Help with photo

[Duesth]

I took some bridal pictures of a friend of mine. We both love this picture and she would like to use it as her canvas (16 x 20). I am not happy with the shadowing on her right arm and under her nose and the brightness of her chin. But I am unable to even things out without it looking to fake. Any suggestions? Thanks - Melissa

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24545382@N04/4789783024/

 

[JasonLambert]

You have downloading of your images disabled in flickr. Can't help ya.

 

[Peano]

You can fix the shadow problems and light on the chin with a combination of cloning and dodge/burn.
(For D&B I use curves adjustment layers in luminosity mode -- one layer for dodging, the other for
burning.) I softened the shadows under her eyes and around her necklace and also used the
S/H filter to brighten skin and hair.

White balance is a little toward the blue side, but that's easy to adjust by setting white and
black points. I also illustrated a few small cosmetic changes here -- the pudge above the dress
under her left arm, the crease under her chin, and a little slimming of the neckline. All optional, of course.

EDIT: In addition to these changes, I would suggest brightening the trees a bit immediately behind the subject,
cloning out the branch at lower left, rotating the image slightly CCW, applying some fairly aggressive output
sharpening to the subject (use an edge mask to prevent extra noise), and adding a vignette.

16 x 20 crop: