Remove Reflection of Softbox (Revisted)

[SLS]

I know there is a previous thread about removing reflections of softboxes, but it was not resolved, and the original poster was using the incorrect color space, so I thought I'd ask again. Being the newbie shooter/editor that I am I went and got the biggest softboxes I could reasonably lug around with me to get that "soft" light that most of us want. What I didn't do was note where they were placed in relation to the framed photo with glass in the background behind the model. This of course resulted in giant octobox reflections. I've tried the dehaze local adjustment along with some white/black level adjustments, but the best I got to was a semi okay interior of the reflection matching the rest of the framed photo but a dark ring where the edge of the octobox was. I've got 9-10 shots where we tried to mimic the art piece in the background, but I goofed on all of them and they have various levels of softbox reflection in them. Below is one cropped example. I believe this is within bounds of the site guidelines, but please delete if moderation sees it differently. Thanks in advance!

 

[Damien Symonds]

Hi @SLS, sorry about my delayed reply.  I was doing the grocery shopping

I don't have any "clever tricks" for you, I'm afraid.

It will begin with Levels using the eyedropper tool, and careful masking.

After that, very painful, painstaking cloning.

Download this PSD file to see how I've done one of the glares so far.

[SLS]

No worries. I was actually surprised you responded so quick. I was expecting days. I'll take a look at the psd. Thanks!

[SLS]

What technique did you use to define the layer mask inside the reflection? I've tried a  brush, but I keep ending up with a rather harsh edge, even with a soft brush. This is even before adding a second adjustment clipped layer. Also, do I need to use a different levels adjustment layer for each softbox reflection? I tried simply adding to the mask you defined, but the interior of the second reflection seems to end up with more contrast with the area outside the reflection than the one you did. For the levels eyedropper, did you set a black point or white point?

 

Sorry for so many questions.

[Damien Symonds]

Yep, just the brush.  I made the initial shape with a 100% opacity brush, then lowered the opacity to modify it.  Have you Alt-clicked on the mask to see it in black-and-white?

Yes, it will be a different levels layer for each reflection I'm afraid.

2 hours ago, SLS said:

For the levels eyedropper, did you set a black point or white point?

You can tell that by looking at which sliders have moved on the levels layer - either the ones at the white end, or the ones at the black end.

[SLS]

Thanks. I'll have another go. I have not tried Alt-clicking, but I did use the "\" key to see the mask in the red/pink overlay mode. I'll try the B+W Alt-Click to see if that is easier to utilize.

[SLS]

In the properties panel neither layer indicates sliders have moved, and the numeric values below the graph are at 0, 1.00, 255 like default. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong sliders, or have the wrong thing selected?

[Damien Symonds]

Oh, you need to look at the individual (Red, Green and Blue) channels, not the RGB one.

[SLS]

Thanks.