Alright, so I am still trying to learn retouching techniques in photoshop. I think I am decent at removing unwanted objects and all, but when it comes to fixing shadows or other issues on skin, I am having problems.

I did a shoot Friday and unfortunately forgot to switch back to raw after a camera settings reset, so that may be part of my problem.

But I am trying to fix  the shadow around the stomach and maybe a little on the leg. At least reducing the white reflections from the water.

I thought my edit was alright as far as  removing the shadow, but she says it looks over done, so what should I do to fix this. She also said the original leg shadow looked better. (shes probably right, there.) So how should I go about fixing this. I am going to post the original, the lightroom adjusted image, then my adjustment for comparison.

Original:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97073671@N … otostream/

Lightroom:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97073671@N … otostream/

Photoshop:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97073671@N … otostream/

Any advice would be appreciated

my weapon of choice for doing that is a curves adjustment layer.
use eye dropper with info palette to find adjacent skin tone,
mask with black, then paint in adjustment.

here is an example of how I softened and subtly reshaped shadows

(18+)
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/26380134

check nose, cheek and hair shadow

The first thing that hit me when I saw the image was that the background was the same tone as the model.  Start with the original and darken the background with a curve adjustment masking out the model and foreground.  I think you will find the reflections are not a problem as it shows her figure. 

Don’t you just hate it when after a shoot you notice something that could have been corrected while you were there?

By the way, nice image.