Is there ANY hope for these? I really hope there is (sigh) :S

[canadianaustralian]

Hello!

I am somewhat thankful that I took these 2 photographs in RAW because I was able to make some adjustments in Photoshop Elements Raw to improve them a bit (I've included the before and after of the two photos below).

I'm feeling stuck, which is why I'm submitting them here.

I know I really messed up with lighting and have learned a lot from my mistakes.

What I could really use is some tips to improve them (in Photoshop Elements 11). I've played with them a bit but due to the harsh shadows, I can't seem to make them better. I am pretty much a novice on PSE11, but am learning tons as I go!

Anyway, I'd really value some feedback and ideas of how to edit these.

Thanks in advance

 

[480sparky]

Sorry to say it, but Photoshop is no excuse for shooting under poor lighting.

 

[Rick58]

View attachment 65347
Sparky's right. The easiest mistake to fix is one that was never made, but, I guess that's why they're called mistakes.
I took the one with the best exposed background and softened the shadows a bit. There are other's much more skilled in PP then I, but it gives you an idea. I'm afraid nothing can bring back the blown highlights

 

[Bossy]

Offer a reshoot? And when you shoot again have them just sit on the grass, it looks dumb on a blanket.

 

[Derrel]

Yes, those can have the shadows lightened up somewhat, but the overall effect will still be dappled light. Dappled light is VERY tricky to work in. It can be done, but again, it is exceptionally tricky to work in that kind of lighting conditions, and even the results of an expert shooter are often not all that appealing to many people. "Some people", and we have some here on TPF, absolutely rage against dappled sunlight; others are a bit more open-minded about using it.

 

[JBrown]

Why on earth do people ever shoot under dappled lighting, it always looks horrible. They can be fixed but it would take so much time/effort it would be 100x easier just to reshoot.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[KmH]

IMO they cannot be fixed well enough to be usable.

It doesn't do much good to shoot Raw and then use Elements to edit pixels, because Elements lacks 16-bit depth editing tools and has limited masking capabilities.

That said it looks like you globally edited each entire image rather than selecting just the people and locally editing just them, so the exposure of the backgrounds were not also altered.

Use the Quick Selection tool to select just the people. Refine the edge of the selection. Then with the selection active you can duplicate the layer (ctrl-J) and all but the people will be transparent in the new layer.
Edits you make in that new layer will only show on the people.

While Elements 11 lacks many of the features Photoshop CS/CC has, many Adobe TV tutorials still have info valuable to Elements users - Quick Selection Tool | Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS6 | Adobe TV

 

[Derrel]

If you really want to shoot people in dappled sunlight/dappled shade, you need massive amounts of fill-in light to give some "eye sparkle", and to lighten the shadows up very substantially. The human eye sees dappled light in a beautiful, glorious way; the cold, unflinching eye of a camera records dappled light in a most different manner.

Dappled light under a big shade tree on a nice day is wonderful visual and sensory experience while one is actually there, at that place and at that time, in the moment; but photos made in that kind of light, with no sparkle to the eyes from either a MASSIVE reflector or from a fill-flash, with dark shadows punctuated by bright splotches of light...ouch...it's just a really different thing "on-film" or "on-sensor".

 

[e.rose]

Yeah dude, sorry. Unless you wanna pay a pro retoucher to save these, you're not going to be able to.

Are there any shots you didn't take under dappled light?

Just show those. Don't show these.

And if they were ALLLLLL under dappled light, just let them know that you're still learning and they didn't come out well, and would like to reshoot. ...Assuming you didn't charge for these and took them under the pretense that you are still learning...