Looking for ideas: eye expressions

[Dawn]

I am searching for ideas to display "eyes". This is me while playing with my new remote and tripod. But it gave me the idea for a display (for personal use) of capturing a person through their eyes.

Critique on this one would be wonderful as I'm new to this hobby.


http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/5733/dawnresize6fk.jpg

[Keiffer]

Hi Dawn, Welcome to the forum. Now on to the pic. I like your idea but the flash is harsh and your hair is a distraction. Try pulling back your hair and try different lighting, maybe outdoors. Keep trying though and we look forward to more of your work.

[Dawn]

Kieffer, thank you. I was wondering about the flash since I thought the texture of the blanket would be better represented in harsh lighting. I will try the same shot outdoors and see what I get.

This one is another idea, eyes but with a little more face. Outdoors. What I don't like are the leaves and blurry-ness (word?). I took with a 70-300 (not a great lens but was free!) and am trying to figure out close shots. I thought the green leaves would accentuate the eyes.

No adjustments on this one other than resizing for online placement.

http://img284.echo.cx/img284/5856/seanoneresize1jp.jpg

[Dawn]

http://img284.echo.cx/img284/2948/dawnbwresize4iz.jpg

[mgbeach]

you're getting better with each pic. keep at it.

[grego]

3rd is your best try, but try to angle the light more on her eyes, than on the top of her head(the hair).

[djonto]

I prefer the 3rd too, but would like to see it in colour. I love B & W pics, but perhaps with the subject being eyes, they should be shown in their full splendour. Just my opinion of course.

[Dawn]

thank you! I will use those suggestions. What about the man behind the leaves... any suggestions?

[grego]

thank you! I will use those suggestions. What about the man behind the leaves... any suggestions?

It's lacking expression or unqiue lighting. One of those two elements would make it a better photo.

[Dawn]

It's lacking expression or unqiue lighting. One of those two elements would make it a better photo.

I agree. I didn't know that was the problem until I read this post. Thank you. I will work on that shot again.

[Dawn]

Still working with this idea. Outside with natural light.

http://img101.echo.cx/img101/9347/dawn1resize1yn.jpg

[MCB]

I love your pictures! I'm probably alone in this, but I really like to desaturate a lot of the background (or whatever isn't supposed to be the focus) in my pictures. Here's my eye. I guess it works well since they're blue. But my son has big brown eyes and I've had good results with him, too. Buring things a bit (like in a gradient getting more blurred as you get farther from the focus) really draws your eye to the center as well. Anyway, my two cents. :)

I really like your B&W pic. Maybe keep the natural color for just the iris, though. They'll really grab your attention then.

[Dawn]

Wow!! I love that look! And that blue eye.... thanks for the suggestion. My eye expressions portfolio is getting full and with pictures of me.... something not right about that :)

Your suggestion about the B/W - how would I keep the iris color natural and the rest desaturated or grey?

I have no idea how I did this - I think unsharp filter twice. I wish I knew how I got the green color so prominent.

http://img284.echo.cx/img284/7825/resizewizard1dawnphotoshop4fp.jpg

[MCB]

Your suggestion about the B/W - how would I keep the iris color natural and the rest desaturated or grey?

I have no idea how I did this - I think unsharp filter twice. I wish I knew how I got the green color so prominent.


I'm using Photoshop CS. You might not have all of the same tools if you're using Photoshop Elements or some other editing program.

I have one layer that is sharpened with an unsharp mask, like you. Then I have another layer that I have blurred. I think I like the new lens blur a bit better than a gaussian blur. You can have the blurred layer on top or the bottom, I suppose it doesn't matter. Then apply a mask to whichever layer is on top. Use the radial gradient tool to have the part around the eyes reveal the sharpened layer. Then have the gradient set up so that it slowly transitions to totally blurry as you move away from the face/eyes. (of course you can paint on your mask with any tool you like. So you can go in there with a brush set with a low opacity and paint around gently to get the blur just the way you like it)

So if you had the sharp layer on top, you would have you mask be white in the middle, then transition to black at the edge of the face. So then you get this gradually increasing blur. (you can also go back and adjust the opacity of the layer on top. this gives you one more way to change the overall blurryness of your image)

Then you can add a channel mixer layer on top of both of those. Use this to adjust the B&W the way you like it. Add a vectctor mask to this layer. Then just use a paintbrush or something to paint black over your iris (the rest should be white). This way the B&W only applies to the areas with the white part of the mask. Your iris, under the black part, is unaffected by the channel mixer that makes the image B&W. So you retain the natural color that way. Masks are great. I'm still learning how to use them.

Then, you can add a Hue/Saturation layer on top of that. Use the same mask as with your channel mixer layer, so that the Hue change only affects things outside the iris. Check the "colorize" box. I like the saturation kind of low, so it's a subtle tone for the skin/hair/clothes/etc. Your natural eye color will really stand out then. (I just read about a great way to do this with a gradient map, but haven't tried it out myself yet. That looks like it might work even better) You can have a slight blue tint or maybe green. Something a bit dark might give you a mysterious, gypse look. :)

You could add yet another Hue/Saturation layer, with all black except over the iris, to change the color or saturation of your iris. Then it's easy to make them blue, green, red, purple, etc. Maybe red eyes peaking out from behind that shawl would really look spooky. :)

So I ended up with 5 layers: sharpened, blurred, channel mixer for B&W, H/S for desaturating background, and an optional H/S for eye color.

I hope that makes some kind of sense. :) Good luck!

[MCB]

I couldn't resist! Here's a quick edit. Hope you like it. The blur isn't quite right, but I guess you can get the idea. Wow, look at those eyes! [edit: I didn't change the eye color at all. none of the effects apply to the iris, so that's all you!]

[Dawn]

MCB - WOW! Thanks!! I'm printing out your explanation and will give that a try this evening. I am currently working with PS 6 - need to get the upgrade, just too cheap right now. I also have Elements, but 2.0.

I love this forum.....!!!! :)

[MCB]

MCB - WOW! Thanks!! I'm printing out your explanation and will give that a try this evening. I am currently working with PS 6

I think everything I described should be available in PS 6. It's been awhile, though. But the layers can be exactly as I said. Maybe no channel mixer adjustement layer in PS 6, though. But you can get B&W about a dozen ways. So if you don't have that channel mixer adjustment layer, you should still be okay.

I'll trade you. You use my trick for the eyes, and I'll steal your composition! It's a very mysterious look that might work well on my wife. :)

[Dawn]

Deal ... the idea is out there just itching for others to contribute!! I am hoping more will offer their suggestions.. :)

[djonto]

She really has gorgeous eyes IMO

[Dawn]

djonto -thank you.. those are mine.... so far, I'm the only subject willing to sit in the hot Phoenix sun with a blanket wrapped around the head. LOL

do you have any images to post displaying eye expressions?

[felix21685]

haha i took something like this a while ago check it out