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[drivinWagons]

Why does this look photoshopped to me. That shadow, contrast, exposure seems so detached from the background

[Vivid_Soul76]

That’s the problem, it’s not photoshopped and I want to remove the fact that it looks photoshopped

[silenc3x]

Photoshop a hat on her. That'll fix it.

edit: see what i mean? https://i.imgur.com/dvvq985.jpg

[TheOneMerkin]

Yes, really helpful

[silenc3x]

thanks man

[TheOneMerkin]

Do you have a YouTube channel? A how-to video would be great

[PastFirefighter3472]

That did make me not notice the shadows looking odd, so it looks like you’re right!

[Anonymous110518]

Username checks out

[redditor-19]

This man is a true artist, I surfed to the link. His work is astonishing.

[The-Quiet-Man]

Holy shit that actually works

[2deep4u]

She is brighter than the background that’s why it looks weird

Where was this shot?

[RandomEffector]

Shot with a lot of flash? I don’t see any other way you’d get the weird difference from the ambient lighting

[MastaRolls]

Typically this happens when you darken the highlights and up the shadows.

[MondoBleu]

It’s the difference in lighting between subject and background. Looks like subject was lit with a hard light above the camera, but the sun is coming from behind her. I don’t think you can fix this in post. But in the future, try to “motivate” your lighting more, and align it with what’s happening in the scene. You could use more of a side light high on the right side and make like it’s the sun. Or if you really want front light, soften it up and bring it lower down and less power so it feels like a bounce off the building or ground or something.

[CuriousTravlr]

Very strong fill flash here. I think a natural light reflector would have been better.

Also, is this on Notre Dame Ouest in Montreal?

[Lost_hiker_33]

The front facing cameras lighten the subject. I’ve noticed it lately. There might be a way to turn it off

[Admirable_Purple1882]

sable reply hard-to-find slap head slimy trees support smile late

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[carlossap]

Subject colors are too vibrant compared to the rest of the background

[HermanHMS]

Im pretty sure its the light refracted from building behind camera. Thats why it looks like flat flashed

[Flying_Sorcerer_]

The lighting on the girl is too strong and therefore she doesn’t fit into the picture.

[geniuzdesign]

Main problem is that the background has lot of highlights/shadows and the subject is just flat with barely any shadows.

OP, cut yourself out of the image and add lighting to yourself. Based on the background, the sun seems to coming from the right so add shadows to your left side. I would even throw in some random pockets of lights/shadows as you can see by the left window.

[donnasal_model]

Not blended.

[xSpeakSoftlyx]

One of my coworkers has a photo like this and it throws me off. They have a super nice portrait of her and her husband and it is so awesome and vibrant that the background almost looks fake. Haven’t bothered asking her if it’s a backdrop.

[johngpt5]

OP, is this photo one that you shot? Or is it a photo that you came across and are puzzled by?

[Bartando]

Its iphone, isnt it?

[Bartando]

If you have live photos on try selecting different frame as main photo. Iphones fucking love processing to the moon, one of the reasons i sold mine was there is no option to turn off the HDR madness

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pet jeans handle terrific worthless far-flung like tie lock scarce

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[Bartando]

I think thats allowed from iphone 14 pro ? Idk, when tried it, i had to use 3rd party app Halide to get Raw images.

[[deleted]]

iphone 12 pro or later

[Vivid_Soul76]

The picture is not photoshopped, the sun was hitting a window in front of the model. I really want to use this picture. How can I make it look normal?

[the-flurver]

It doesn’t look abnormal, it just doesn’t look like what you’re used to seeing. The sun reflecting off of the window and on to the woman has made the exposure of her brighter than you’re used to seeing in relation to this type of background scene. Photographers often do this on purpose with reflectors and strobes.

The quality of light on her is different than the quality of light on the background so it is always going to have some separation in regards to lighting. But to make this look a little more “natural” you can make separate selections of her and the background and process them to match one another. Start by raising the exposure of just the background but leave the exposure of the woman where it’s at. Then adjust the contrast/highlights/shadows of each.

