First time working on eyes in PS. C&C please

[Ajay]

Took advantage of babysitting a boy with light eyes this past week. Did some sharpening and adjusting different things in pp. How did I do? Too much? I think I blew the highlights a bit on the b/w shot, but I'm more interested in how I did on the eyes.

Thanks for looking.

 

[That One Guy]

to me the eyes look unnatural in the first pic

 

[asherexplore]

yea, first one feels too weird.
i like the eyes in the 2nd a lot--they pop out but not too much in my opinion.

 

[cameramike]

first one scares me, it is way to over done and the whites are to white, even if they are that white in real life with the extra you did to the color it made it look even more pure. young children have facial features that teens and adults do not have, near perfect skin, add that in with his big bulgy eyes and the extra processing and he just looks goofy.

the second one looks a bit better but still they stand out too much to me.

 

[Ajay]

Is this any better?

 

[cameramike]

sorry i do hope i wasnt too harsh. a bit better, still something just seems really off. maybe it is just me. everyone has their own preferences.

 

[That One Guy]

sorry i do hope i wasnt too harsh. a bit better, still something just seems really off. maybe it is just me. everyone has their own preferences.

i agree. maybe seeing the original would help

 

[Ajay]

sorry i do hope i wasnt too harsh. a bit better, still something just seems really off. maybe it is just me. everyone has their own preferences.

You arent being too harsh at all. I really want to get this right, since the eyes in my shots always seem to be slightly out of focus. I will post the original of that shot too...maybe it didnt need any work at all.

Can you be any more specific on what seems off? Too much saturation? too much contrast? too obviously sharpened?

 

[Ajay]

Here is the original with just a few contrast/saturation adjustments to the entire image.

When you are enhancing eyes - do you select the white part of the eye too, or just the iris?

 

[That One Guy]

since the eyes in my shot always seem to be slightly out of focus.

you can place af focal points across (or in between) the eyes to make them sharp.

 

[That One Guy]

honestly, i think the eyes are fine in the orig.

if i did anything at all.....maybe brighten the whites a tad.......using a low opacity

 

[Ajay]

you can place af focal points across (or in between) the eyes to make them sharp.

I really feel like I am doing that...I always put them on the eyes...guess I just need more practice. I'm a bad camera shaker so I'm sure that isn't helping me any. I will keep practicing.

Yknow - I totally forgot about lowering the opacity after making the adjustments. Thanks for sticking with this thread! I really appreciate the feedback.

 

[That One Guy]

I really feel like I am doing that...I always put them on the eyes...guess I just need more practice. I'm a bad camera shaker so I'm sure that isn't helping me any. I will keep practicing.

Yknow - I totally forgot about lowering the opacity after making the adjustments. Thanks for sticking with this thread! I really appreciate the feedback.

no problem

the eyes do look sharp to me tho.

 

[cameramike]

wow, hes got perfect eyes. like that one said just maybe work on his whites, i wouldnt touch it other wise. when i work on eyes i don't select the whites, i find them to be the tricky part of the eye, too white and they look fake, not enough white and they look just strange.

I may just not be use to little kids with such bulgy eyes. and ya his eyes look perfectly sharp

 

[That One Guy]

wow, hes got perfect eyes. like that one said just maybe work on his whites, i wouldnt touch it other wise. when i work on eyes i don't select the whites, i find them to be the tricky part of the eye, too white and they look fake, not enough white and they look just strange.

I may just not be use to little kids with such bulgy eyes. and ya his eyes look perfectly sharp

yeah, if you overdo the whites they will look horribly fake. i only do them if they absolutely need it and then i use a very low opacity of say 18% or less with a dodge tool. if you go with the brush tool....again low opacity and maybe a very light gray color (not pure white).