Hey Dee Dee,

I have found that when shooting outside in bright sun that I always use flash - even when I am under shade. The camera is matrix metering off the ambient light in the back which is why the fence and the grounds are so perfectly exposed. The young woman was as a result, about 2 stops under exposed.

This is what I could do (quickly) in photoshop. They are not perfect, but it helps a bit. I realize that I over-exposed the face a slight bit in the first shot, but I was going for approximately. :





I did an article on the use of layers to fix differences in exposure about a year ago on the site (our first article ever at NWP). It was not our best article as it looks clunky, but it gets the job done. In this case, we are preserving the background information as we brighten the mid and shadow tones.

http://www.nwpphotoforum.com/ubbthreads/JM_Pieces/Highlights/Highlights.htm?Cat=0