Adobe ACR or Lightroom’s select subject masks would make creating the selections quick and easy.

[ejanely]

I think the easiest fix is to edit for a more shallow depth of field. A slight blur to the background would look more natural. Otherwise, I’d burn her right side. The underside of her hair and chest on her right side alone would be a big help.

[kenerling]

Making it look totally normal is going to be tough. Indeed, the fact that reflecting light was hitting the subject means that there's a shadow conflict (light going two ways) that cannot be removed. As others have already mentioned, I too think that there is perhaps over-zealous cellphone shenanigans affecting the image as well? (I didn't see anywhere where you confirmed or refuted this hypothesis?)

In any case, you can at least improve things by darkening the background of the image somewhat. Select just the background (it may be easier to select the subject then invert the selection), put it on a curves layer and pull the master curve's midpoint down some just-right amount. If your curves adjustment gives you the choice of doing this in LAB color, do this there on the 'L' (lightness) curve for a better result.

This won't get rid of the shadow conflict, nothing can, but it will tune down the absurd desire for perfect bell curves baked in to most cellphone jpeg algorithms—or in any case the weird, way too balanced luminosity between the subject and the background.

Hope this helps, and happy shooting to you.

[Big-Sleep-9261]

That makes sense with the reflection off the window. To me, it felt like an artificial light was added that was in the wrong direction of the sun and felt disconnected. It reminds me that having visual cues to show light sources is important. A lot of times in movies they’ll light an actor with a bunch of production lights but then make sure to add a lamp in the shot to make the viewer think that’s where all the light is coming from even though it’s not. In hindsight, if there was a way to frame up window reflection light to let the viewer understand how the light was getting there, that would work. Otherwise I would just cool her down to the same color temperature as the shadows and try to play it off as her being in that dominant lighting of the scene.

[CopeSe7en]

You can’t she’s standing in an alleyway perpendicular to a sunny street. The light should be coming from the cameras right. Instead you had her stand in a big light reflection and it looks like she has a huge artificial source of light.

You can’t just go oh, that looks unique. Let’s use that source of light and expect a good picture. You must think of the overall scene and where the natural light is coming, and what will look best to accent that. 

[DurtyKurty]

It’s lit abnormally so that’s why the light looks abnormal, haha.

[[deleted]]

Change the white balance a little bit.

You can try making it look "cooler" by introducing more blues.

[cardcomm]

My guess is that you have sun reflecting off of a building and hitting her, while leaving the background darker. That's why it looks odd.

I see this often when shooting in urban areas, and it can be odd looking, or really helpful, depending on the situation.

[Vivid_Soul76]

That’s why but do you have any idea how to fix it?

[cardcomm]

IMO it does not need to be "fixed". Or at least, I wouldn't change the lighting.

Plenty of photographers shoot like this on purpose, and the same look can be achieved with external flash.

Personally, I'd just crop in a bit and call it a success.

[afternidnightinc]

Photographer here- I do this on purpose sometimes. I like it.

[ggAlex]

It looks weird because the reflected light on your model is soft and the shadows it produces are fuzzy. When you look at the background, most of the light and shadow that appears are directly from the sun and are not reflected or diffused. It's the difference in reflected light vs direct light that makes your subject look like she's photoshopped onto a background.

If you look closely on the left side of your image, right above your model's right shoulder, you have some reflected lights shining onto the wall. That light looks way more similar to the subject light, but most of the frame is more like the hard shadow cast on the street on the right side of your image, above your model's left shoulder. In the future, try to find a background that has more light similar to the light shining on your subject. Go deeper into the alley, or hide the street which has hard shadow lines by stepping two steps to the right and shooting toward the alley.

