Thread: **New examples** Eye brightening attempt +conversion opinion ?

So I had a quick go at trying to brighten Alaina's eyes in a snap I took of her today. How did I do on the overall edit, and also on her eyes.

Which conversion is your favorite? Is there something I could do better with it?

1. SOOC


2. After some PP on the entire image


3. After brightening her eyes (looks like I might have brightened the entire image again first...)


4. 1st Conversion (DH's favorite)


5. 2nd Conversion with more contrast

I am on my phone and so take this response with a grain of salt. It is hard to brighten eyes if there isn't any light on them. Was she facing the light source? I would suggest trying again and get some lights in her eyes. From what I can see it is too dark. Great job for getting this out there. Did the tutorial help?

I kind of agree with El here. I think maybe we need to see the attempt on one where she's looking at the camera and has some light in the eyes. I do notice a difference though, but it's slight.

As far as the conversion goes, it just looks flat to me. Probably because there's not a lot of contrasting lights and darks.

I agree, however, I can see a difference. I think you did a decent job without making it look overdone. My babies both have DARK brown eyes, so I understand the struggle!

I can see the reflections you are brightening in her eyes, and it did work. But I agree she's turned away from the light and doesn't have enough in her eyes.

These first two are older, but they are the first ones that came to mind when I tried to think of pictures I knew had pretty decent light directly into her eyes.

A. Before:


After:


B. Before:


After:


C. Before:


After:


ETA: After looking at them posted instead of toggling between the before and after, I decided to take this last one even further.... I'm just so scared of lightening TOO much.
C. Lightest

These are much nicer. Remember to mask back her skin. The skin in some of these are looking really bright. I like the last example best. Remember its all about looking natural - if you are seeing the whites of the eyes being overly bright then you went beyond the natural look. I think on your last example the third one - still looks pretty natural to me. Great job!

Thanks. I went back and tried that first one again, being a little more aggressive. Here's what I got:


The original SOOC 1


Newest edit: (better?)