the eyes have it

[tomorrowstreasures]

My question is: I know that you say to make the eyes sing. How do I do that? As it is, I hand hold the camera. I use the auto focus on my canon 5d usm lens. i hold my breath... i finally went out and got a monopod to help, but when i shoot vertical. i am being rude and dangerous. I have tried to set the lens on manual. that makes it worse as most of what i enjoy photographing isn't yet 4 feet tall and moves constantly. (My grandson is really Tigger in a cute kid disguise....boing, boing, boing...)

[tegan]

My question is: I know that you say to make the eyes sing. How do I do that? As it is, I hand hold the camera. I use the auto focus on my canon 5d usm lens. i hold my breath... i finally went out and got a monopod to help, but when i shoot vertical. i am being rude and dangerous. I have tried to set the lens on manual. that makes it worse as most of what i enjoy photographing isn't yet 4 feet tall and moves constantly. (My grandson is really Tigger in a cute kid disguise....boing, boing, boing...)

There are a number of approaches.

1. Put on a polarizer or ND filter and then use fill flash. If the flash photo is
overexposed, then set the ISO at 100 or lower on some cameras and of
course you can go toward f.22 in aperture. A polarizer with flash will help
make the light from the flash less harsh. A tissue over the flash to diffuse
the light works too.

2. On a very bright day, use refectors in the environment such as water,
glass, a brightly coloured building, sidewalk, sand, a white car etc. but use
the spot meter function to expose for his face amd not the bright
environment.

3. Artificial reflectors work in some situations. Although you can buy them at
a photo store, you can also be creative and make one. Gold foil works
best over a good size piece of cardboard. If you use silver foil wrap, make
sure that you adjust colour so that it is not too cool (toward blue).

4. Postprocessing is often necessary to get the eyes correct as well. I have
seen many outdoor shots where the white of the eyes is more blue than
white. The eyes may also need to be selectively brightened to bring out
the colour hidden by shade etc. Red veins, rims, bloodshot eyes etc. also
need to be corrected too.

Tegan

[Travis]

I use a combination of Garry Fong difuser, reflector, and/or bounce flash depending on environment...

The Fong works very well....


edit: if your camera has assignable function buttons than assigning "spot meter" to it and aiming for the shadowed portion of the eye helps...

[mindforge]

Bounce Flash and post processing.

Get a LED flash light and create a snoot for it that is pencil thin.. then have an assistant hold it for you... nah, just kidding... just use bounce flash and curves adjustment layer... make sure the edge of the color part of the eye a little darker.

[tomorrowstreasures]

Here is my new grand puppy... i doctored the shot a bit... and purposefully added the soft focus so only the face was in focus to get the effect that I wanted. That aside, here is a shot taken with my 5D 50 mm lens, I think. I had my Sony p&s cyber shot with me as well.
I feel that I am improving with that a LITTLE bit, but more practice is needed for sure.
BTW= this little guy is Marley after Bob Marley 8wks old boxer and adorable personality!


edit: Just posted and saw photo ... the eyes aren't nearly as sharp as they are when the image is much smaller in the desk top file. Yikes!

[tomorrowstreasures]

Sheesh - the main purpose I wanted to reply was to thank you guys for the great tips! And then, I go and post a blurry picture. sorry bout that!
time for bed..g'night.

[tegan]

With freehand selection circle the first eye, then hold down the space key and circle the second eye. Go to Contrast and brightness in the pull down menu and you can brighten the eyes and bring out the highlights.

Tegan

[mindforge]

Tegan's idea is good. There is another way too, the way that I do it. There are lots of ways actually.

I use a curves adjustment layer to lighten the entire image then hit command +j (ctrl + j on PC) (been using that command so long I don't even know what it is called when it turns black )

Zoom into the eye, change the brush size to something that fits in the eye, big if you just want to do the whole eye, or small if you want to create a catch light which is possible too. Make sure your hardness is down for the whole eye and up to create a catch light.

Then flatten it.

Okay, I like to paint and draw. I love sketching, I think that is why I like this method compared to Tegan's. They both pretty much achieve the same effect and mine takes longer... but I like the way brushing feels when I have my stylus and sometimes I get the pen really small on different adjustment layers for lighter and darker parts of the eye to pop eyes.

[tegan]

By the way, I just adore boxers! I grew up with one that was part of the family and very energetic and funny.

Tegan

[Marko]

Tegan and MF have good suggestions for the brightness, but your instinct was bang on TT, the dog image and the dog's eyes are blurry.
For me, that means it's an image killer.... or it's time to play and turn it into something vastly different.

GORGEOUS dog though - ooooozing sweet cuteness.