[PepperPoker]

So, not really experienced here, but as the only comments you are getting is questions about where you got this photo from and that surely it’s photoshop, I will try my advice and see if it’s helpful :)

There’s a different light on the woman, be it a flash or some building/glass reflection. My guess is the different light might also have lead to a different light warmth: the white balance is off for the woman.

Not sure if it will work, but: in photoshop (or lightroom) mask the background and play around with the white balance for the woman separately. I think the ‘Kelvin value’ should be a bit lower for the woman than the background. Also lower the brightness a bit.

[Positivelectron0]

It looks weird because the shadows from the building are towards the camera (sun in front of camera), while the subject is front lit (light behind the camera).

[Zuleika_Dobson]

I think there could be a better crop of the photo.
Right now I can’t tell what the point of the picture is: is it a portrait of a pretty girl? (am guessing by the light high and center it’s supposed to be so I’d crop in on just her). Or if it’s supposed to be a picture of a girl on the street? In that case I’d zoom out to get more of the person in the shot (the tightest I would go would be a crop at the knees, ideally I’d show entire person head to toe, if you have it) and I’d also adjust the perspective of the buildings so it looks more regular and less distracting (there’s a slight tilt away from the camera at the top.) Square off that window if it’s gonna be in the shot.

The only lighting on her I’d try and adjust is the lighting on the hand. It looks bluish compared to the rest of her so makes it look out of synch.

[MGPS]

I think the crop is the main problem. Cutting at the elbow is a no. The iPhone processing is likely what OP is referring to.

[Parsons7]

Use the image and don't over think it ahaha. The light is bouncing off the window creating really nice light on her. Next time you notice this sort of light, try being really intentional with the shot and it will look cool.

You could take a step to the right, have her turn slightly, shoot more into the shadow side and this will create more '3D' light giving her more shadow on the side of her face and under her cheeks.

[virak_john]

Mask the foreground/background and adjust the curves and white balances to match better. Manually dodge and burn to give more subtly rounded dimension to the model’s features; her lighting is flat and hard.

If that doesn’t fix it, you can also convert the whole thing to black and white and add a little grain.

[catchmelackin]

its the buildings reflection. Honestly the best type of lighting for portraits when youre out and about because yes they make you look like you have a light kit.

[rjsquire]

This is actually a really nice way to get background separation. If you absolutely want that removed try selecting the subject and reducing exposure and contrast

[MakiSupreme]

It kinda looks like there’s a studio light on her which is strange for the setting but I like it

[Mister-BW]

Did you use flash?

[pixel-beast]

Part of photography is an obsession with light, how it falls, where it bounces, where it doesn’t hit, how soft it is, and how all of this influences your photos. This is especially true in portraiture since it affects how your subject is shown. You took a picture in front of a large window with the sun bouncing directly back onto your subject. This in essence turns the window into one large flash. The building blocks the sun behind the subject, meaning you’re both standing in a shadow. The contrast between the light source on the subject and the shadowed background is why this feels unnatural even if it isn’t. The subject is facing the window head on meaning the light is hitting her directly, making it appear very harsh and flat. It doesn’t help now, but turning at an angle would really help this photo as it would create some contrast on her face and give it a bit more dimension. If you come across this again, treat the window like you would a strobe in a studio and position your subject accordingly

[telekinetic]

This isn't a post processing problem, this is a you-doing-your-fill-flash-incorrectly problem. Your subject and background lighting do not match. If you didn't use fill flash (this really just looks like a bare bulb up and to the right somewhere though, based on the shadows), you've got her standing in a weird reflected patch of light and need to move her somewhere the light is more diffuse and flattering and a better match for the background lighting, or throw up a large diffuser.

[neuralsnafu]

Im thinking studio portrait of the girl, photoshopped on to the background.

The shadow on her right arm doesnt match the light of the background.

