Fixing bad shading in a photo scan

[iProd]

Hey, I've got a photo that someone wanted me to fix up, and the main issue with the photo is the overexposure making the woman in the shadow on the right featureless.

I know that I can't really fix the contrast on her face, but from looking at it, does anyone have an idea as to what I can do to make it look as good as I can? Many Thanks

 

[lurcher]

Wow what a bad image. You're gonna struggle to do much with this one! First thing I would suggest is going to IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>SHADOW HIGHLIGHT and play with those settings. You could even feather a selection just around her face.

And you mean underexposure!

 

[LeviG]

Me I'd look at duplicating the layer and masking off the faces which are dark and then playing with the exposure tool (Image, Adjustments, exposure), the shadow areas are basically underexposed in relation to the rest of the scene.

I'd then do an overlay blend of some sort to improve the overal image consistency.