Photoshop CS3 and HIGHLY exposed pictures from K850i

Question

okay I take pictures with my Sony Ericsson K850i and the flash is to powerful and when I don't use the flash the pictures come out blurry.

so how can i fix a certain part of a picture and decrease its light exposure. making it look like the rest of the picture a normal toned person. if you get what i mean. I can use Photoshop CS3 but I've never tried using it for this sort.

Answer 1

Duplicate the background layer. Set the new layer blending mode to multiply. Create a layer mask for the new layer set to hide all.

Layer Menu>Add Layer Mask> Hide all

Use a brush set to white to "erase" the parts of the layer mask where you need to bump up the blown out areas.  Brushing with white opens up the layer mask to allow the multiply layer to show through.

If the blown areas have little or no tone, you will have to airbrush or clone it in yourself.

To prevent this from happening, try putting something over the flash to soften it up a bit. A little piece of tissue will work in a pinch, or the slightly opaque plastic from a shopping bag.