how to fix this photo: Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a...

supercub

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

(Download)

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

-------------------------------------
If the original shot was a JPG, there is probably nothing you can do to fix it. You can try to open the shadows selectively on just the boy but in all likely hood there is no detail there to be able to recover.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

There are a couple areas in the boy that are not too bad but the deep shadowed area is extremely noisy and the only way you would be able to get a good photo out of it would be by converting it to a painting, where you fill in the face yourself. In the deep shadow, the data are not there. I doubt that you would have gotten anything significantly better if you had shot raw.

This is a case where fill flash would help, or even having a bright white screen in front of the boy to provide some diffuse light on the shadowed areas.

(Download)

Quixdraw Loc: x

DirtFarmer wrote:

There are a couple areas in the boy that are not t... (show quote)

A freaking 'mazing that you could pull back that much. Not my deal, but kudos!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

Shooting raw, and reading the subject with a spot meter, and possibly using flash fill, but not to the extent you did in the second image - is how I would handle this image.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Gene51 wrote:

Shooting raw, and reading the subject with a spot meter, and possibly using flash fill, but not to the extent you did in the second image - is how I would handle this image.

Hind sight is always 20/20. You weren't there.

mineart

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

I actually like it as is. Wouldn't change a thing.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

mineart wrote:

I actually like it as is. Wouldn't change a thing.

Me too - the silhouette of the boy nicely frames the ship wreck and sailboat.

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

jamesl wrote:

-------------------------------------
If the original shot was a JPG, there is probably nothing you can do to fix it. You can try to open the shadows selectively on just the boy but in all likely hood there is no detail there to be able to recover.

I believe a good compromise...

(Download)

nikonbrain Loc: Crystal River Florida

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

Sorry Quoted the wrong person at first ...hope this is a good compromise...I could do better with a little more time...

(Download)

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

Quick attempt at your first photo, could do whole body a bit more, more time could bring out more detail.

(Download)

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

jdubu wrote:

Quick attempt at your first photo, could do whole body a bit more, more time could bring out more detail.

Well done jdubu! Firstly for recovering the detail, and secondly for showing the RAW pundits what can be done with a JPG.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

nikonbrain wrote:

I believe a good compromise...

I also like the compromise better!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

supercub wrote:

Took this picture in Hawaii with olympus 100 camera I think it would be a great photo . The boy was shoot with the sun in the background which caused him to be a shadow. I have tried to fix picture in photoshop with little luck . It was a jpeg photo i tried to color match without success in photoshop. He is smiling and suntanned. Is there a way to fix the photo or just leave it alone? the second photo is what his skin tones should look like

Lesson learned. You need fill flash for subjects like this.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

quixdraw wrote:

Hind sight is always 20/20. You weren't there.

That's how one learns. Make the mistake, examine what could have been handled differently, and use that as a guide for future shooting in similar situations. Self-critique is critical for improvement, and even that has to be taught.

I agree, not being there limits one to hindsight. However, even more limiting is requiring that one be present in order to provide advice and guidance in situations like this. Clearly one does not have to be there in order to provide perfectly valid suggestions.

So, I suspect that you won't be adding anything of positive value to this thread, since "you weren't there".

SMH . . .