lighting Question

[RLGL]

I am NEW to photo editing and have a basic grasp of Affinity Photo. The image I am working with is both a raw and a jpeg. What I want to do is either eliminate or soften  the glow  around the 2 sconce lights on the wall. BTW the belly is going also. What is the best way to achieve my goal on the lighting issue? To cut the file size I uploaded the .jpg

[ianrb]

a good subject for bracketing 
the first edit I would do is crop out most of the 'pop belly'.  

Your biggest drama is the lights are somewhat overexposed ; however you will be able to rescue some of that in the raw file 
Would seem 'shadow/highlight' worked well enough in this edit --- I have also used curves to balance out the light and darks  but it's rather limited with a small jpeg . 
This will give you some ideas --- maybe crop out the belly and one light --- and a bit from the bottom --- use two layers > one darkened/one lightened > blend the two together --- likely getting a bit ahead of you now 
Happy to answer questions were I can 

[carl123]

10 hours ago, RLGL said:

What I want to do is either eliminate or soften  the glow  around the 2 sconce lights on the wall. BTW the belly is going also

Just unscrew the lights from the wall.

Good luck getting rid of the belly (I'd recommend diet and exercise)

PS The dead body on the sofa is still visible, I did my best to disguise it but you might want to remove it before the Police get there

 

 

[firstdefence]

Carl123, I got rid of the dead body, I told the guy to leave the photo and I dimmed the lights, I don't think anyone noticed so keep it under your hat, mums the word!   "The Wolf"

DSC01273 Tweaked.afphoto Saved with history so you can jog back and forth in the history panel.

[carl123]

53 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

Carl123, I got rid of the dead body

A classic mistake, you forgot to get rid of the poisoned wine glass, dead persons fingerprints are all over it

[Ron P.]

51 minutes ago, carl123 said:

A classic mistake, you forgot to get rid of the poisoned wine glass, dead persons fingerprints are all over it

 

1 hour ago, firstdefence said:

Carl123, I got rid of the dead body, I told the guy to leave the photo and I dimmed the lights, I don't think anyone noticed so keep it under your hat, mums the word!   "The Wolf"

DSC01273 Tweaked.afphoto Saved with history so you can jog back and forth in the history panel.

 

What about the coffee mug, or the sofa? The mug most likely has fingerprints of the suspect, the sofa may have DNA evidence.

[R C-R]

It is good to see that so many of you replying are still full of Christmas spirit -- the 80 proof kind, perhaps?

[RLGL]

 

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

It is good to see that so many of you replying are still full of Christmas spirit -- the 80 proof kind, perhaps?

Happy hangovers.

 

7 hours ago, ianrb said:

Your biggest drama is the lights are somewhat overexposed ; however you will be able to rescue some of that in the raw file 
Would seem 'shadow/highlight' worked well enough in this edit --- I have also used curves to balance out the light and darks  but it's rather limited with a small jpeg . 
This will give you some ideas --- maybe crop out the belly and one light --- and a bit from the bottom --- use two layers > one darkened/one lightened > blend the two together --- likely getting a bit ahead of you now 

I am thinking about taking another shot of the area with the lights turned off and blending the two. Then possibly adding a point light to each sconce.

Actually the edits will be used on a group photo to kill the lights.

[ianrb]

7 hours ago, RLGL said:

 

 

I am thinking about taking another shot of the area with the lights turned off and blending the two.  

better to take 3 or five exposure bracketed photos and blend them. You could try hdr ; however it's a job I would do manually 
Tripod would a be an advantage
Another way could be to add some flash -- bracketing will be your friend. 
1/2 the fun is working how to do it .

[RLGL]

1 minute ago, ianrb said:

 

4 minutes ago, ianrb said:

better to take 3 or five exposure bracketed photos and blend them. You could try hdr ; however it's a job I would do manually 
Tripod would a be an advantage
Another way could be to add some flash -- bracketing will be your friend. 
1/2 the fun is working how to do it .

I had planned for the tripod

Flash and bracketing, will add that to the plan

The challenge is what it is ALL about! I will work with this on Friday.

Thx