Correcting Overexposure/ISO in Photoshop??

[gng11]

I have a taken a portrait photo with my settings (forgotten to correct) set to indoor ISO (around 800) and light source set to incandescent instead of natural light on my Nikon D40. I'm wondering if there is any way to correct the white-washed face and restore detail and correct colour??? I've tried many techniques but can't seem to come to a conclusion. Thanks. Attachments of the photos is here. One is whitewashed AND in the wrong blued colour. The other needs reduction of too much light on the face and detail restoration.

[julianmarsalis]

Pretty much have to measure the highlights if they are to hot basically you have no information just pure white. Try duplicating the image and set the blend mode to multiply and that should show if any detail can be pulled back in quickly and easily. This can be done a few times then add masks over the areas that get to dark. Other than that you can paint back in the detail which is painful imho using clone stamp tool or copying the side of the face with detail free transform flip horizontal and blend it in over the missing data.

[Juergen D]

"Treating" the image with ACR, a little painting and noise reduction gave this result.

Juergen

[TommyO]

If you have CS3, you can bring it into Camera RAW and alter the exposure. This typically gives the fastest and best results.
If you do not have CS3, then you are left with doing various standard approaches, in addition to those below.
Working on a larger image may reveal more detail. However, these tend to have some pretty blown out whites. Cannot recover much in those areas from these small jpg's.

[Juergen D]

Originally Posted by Juergen D

"Treating" the image with ACR...

ACR = Adobe Camera Raw. I did it in Photoshop Elements 5.0.

Juergen

[DCobb]

I started the image in ACR and then colorized the face and background. In taking a second look at the sky, the color is not right--too blue I think.

dc

[gng11]

Thank you all for the responses. That was fast. However since I need this photo to go in to a magazine publication, so I need it to be as close to natural as possible (meaning no artwork-like photos). This is a photo for an interview so I guess any more tips would be great. Just adding a side note. Trying the several techniques provided so far. I don't have CS3 so might as well try to get my hands on one to try it out.

[TommyO]

Sorry Juergen,
I didn't mean to be repetitive... just glossed right over that one, thinking it was a plug-in or something. That's what I get for doing this with a stomach ache.
Thanks !

[gng11]

Originally Posted by DCobb

I started the image in ACR and then colorized the face and background. In taking a second look at the sky, the color is not right--too blue I think.

dc

Yeah I agree the sky is a bit darker than usual. Otherwise, it's pretty good. Again as I mentioned, this pic has to go in to a magazine interview article. So being natural and pure as much as possible is a must. :P. Thanks though!

[jam1212]

I really doubt this will ever be magazine quality. The fact of the matter is that the highlights are completely blown out. That is, there is absolutely no information in them. You would literally have to paint in any details, which simply will not look good, period. I would recommend doing a reshoot.

[mistermonday]

I have to agree with jam1212. You will need to fill image data which is absent. BTW, did you shoot the orig images in RAW. This is a classic example of why RAW format should be used. The original data off the image sensor would still be available, noit having been permanently converted as is the case with jpg. So the White Balance would have been a piuece of cake to restore. You still might have been missing some info in the overexposed areas but some of it if not all of it could have been recovered.
Regards, Murray

[Juergen D]

Originally Posted by mistermonday

I have to agree with jam1212.

Me too. Maybe you can post a full size image on Pixentral and give us the link here. We could take a look and see if it gives us some more to work with.

Juergen

[MrAlexajlex]

RAW is great and the additional image info it contains can help tremendously in most situations that need correction.

I've looked at the JPG in ACR and it looks like to get it back in the game you would need -EV2+.

+2 stops may be a stretch even with for RAW. You will still need to do some painting.

[Cupcake]

Lightroom

[julianmarsalis]

No matter what tool u use zero information is still zero information. Really need the highest res image you have or better yet a raw file to even begin trying to make a decent image.....