This failed....why?

[Pallycow]

View attachment 33029

Look at the histogram for this image .... since the background is black one would expect the stack to heap up on the left side but there is little white and the mid tone is flat ... open it up a little and see the difference, keep the blacks black and just adjust the mid and highlight.

good stuff, thanks. I noticed in my edited one as well, flat in midtone. didn't pay attention to it before. I like how it brought the hair back a bit as well...then I went in and burned at about 4% with history brush to give the hair back even more color and texture. It brought out some of the lost shadow detail in her top too. Guess I'll be tinkering with this one a lot. lol. Brain is a sponge.

 

[Mully]

So much better overall. I posted the histogram info so you could do it and see what is happening. It works so much better than curves and you can control tone so much better. Now just lighten the eyes ever slightly and you got it.