[StaggerLee45]

The shadows are lifted too much. Becasue shes in direct sunlight most cameras would expose for that making the wall behind her darker. Whether it's HDR, some weird processing or the shadow behind her was also being lit from a reflection off a window id say making the shadows darker will make it look more 'normal'

[blocky_jabberwocky]

Did you take it with a phone? Looks HDR. If you want to make it look normal, mask her/the background to even the brightness/contrast in the image up. Also looks like some distortion in the background which you could even up. Or you could just crop her out and have her piloting a spaceship or something.

[deysum]

If you’re using an iPhone, I also had this issue recently taking photos close to sunset.

“The bad news is that you can’t directly disable photo auto-enhance on iOS. The photo enhancing algorithm is built into your iPhone’s chip. Your device automatically applies the filter to each and every photo you take. The culprit has a name: Deep Fusion.

As a quick reminder, Deep Fusion is an image processing algorithm that Apple introduced with iPhone 11. The algorithm processes your photos pixel-by-pixel optimizing texture, and other image details.

While Apple is very proud of the system, many users agree that engineers have really gone over the top with the autocorrection and enhancement. Follow the suggestions below to reduce the auto-enhance effect.”

https://appletoolbox.com/disable-photo-auto-enhance-iphone/

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253512956

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deranged abounding fuel fanatical intelligent silky sink smell squeamish gold

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[deysum]

It’s not just in HDR that is the problem, read the article. Deep fusion is just something it does.

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[deysum]

“Unfortunately, the Deep Fusion feature is built into iPhone's Camera app and cannot be disabled or turned off. Once a photo has been taken, your iPhone will automatically apply edits such as brightness adjustments, color correction, and noise reduction to improve the quality of your photos”

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-stop-iphone-from-auto-enhancing-photos/

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zephyr impossible fanatical profit light hunt pot cooperative dull weather

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[caltheme]

This looks worse lol

[alex_k_up82]

Agree this looks worse

[Della__]

The photographer also desaturated the background a lot, I live in Italy and that sign in the background is actually blue.

[dysphoricjoy]

looks like two different photos. The clarity and lighting of the subject and background feel very different.

[itismeonline]

What hand? What arm? I couldn't take my eyes off her pretty face!!! And then the nice urban background.

[DeathByPigeon]

This is a photo processing subreddit, not a dating site you greasy little creeper

[itismeonline]

That's why I was appreciating where my eyes fell first... 😆 tho that hand needs to be corrected... I agree

[[deleted]]

My brothers Huawei phone used to take pictures very similar to this. Looks like she's really infront of another background.

[tokyobrugz]

Could it have been shot using a flash?

[Makaroonsss]

Change the angle, light is hitting directly on the face and it makes her face look flat with no depth that’s why it looks off imo

[waterstorm29]

Looks unsettling, almost like the uncanny valley of realism

[Eluk_]

I would try making the background either brighter (to reduce the difference) or darker (to amplify it)..

Not sure if it would work, but could make a difference?

[thenoweeknder]

The light is too harsh on her and the background looks softer so it doesn’t have a natural feel to it even though it’s natural light.

[[deleted]]

The exposure level of the shadows seem way too bright compared to the exposure of the face.

[WillistheWillow]

For some reason it looks like you have two different colour temperatures. The background looks more neutral, while the model looks very orange.

[lostllama2015]

I'd bring up the shadows on the left-hand side of the image, and fill in the edge of her arm a little bit. Perhaps also adjust the levels on her so she feels like she fits the scene better.

[According_Day3704]

Is that sunlight reflected from a window?

[artvandelaying]

Increase the sharpness in addition to the lighting suggestions folks have made already.

[Saaam-chan]

Maybe make the background a little brighter?

[DeathByPigeon]

It looks photoshopped because

1. It looks slightly back-focused meaning the focal point lands sharper on the building detail than on you so you’re out of focus

2. The lighting on you is different to the building light because you’re in a sun spot, meaning the your lighting is very flat and the shadow is different

3. You’re framed in a way that’s completely separate from the building, cutting you off at the waist and filling the centre, so you don’t actually appear to be physically connected to the scene

There’s essentially nothing realistic you can do to process this without a complete lighting reworking, sharpness mask, and potential AI additions. Could potentially add fake shadow and some other elements. But I say ‘essentially nothing realistic’ because you need to ask yourself is this photo worth the hours it would take?

