Need some help/advice recapturing detail from a "blown-out" forehead in a photo

Started by Fontaholic, September 19, 2014, 06:57:40 AM

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Fontaholic

Hey everyone,

Are there any Photoshop whizzes out there who can lend some advice?

I have a customer who's given me a digital photo of his son and daughter-in-law for use in a project.

The photo was taken outside and the sunlight/glare has almost totally "blown out" the son's forehead, leaving a largely white-ish glare that the customer feels is too distracting (and so do I).

Trouble is, I don't know what I can do to retrieve / recapture any detail from the forehead.  So far, everything I've tried to do, makes my efforts look really noticeable and/or fake.

I can upload the photo if that will help.

Cheers,
John the Fontaholic  :drunk3:

StudioMonkey

If there are no pixels left you can't restore them.  If there is any detail at all copy it into the black channel on a layer above, then on a layer underneath that, clone in some skin from another area.  Depends on how bad it is and how big the photo is - and how good it needs to be.  Can you get another photo of the same guy?  I know it sounds extreme, but you can try taking the area from another photo and distorting it to make it fit, then tweaking the colour + noise. 
Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana

DigiCorn

"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

Made in Taiwan

Uploading the picture is not a bad idea. In that case we can see how bad things really are - or not.

In case there's still some detail left, you can try a new "Adjustment Layer" - "Levels" and then set the blend mode to "Multiply". That'll darken the picture and increase the contrast.

If there are only complete white pixels left, forget about fixing anything, it's just a waste of time with no result. In that case just follow Studiomonkey's advice to try to get another picture and fix the overexposed areas with that.
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

Fontaholic


DigiCorn

"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

Ear

"... profile says he's a seven-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru drag queen alien." ~Jet Black

DigiCorn

I'm not talking about a regular movie either. I'm talking an IMAX.

Anyway, I played with a little. I burned the hell out of it, played with the midtones and highlights, and finally fiddle with the levels. I got the background, and all the clothing looking fantastic, but could do nothing for the guy's face and forehead. His hairline looks better, but he looks a tiny bit sunburnt and very pale. Sorry; I'm not good enough with PS to help you. Where's DCS? He could do it.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

Joe

Here is a corrected image that calms it down a bit but it is by no means great.

Adjusted Image
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Ear

Little ditty, bout Steven and Michelleooo, his forehead is 2 percent, magenta and yellow
"... profile says he's a seven-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru drag queen alien." ~Jet Black

born2print

How will I laugh tomorrow...
when I can't even smile today?

DCurry

I'm too lazy to download the photo and try it myself, but I've had good luck recovering detail with Shadows/Highlights. In this case, you'd leave the Shadows at zero and play with the Highlights slider to see if it helps.
Prinect • Signa Station • XMPie

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night. But set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!

Ear

You can take what DCurry just suggested, use history snapshot, then paint the area gently with the history brush. I have used history brush/snapshot for things like this with great success.
"... profile says he's a seven-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru drag queen alien." ~Jet Black

Made in Taiwan

Just did a quick and dirty way... Copy some of Michelle's forehead on Steven's face... Lower the opacity and set the blend mode to "Darken", then use a soft brush to soften the edges. Didn't play with it for long tho, if you want, you can still make it look better.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4vV6_zsh9xXTHduMGpHS25WbEk/edit?usp=sharing
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

Fontaholic

Quote from: Made in Taiwan on September 19, 2014, 09:10:06 PMJust did a quick and dirty way... Copy some of Michelle's forehead on Steven's face... Lower the opacity and set the blend mode to "Darken", then use a soft brush to soften the edges. Didn't play with it for long tho, if you want, you can still make it look better.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4vV6_zsh9xXTHduMGpHS25WbEk/edit?usp=sharing

OMG, that is terrific, Made!!!  :D

That looks 1000% better than it did before, and I'm sure the customer will be thrilled with how it looks.

I can't thank you enough.

Cheers,
John the Fontaholic :drunk3: