Photoshop Edit: Dark Shading

[sanderso]

Two pix are below, a "before" and an "after". I need some guidance/ideas on how to brighten the right half of the "before" pic.

Details:
#1 is the original taken 15 years ago and was recently scanned into a JPEG. (The darkness is on the original print...no doubt caused by the lack of a filter). #2 is my attempt at fixing it by: creating a layer (duplicate of the background), brightening that layer, then allowing the right half of the brightened layer to flow to the final image via a mask applied to the layer.

I'm not happy with the result....too much noise in #2 (among other things). As a PS noob, I can't figure out how to do this "simple" edit in my CS5. I've looked for on-line training videos, and/or other references w/o luck.

Any thoughts?...or is it beyond saving? (Not a critical image....more an exercise to improve my PS skills.)

Thanks in advance for any/all guidance.

#1:


#2:

 

[KenC]

Any time you brighten a dark area you are going to get a lot of noise - no getting around that except by applying some sort of noise reduction, which then affects sharpness.

When you say "the original print" does that mean you do not have the slide/negative and scanned a print? If so, the only way you could improve the result a little is to scan twice (without moving the print) at different settings (one lighter than the other) and combine the two scans. This too will introduce some noise, but perhaps less than just trying to bring up that area on a dark scan in PS.

 

[sanderso]

KenC: Thnx for your comment!

Any time you brighten a dark area you are going to get a lot of noise - no getting around that except by applying some sort of noise reduction, which then affects sharpness....

Hmmm...OK...

...When you say "the original print" does that mean you do not have the slide/negative and scanned a print? If so, the only way you could improve the result a little is to scan twice (without moving the print) at different settings (one lighter than the other) and combine the two scans. This too will introduce some noise, but perhaps less than just trying to bring up that area on a dark scan in PS.

That's right. Unfortunately, the negatives are long gone, I'd need to rescan the print. I thought an HDR type solution might be worth trying, but a prior effort at HDR was disappointing...(not w this print), so I was hoping for a solution w/in PS. Thanks for the multi-scan idea.