removing shadows

[synchronicity]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I remove the shadows from this image?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/149/3...0b9eb8e8_b.jpg

I have Photoshop CS2

Thanks

[bart_hickman]

The three gentlemen on the left are in such dark shadows, I don't think you'll be able to correct it with curves or dodging or anything like that (the far left guy has some hope). Some reconstruction will be needed. Probably start by stealing some similar face parts from elsewhere (in this image or another), then tranforming and liquifying them to fit and adjusting colors as well. If you have some more versions of this shot with their chins unshadowed, that'll greatly simplify things.

I did just one of the gentlemen as an example. Took a chin from one of the other guys and pounded it into shape and color. Added a little noise to match grain. I did use a masked curve to fix his shirt as there is sufficient information to recover there. Figure on about 15 minutes work per chin.

Removing the shadows on the wall is easier of course--just clone the texture from the non-shadowed areas.

The contrast on this image is very harsh--too harsh for a people-photo. Do you have a lower-contrast version?

Bart

[synchronicity]

Thanks a lot.

But what did you do, specifically, using Photoshop?

Actually, I was looking to remove the shadows on the wall. too. How do I do that without there being big blobs of space where the shadows were?

I've only just acquired photoshop, so I don't know my way around it yet. I've used the microsoft "paint" feature for adjusting photos till now, which I know isn't very sophisticated at all.

I think I need to use the "lasso" tool, is that right? How do I use it to remove the shadows?

Thanks

[Daviskw]

Bart is correct of course... I cloned some background to make a few blocks.... duplicated the blocks and combined then used the healing brush to blend edges. Then with masks I painted out the shadows... I did not take a lot of time but you can get rid of the shadows or just lighten them by reducing the opacity on the block background layer.



The harsh shadows on the men in back will be very hard to correct... I did a quick job with the clone tool set to lighten... then added a noise layer.

Butch

[synchronicity]

That's great. Thanks a lot.

So how do I clone the background like that, using photoshop?

And how do I insert it without encroaching on the figures?

Jack

[Daviskw]

Hi there

I just made a marquee selection in the upper left corner.

I duplicated this layer a few times ... moved the new blocks until I had enough to cover the shadowed background. Then I used the healing brush to blend the block edges .

I had a solid background covering the bad areas. Then I attached a hide all mask... This hid the background ...I clicked on the new attached mask.... then with a soft white brush I painted over the shadow... this allows the background to show through.

Butch