Remove shadow from image

[qaztgb12345]

I have been able to remove some of the shadow on the face of the subject in the image below through using RGB, screen blending mode and the brush tool but I am unable to use this to remove the shadow shown around the neck. I have tried using other tools recommended by Adobe and in the community forum such as colour brush tool, dodge and patch but this has not worked.

Can anyone advise how I could remove this shadow?

Version 24.4.1.449 on Windows 10.

[Trevor.Dennis · Accepted solution]

I am not so suure I;d want to try too hard fixing the shadows.  For a start they add drama, but most importantly, viewers are probably going to feel it in their bones that it doesn't look real. So this is as far as I'd go.

First use Filter > Camera RAW and push Shadows all the way to the right.

Increase Exposure by half a stop or so.

Reduce Highlights to fix the now too bright (his) right cheek, and mabe bring Whites down a bit as well.

Note if you make the layer a Smart Object, you can do this non destructively. 

Now copy the layer, and set the copy screen mode to Screen.

Hold down the Alt/Opt key and give the layer a layer mask. This will hide the layer contents.

Select the Quick Select tool and select the neck shadow

With that selection in place, select the layer mask and fill with white.  This will reveal the now lighter pixels.

The transition is not going to be perfect, so select the mask and Mask Properties, and add some feather (about 5 pixels)

It still won't be seamless, so add a new layer, and select the Clone tool

Clone a narrow strip from the unshadowed neck pixels along the transition from light to dark.

Now Ctrl click the layer (at the top of my layer stack below). This will load a selection of the strip you cloned onto this layer.  With the selection in place, add a layer mask, and then feather the layer mask in Mask Properties.  This will soften the outline, but not blur the cloned pixels

This is about as far as I'd want to go.

But if you wanted to go further you could try painting new skin 

Create a new layer, and set its blend mode to Lighten.  

Select a largish fully soft brush, with opacity set to 10%

Sample the colour from the unshadowed neck area, and gradually paint  over the shadow.  With the blend mode set to Lighten, this will only affect the shadowed area.

When you are happy, go Filter > Camera RAW > Effects > Grain and use a value of  about 20.  OK this and if it looks wrong, undow and try a different value. (or make the layer a Smart Object so you can edit it.

This beyond what I would want to do, but I am hoping I/we have given you some tools with which to make your own choices.  Good luck.