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Don’t forget the power of eyes. by Heidi Jo Giacalone

Start with your portrait opened in Photoshop. 

First I dodge the eye whites. I do so with a 20% opacity brush, with my range on midtones. Use a  triangular shape.  Be careful not to get to heavy on the dodging at this step.  And remember the white closest to the Iris is the brightest, its not all one even white.

Then to make the eye pop even more, I’ll dodge the inner portion the Iris. And Burn the outer edge of the Iris with a narrow brush. Sometimes during this step, I will burn the upper and lower eyelashes to make them a bit darker.

Sometimes to make an eye pop even more I’ll add a half moon of color. You add the color to the side opposite of the catch light. The color obviously depends on the eye color. For these eyes I’m using a green tone, for blue a lighter blue and for brown an amber tone.

 When I create 2 layers the first layer has a dark green tone and the next has a lighter, I brush the color on and remove the excess on the pupil and the eye whites with the eraser tool. This is shown at full opacity. I will next lighten the colors to a natural flattering tone.

When I get the color I want I flatten the layers.

And finally I’ll apply a sharpening action that allows me to work directly with the eyes and again flatten when I’m satisfied with the results. And add a quick bump of contrast. And here is my final product.

Final Product

Product Before.

Photographed by Heidi Jo Giacalone