help lightening or reducing size of shadows

[nanoo]

Hi,
I plan to enlarge this picture but the shadows get more prominent and I woould like to soften them. Is there a way to do this?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
nanoo

[msfrigyfrog]

ok i hope i remember all the steps
i copied the layer
masked out the kids
lowered the contrast on the layer with the mask
applied a color overlay that matched the original to mask
i think thats all lol
hope this helps
btw i didnt have alot of time to work on the mask so im afraid i lost some of the details in the hair whisps but that can be fixed if more time is spent with the mask

[Cyber Cat]

msfrigyfrog, awsome job on the shadows!!!

[nanoo]

I will give it a try and hope my results are as great as yours. Thanks for your time and effort.
nanoo