Even out shadows in face

[DGrundmann]

Hello Damien! I have been trying to even out the shadows in her face which have been cast on her by the off camera flash I used. I just can´t get it right and need help with this.

Would you mind to take a look and tell me what your approach would be? 

Here is the image and a 700x700 crop. 

 

 

(Being halfway through the Raw Class and looking at the image right now (that I had started to edit way before), I realize that I have to restart editing it because of all the noise I see now and that I didn't remove). I also just saw that I warped the umbrella in an attempt to give her hair more movement, have to avoid that the next time... ? Also I need the sharpening class, I know, because I neither want to die from measles nor from chickenpox, to use one of your analogies that really stuck with me ? )

[Damien Symonds]

1 hour ago, DGrundmann said:

I realize that I have to restart editing it because of all the noise I see now and that I didn't remove). I also just saw that I warped the umbrella in an attempt to give her hair more movement,

Don't forget how you warped her cheek and generally messed up the hair swap on that camera-left side of her face.

I can help you with the shadow, but I'll wait, if you don't mind.  Start again and avoid all those other problems.

[DGrundmann]

Ouch! You caught me! There's really no flaw in an image that could escape your eagle eyes ? 

Ok! I'm totally for doing things the right way. I'll finish my first read through of the raw class (probably tomorrow), try my hand at a proper edit of the raw file and post it for you. 

Thank you!! 

Edited March 20, 2021 by DGrundmann

[DGrundmann]

Here is the new version: ? 

 

[Damien Symonds]

Looks like this levels layer will work fine:  https://max.mailbigfile.com/b132c30ad7f4e7a8ce8376a4addd5534/listFiles.php

[DGrundmann]

Wow! That looks amazing!! I'll try it tomorrow and will post the result!

[Sunshine]

Sorry for hijacking, but how in the world do you reach those numbers Damien! I want to learn that too please! ❤️ 

[Damien Symonds]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Sorry for hijacking, but how in the world do you reach those numbers Damien! I want to learn that too please! ❤️ 

https://www.damiensymonds.net/traininglevels2.html

[DGrundmann]

Hey Damien! 

So I tried to reproduce what you did, but so far I'm failing miserably. No matter how I try to paint the levels layer in, I either end up with a bright edge or a dark edge around the area. It just doesn't want to blend ?

I tried all kinds of different opacities and flow combinations, but I just don't get it done. Would you mind sharing with me a little about the process, how you paint it on? Do you start with a low opacity or high opacity, and start with the inside area, or do you take care of the edges first? Am I missing something else to get this right? 

[Damien Symonds]

I started with full opacity.  I did the edges first, and then filled in the rest.

Because I'd used 100% brush opacity, this meant that some areas were too dark.  So then I used a low-opacity black brush to gradually reduce those areas until the blend looked right.

[DGrundmann]

22 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

I started with full opacity.  I did the edges first, and then filled in the rest.

Because I'd used 100% brush opacity, this meant that some areas were too dark.  So then I used a low-opacity black brush to gradually reduce those areas until the blend looked right.

Thank you!! Will try again!