Shiny, greasy foreheads

[caslau]

Hi

This is a photo taken at a Matchbox 20 concert with one of my boys kodak digital camera. Your basic point and shoot. I am trying to work out the best way to remove the shiny and greasy patches on the skin without losing the face. This is obviously about two friends having a great time and not retouching for a glossy mag - but we still what to look good!!!!! I have tinkered with bluring effects and also using the healing brush but I thought I would put it out you guys who I am sure have a remedy.

[0lBaldy]

G-Day Caslau, Pretty blurry pic..
cropped
leveled
Primarily used the clone tool and faded each stroke
tried to sharpen some
blended back with original

[caslau]

Sorry about that will try again. Same save name just not a blurry mess.

[0lBaldy]

Oh, That's OK! I only worked on the other blurry picture for a few hours trying to make it better... I had nothing better to do..

Actually there was no need for you to post a better picture ... the "quick" method for fixing the highlights is still the same if you are going to try it yourself.. (You have mentioned you have CS3, which has shadow/highlight control and many other much more advanced things that I do not have.. heck painting the highlights on a new layer with a nearby color and adjusting the opacity would probably work also... IF, you were so inclined!)

I am sure others will post much better solutions to your highlight problem

Looking forward to seeing how your final picture turns out when you post it here.

(Revised my post above)

[caslau]

sarcasm becomes you! - and really what's a couple of hours amongst friends?

You are absolute correct re the shadow/highlights control - one of my favourites.

[TommyO]

Another idea for you...

If the image has no major problems, I tend to open it in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) first and do my adjustments there. With ACR 4 in CS3, it's a no brainer. Even the curves tab allows independent adjustments for shadow, midtones & highlights. Try playing in ACR and I'm sure you will find it faster and easier. You can also save any adjustments to make to multiple images, or simply open them all at once in ACR. Very good for those times when the white balance is off on those indoor shots.

[caslau]

Thanks Olbabldy. Have just started working on the photo using the clone tool on a duplicate layer with a decreased opacity - its working and looks good. I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who freely give their advice to novices like myself - it really is appreciated.

[plugsnpixels]

There's a plug-in called ShineOff which makes quick work of removing facial glare.