Damien Symonds

Yep.

You're correct. But it's no big burden, honestly. I've made a video here, if it helps.

Those are nice, but can you show me one that's very close to sundown, like your photo?

Not quite perfect, but adequate. I trust you can see the problems? It's fixed the acne scars really well, but it doesn't work in creases of skin. You need to be more careful with your masking.

Can you link me to any examples of fields you like?

No, that's fine.

Not bad at all, except for some weird yellow/greenness either side of the tie.

I'm not sure. May I see a screenshot of your layers panel?

Remember not to try to get rid of all of the shadowing. That would be too difficult, and anyway, would look strange. Just minimise it a bit.

Bummer. That would have been really useful here. Well, as a first step, try this method.

You're not still in the Raw Class, are you, Laura?

Simply hold down your Alt key and the "Cancel" button will turn into a "Reset" button, which you can click to undo your work. Raw files are completely bulletproof. You cannot do anything permanently bad to a raw file.

Skipping straight past the raw processing, of course! You're doing SO much damage to your photos by ignoring that window. Even though you haven't had any formal training with ACR, you're still a photographer, so the basic principles of Exposure and White Balance should be familiar enough to you, to have a play around, at least.

This is REALLY REALLY bad.

If the clipping occurred in raw, you have to go back to the raw file to prevent it. You can't "fix" clipping after the event.

No, it's ok. Glad you got it done.

Success is not achieved by halving your computer power. May I see the SOOR of that photo?

PLEASE show me a photo. http://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/02/16-bit-to-8-bit.html

No I don't. Please show me the photo you're working on.

Download the PSD file First, I duplicated the Background layer and did a little bit of Liquify where I could. Then I added a blank layer and cloned big areas of grass over the three sections where I thought I could trim some shirt. Then masked.

Hi Jackie, there are several ways, depending on the situation. May I see them?

Yeah, it's literally just a matter of lightening the outer area. See if you can find a photo of a baby on a textured rug, and we'll play.

Ok, thanks. Because of the complicating factors of the sleeves intersecting with the torso, and the grass around him, I fear there's not a great deal we can do plausibly. Does this help a little?

Just go to the Window menu and open Metadata. Nothing to it.

As Samantha said, you'll need some more road at the bottom, and wall at the top. So, go through your other shots and see if you have some images that can "donate" some road and wall.