Don't like the eyes in your image? Get new ones!

May 08, 2014  •  Leave a Comment
I was recently editing a head shot for a client and noticed a strange reflection in the iris of the model’s eye. I finally figured out that there was a funky reflection off her contacts that had a weird metallic glow along with a jagged pattern rather than a symmetrical shape as you would expect.  In a nutshell, there was not much I could do with the eyes. But, this was a close up head shot and the eyes had to be perfect.   
Long Way....to LoveModel Brittany Boysel

Before - Observe the funky iris color and sharp unsymmetrical state

 
So, how important are the eyes of your modeling subject? Very important. They must be in focus, sharp and crisp. How many times are the eyes out of focus on your favorite shot? Hate when that happens. And focus is only one of many potential problems that can exist with subjects eyes. So what did I do to fix my clients eyes? I gave her NEW eyes. :)
 
New eyeNew eye
I selected this for the new eyes
 
Luckily, I have a ton of photos where I have beautiful brown eyes. So, I just borrowed some. The process is very simple actually. Place the new eyes on a layer above the main image layer, reduce the opacity just enough so that you can see the original eye below. Use the transform tool to size, rotate and place the new eye into position. Then drag the new eye layer below the main image layer. Lastly, simply erase the eyes on the main image layer to expose the layer below with the new eyes. Increase the opacity on the eye layer to your liking.
 
The starting background image After - The new eyes  
I created a separate layer for each eye. To fine tune the eyes, I added adjustment layers to each eye for Hue and Saturation, Curves, Levels, Sharpen and clipped each adjustment layer to the eye layer. I then grouped each eye layer and their adjustment layers to keep it all organized. 
 
I placed a final layer at the top of the stack to paint black around the eye to blend it into the eye socket and face.
 
The below screen shots of the Photoshop layers reveal how this simple process is done. One image shows the groups expanded so the layers are exposed. 
 
Your welcome :)
second background with sky The layer groups
 
Darker sky image for more dramatic effect Layers with groups expanded  
 

 


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