never want to completely remove a shadow. Shadows give definition to objects and help give you a 3D look. If you remove them completely it's just going to look weird.

Some simple dodging in photoshop would probably do the trick on your image to lighten up the shadow areas in your image.

ristretto · Jul 30, 2014

kstrat2008 upload a higher resolution image and I'll lighten it for you if you want. The one on photobucket is not really big enough to do it well.

IzzieK · Jul 30, 2014

I was about to say Dodging in Photoshop will solve the shadow problem, but hey! it's been said, so I now can say: Welcome aboard this site.

bianni · Jul 30, 2014

Duplicate the layer twice and the top most layer, change the blend mode to multiply to darken it. use layer mask on the top layer to remove the dark shadows. This will reveal the the lighter shadow on the layer below. Merge layers.

dweazel · Jul 30, 2014

Well this is a hacked job with the small file.... duplicate layers - dodge and burn to even things up on the top layer then bring down opacity according to taste.... you should be able to do a much much better job with the original file.

Braineack · Jul 30, 2014

bianni said:
View attachment 80751
Duplicate the layer twice and the top most layer, change the blend mode to multiply to darken it. use layer mask on the top layer to remove the dark shadows. This will reveal the the lighter shadow on the layer below. Merge layers.

Thanks for the tip on what NOT to do... holy crap.

KmH · Jul 30, 2014

Some photos cannot be 'fixed' post process.

The photo cannot be edited in a way that would produce a quality result.
It's to bad the light direction and quality were so poor and that the camera was not set up to minimize the lighting issues.
The solution at the time the shutter was released was to use flash to fill in the shadow and somewhat balance the direct sunlight.