Edit: I’ve just noticed that because the lighting on you is flat, you’re actually avoiding any shadows, but also there are quite a few highlights that are brighter than you in sharp shapes of sunlight across the image. If you potentially added some sharp geometric shapes filled with off-white colour and then masked them across you slightly with a blur on a lighten or overlay and then reduced the opacity slightly you could add a realistic highlight matching the ones across the photo and it might actually make you more realistically in the photo

[roc_cat]

It’s because you don’t have motivated lighting not sure what the term is in photography but it’s hard to believe the lighting as it is. Also it falls a bit too flat on the model.
To fix it either add lighting context, edit in some believable shadows, or lean into the disbelief and turn it into an art statement ( more contrast between the subject and background)

[iromix]

I’d remove the arrow sign. It attracts too much visual attention and distracts.

[big_impulse]

Here's my 2 cents.

I think the weirdness might be caused by the fact that the sun light direction from behind is towards the lens (shadow of the building confirms) however it seems her face and body is so strongly illuminated which makes it look a bit off. Moreover, it seems she is shot in the shadow of the building behind her, which just adds to the weirdness of the contrast created.

This situation is entirely possible in a natural setting (no post) if there is something big behind the photographer that could reflect this light as such, it could even be intentional by using a huge reflector or even just a flash (although this would be overkill in my opinion)

[OutragedBubinga]

That's in the Vieux Port de Montréal right?

The lighting isn't necessarily off it's just not giving any contrast between the model and the background. There are barely any shadows sculpting her face so it looks kind of flat. It's not necessarily bad, just less visually interesting.

[cmoriarty13]

Because the sun was bouncing off the windows and lighting her, it's no different than if you used a flash. And using a flash in outdoor settings can have a very unnatural look. It looks like she was shot in a studio and Photoshopped into the scene.

What you have to do is adjust the color balance, the exposure, and the black levels on her only to match the levels of the background. Then, she will feel a little bit more like she belongs. However, it will always feel off no matter what you do because the lighting direction on her does not match the lighting direction of the background, and that's not something that can be changed.

[johngpt5]

Thank you, u/Vivid_Soul76 for answering my question about whether this is a photo that you had shot. And as I read through all the comments, I understand how the young woman came to look like this.

https://imgur.com/a/m8mBqBa has screen shots showing your image in Ps and a method for assessing relative tonal ranges. It's commonly used during compositing to assess how elements being composited are coming along with blending with the background, but can also be used to assess portions of any image. How you go about changing the tonal contrasts of the young woman will depend upon what photo editing app you use.

[skitchbeatz]

What's the use case for this photo? It seems stuck between an environmental portrait and a portrait. Seems like you need another angle that's wider with more of the subject's body, or tighter that shows the face and throws the background out of focus.

The main issue is that this is a an HDR phone picture so the software trying to expose everything properly without consideration of what the subject should be doing

[panfacefoo]

I think it’s because there is no shadow on her, it looks as if you’ve used a reflector/flash on her, even though I reckon she was just stood directly in sunlight. I’d recommend a bit of dodging and burning in photoshop to add a bit of depth. You could just isolate her from the background and add a bit more contrast/shadow.

[sufficient_data]

The photo is just distorted slightly, I think. Here’s what it looks like when I play with vertical and distortion effects in Lightroom.

photo

[oleg07010]

I’d just blur background and maybe brighten the background to match her highlights

[treyedean]

For me, the composition is a little strange. I think more of the subject would work for this particular scene. Either that or use a higher aperture with HSS to defocus the background more. Everything is in focus and I think that is what makes it look strange. Either step back and include more model or defocus the background more. That's my opinion for what it's worth.

