Eyes

These are up for conversation as a result of Gems post.
http://www.photography.ca/Forums/critiques/1513-first-time-people-shots.html

It is always been my philosophy to shoot dark and expose it finely/recover in PP, rather than overexpose it and lose(cannot be recovered) some highlights. This is a general guideline for tough situations and is used respectively and not consistently.

These images are just showing the contrast between original and PP. The eyes specifically.

Second example

Love the first one. Great examples, I think. :1st:

Yep ... it's easy to say get it right in camera, and I certainly like to achieve that as much as I can, but sometimes I take the safe line and shoot slightly under also knowing I can lift it in PP. He's a nice specimen indeed that lizard! Love the colour in the eyes.

You worked the eyes really well here JJ! One thing to be careful of is oversharpening, you may have oversharpened them a wee bit on shot 1.
Still, HUGE difference in oomph value.

I like #1 the best as I am attracted to the eyes of course but the nostril and the tip of the tongue catch my eyes as well as they are sharp.