Lisamjohnson

I spent an ungodly amount of time yesterday researching solutions and working on fixing this image...
My images exported here are white balanced (based on your raw class i'm currently taking)

Issues i'm trying to fix

1. the overexposed reflection on the water

2. the color of the pea soup water....this is the same color in all the images in the shoot. There were forest fires in the area so these images are very hazy .... and odd colors

My first thought was to separate the subject from background to fix and balance the background

I tried the color replacement tool to blend the highlight of the water with the rest of the water....

I tried changing the color of the water with a hue/saturation adjustment layer

Then i have the issue with the other section of water at the bottom with different color/texture
and also the greenery at the top

(this is my nephew and he really likes this picture.....i've even considered putting it on a different background)

What can i do to fix my issues aside from scrapping these photos to the recycle bin LOL

thank you!

I have not taken your layers / masks class yet...
But i'm following this tutorial....

Minimising soft shadows | Photoshop (damiensymonds.net)

I don't want to lighten the skin...i want to get rid of the sun spots...

And blend the harsh transition between the right side and left side of the face...
So its more gradual
So the opposite of what this tutorial is showing...
I don't want to lighted to the level of the sun spot
Is there another tutorial addressing this? 
Is this a clone tool job? 
Suggestions?
 

Thank you

I'm working on improving my editing skills and polishing my style. 
I would love suggestions on what would make this image really pop.
I really want his eyes and face to be amazing - here's a clean image.