Blown out faces

[SierraBella]

Hi again everyone. I have been working with a friend of mine for a while now helping her retouch photos. She is only working with picnik so if there is something beyond what she can do she sends them my way. Today she sent me some photos from a wedding we both attended and asked me to improve several of them that are very blown out.

I am working with Photoshop CS5 and I have tried everything I can think of on this one particular picture. Level, curves, exposure adjustments, and using different channel layers to bring back some more definition to their faces and I am not getting far especially on the groom. If anyone has any advice on how I can make this better I would be so grateful.

Before
http://http://img64.imageshack.us/im.../wedding23.jpg

After
http://http://img10.imageshack.us/im...wedding23e.jpg

Attached photos the after is first I know there isn't much difference thats why I am here lol

[artofretouching]

I use a technique that you did not mention. There is a signup for free access to this video, but I am sure it will help. Please check out the video, and let me know if it helps.

theartofretouching.com/blog/photoshop-tutorial-filling-shine-on-portraits

[thehjj]

You could start with highlight recovery in camera raw.

[John Wheeler]

I agree with thehjj
With what was posted, both being in 8 bit and compressed JPEG there is not enough information to try and bring back any real details. 16bit PSD or Raw Data may have something for you to work with. The highlights are not totally blown yet close. Try processing in the higher bit depth data to recover this image.

[SierraBella]

Thanks guys! I did try both and though I didn't have much luck with THIS photo it did help tons on the others she sent me to work on.

[yvbu]

Hi

With a little paint it must work like this example.

Regards

Yves

[SierraBella]

Thank you yvbu I actually did use painting on some of the photos with the same issue with some success. Project actually ended today we decided not to use this image we had many others though and I cannot tell you all how much your advice helped us on this one!

[lurch]

Better late than never . . . :-)

Actually, painting is your only option with this photo. The faces (and much of the other skin tones) are completely blown out, and there is no information in any of the channels. There is nothing there to reconstruct. How successful painting will be will depend on your artistic skill.