My lens hood left a giant shadow : ( HELP to fix

[Rachel Faye]

So I realize this is a digital forum but... i still use a NIKON N80 35mm and I print and scan my photos and recently i did a newborn session and completely forgot to remove my lens hood before shooting and from my speed light the result was having a huge shadow right in the center of almost every frame I took (at least this is why i think the shadow is there) : ( can i fix this in photo shop? I have tried the dodge tool but the tones wont blend right. Is this a lost cause should I just call my client and re-schedule. PLEASE HELP!! I have attached a photo...

[sk66]

Best solution is: Get your flash off camera!
Fix it in post? maybe , marginally....

[Cola]

Originally Posted by sk66

Best solution is: Get your flash off camera!
Fix it in post? maybe , marginally....

You could take the lens hood off.

Also, +1 for taking your flash off camera. It gives a much more professional look than just a flat on camera flash.

Since this was shot on film you could edit your scanned image in photoshop and maybe clone it out or something.

[Car2n]

If there's the option of a reshoot, I'd take it.
The only real fix is croping but you're going to loose important parts of the image.

[Photologyst]

Try this, Rachel:

Make 2 layer copies.

Turn off original layer

Change blend mode to screen

Merge layers

Make another copy

Select area for lightening

Feather selected area

Select inverse and hit delete

Change blend mode to screen

In a new layer use color balance and levels for final adjustments

Clone 20% opacity and heal to blend edges.

[edbayani]

i looked at your photo and luckily there were details in the shadow. this can be retouched if all the shots were like this. but you have to have knowledge of photoshop, how to select, to use levels, hue and saturation and use of layer mask to blend the selection with the background here is a sample and i'd be glad to help you.

[i speak in math]

Getting your flash off camera and using a larger light source makes a big difference.

[Rachel Faye]

I usually never use flash... and I had a complete Block in my brain and forgot to take the hood off.. so I realize that shooting without the hood is the #1 solution and I also tryed to use cloning in ps4 but i thought maybe there was something more technical that took more patience that someone could' help me with.. Thanks Photologist I will give it a try.. Also thank you all for taking time to reply... i went ahead and rescheduled the session... I should've mentioned that I am just starting out so I don't have all the awesome equipment yet but am working on getting some better light sources.. I usually just rely on Natural light this day however there wasn't much gleaming in the home I was working at....But again thanks you all I will try all suggestions for sure and let any of you know if i have more question ; D

[Rachel Faye]

thanks so much I will give this a try ...

[Rachel Faye]

Thanks this helps Alot... I have minimal knowledge of Ps4 so I was nervous about jsut jumping in and wasting time ya know... I realize this is prob going to take some patience..So in as simple of terms as you have time to share how to begin to tackle this?