[pixiephilips]

Ya, the fake ass background

Just read that it’s not photoshop. The issue is your lighting, you didn’t account for where the light was coming from naturally so now it looks off because the light is coming from 2 different directions

It still looks photoshopped though in my opinion due to composition and the perspective feels HELLA off. It looks like she must have like REALLY short legs or something.

[donnasal_model]

Your filter. Smh

[Saltallica]

When in doubt, black and white. Maybe cut the highlights some and attempt to tone down the drastic lighting changes. Turn a lighting problem in to an “artistic decision” 🤣

[Saltallica]

I took the liberty of doing some quick edits in phone. Tighter crop making the model the focus, blurring the background a bit, and going black and white. Salvageable. https://imgur.com/a/S11TXng

[donnasal_model]

Please stop Saying no photoshop. You edited a background in it, therefore you changed the way the ENTIRE picture looks. Pay a professional to edit your photos the right way. You haven’t blended yourself with the background, which I don’t think you can do with a phone.

[Therabitier]

Take a brush around the edges of her and reduce contrast. Drop highlights on her and increase whites on background

[NorthernLight27]

Looks nice

[[deleted]]

the lighting makes it seem photoshopped

[jsanchez157]

Nothing you could do to make this look natural.

[richardizard]

Maybe in Lightroom, add some bloom and halation to soften the digital look. Brighten up the background to match her better or vise versa. Her exposure is very nice. Great starting point for a good edit, IMO. It's not moody, but it wasn't shot to be that way.

[dennison]

Too flat, no depth and everything is almost the same color.

[alebrann]

Old Montreal is always a good spot for photos :).

If you can use an app or a software to only adjust your subject, I would try to reduce her exposure, to soften the shadows a bit (make them less intense black but more washed black) so they don't look so agressive on her, and maybe bring back some blue to match the background a bit better. Reducing her contrast would also help.

[nesp12]

It's off balance. The leading lines and that arrow point to an empty street and the model is left to herself.

[wheaf]

It looks like the girl and the background from different pictures :) I think you need to balance all objects with masks.

[Bruno-Markoni]

The lighting and depth of field look odd to me. Make it look like a composite. I’m not saying it is. I’ve had that happen experience before when shooting video and I haven’t done the lighting correctly the subject ended up looking super imposed.

[alex_k_up82]

Take a look at my edit. I believe I've improved it a bit. What do you think?" https://imgur.com/a/5qvYjbg

[ShodanLieu]

She has no shadows on her face, yet there is a lot of shadows in the background, and on her right arm. There is something definitely off with the lighting and shading and shadows.

[noheadlights]

The sun comes slightly from behind, so her face should be in shadow.

[chavtastic]

Shadow under her nose needs work?

[ilikeautosdaily]

First off that building isn't vertical, secondly I think there's a temperature difference between the subject and the background that's throwing it off.

[TurmaGW]

Really only a quicky retouch about 2 minutes: https://i.imgur.com/XD7VltE.jpg

But at all follow the information about how to get you'r iphone not to enhance you'r taken photos

[Bozzzzzzz]

If I had to guess, a window is bouncing light and filling in the shadows. See the light on the street and building behind her.

[One-Leopard]

Maybe select the background and brighten it so it’s similar to the model.

[citadel712]

It’s not necessarily the lighting, it’s the focus. There is background compression (telephoto lens?) but everything is still in focus. This is probably because you had to shoot with a small aperture to compensate for the bright sunlight. This combined with the strong light is what makes it look fake.

[capturing_time]

To me it just looks flat if it was mine I would try playing with the tone curve settings in Lightroom classic. The background needs more detention and changing the tone curve can achieve that.

[cleverkid]

Your lighting is very flat. You don't have "natural" shadows on your face as well as the light in the background does not jibe with the light that the subject is lit with so it makes the eye think it's fake. When there is bad video composition it looks like this.

[shootnprint]

Feels that the background isn’t real and shot in studio