How to remove shadows on faces with DPP 4

[Stocktsi]

After some discussion on this forum, I got a Sigma 150-600 lense for my Canon and I love it.  The detail towards the long end of the zoom are amazing! 

I'm trying to take things to the next level with my pictures and get into post processing but feel completely lost even after watching the DPP training videos.  A common issue I'm trying to address is faces in shadows.  If there are multiple focal points, or a lot of background whites, I lose the detail on the faces and the rest of the body (example below). I've started taking L+raw so I have the raw version so I have those to edit in DPP as well (but too big to upload of course).  I've tried overall shadow/highlight as well as selecting their faces as the adjustment areas and haven't had much success.

Any suggestions for how I can get some of the detail back, either in post processing or adjusting how I'm taking the original pics?

Thanks for your help.

[Peter]

Use a filehost for your raw file. Wetransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive.

[Stocktsi]

raw file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O1FdHaFqwiLd5wYR5QydV3VywjU5PnXo/view?usp=sharing

[Ray-uk]

Really this has been wrongly exposed and any rescue attempt will be a compromise, it may even be that the range of light to dark in the scene exceeds the dynamic range of the camera. If only using DPP then best results will be obtained by boosting the shadow control and then lifting the top of the slope on the tone curves tab although this does affect the brightness of the sea.

[jrhoffman75]

You could also try the Partial Adjustment Tool (page 82 of the manual).

[ebiggs1]

There is just so much in camera latitude you will always find situations that exceed the ability to capture it faithfully.  This is one of those situations.  Plus there is just so much data that any post editor can bring out. This is clearly beyond the limitations of DPP4.  You need Photoshop to recover as much as possible. Its ability to use layers and use masks are what is needed.  It took me longer to d/l your image than I spent in PS recovering this much.  More time and careful editing would do better but you get the idea.

[Peter]

I gave up with DPP4. Hard contrast due to direct sunlight. If you have the opportunity, take a new picture at morning or evening.

My try below (not DPP4)

[Stocktsi]

Thanks for all the edits and feedback.  It really sounds like just one of those pics that's going to be hard to deal with.  I was trying to get the flavor of how rough the water was that day, matched with the 2 kids defeated as they came back in, and it looks like it might have been just too much.

Thanks again for the help.

[ebiggs1]

It is only in the newest versions of DPP4 so make sure it is up to date if that is the direction you want to go. If you're trying to edit a jpeg, however, it won't work at all.

[FloridaDrafter]

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@Stocktsi wrote:

 Any suggestions for how I can get some of the detail back, either in post processing or adjusting how I'm taking the original pics?

Thanks for your help.

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I often use Johns sugestion (page 82 of the manual), the selection "Adjust Specific Area". It only took a few minutes to adjust your Raw file. May not be to your liking, but as mentioned, this is just a quick adjustment for this example. You can tweak it to your liking. I also messed with the both Saturation sections, Contrast, Light/Dark, and Brightness sliders. Sounds like a lot, but still was pretty quick, maybe 5 minutes total. All were cropped/saved with Corel PhotoImpact X3.

**EDIT** I just messed with the face and I got a little sloppy at that :).

This is a crop of the surfer on the right.

This is the entire imge with the left surfer left "as shot" with a bit of the above mentioned slider adjustments. I did this as a comparison.

I hope this helps,

Newton