I thought I'd write a quick tutorial on how to make eyes really stand out using High Pass Sharpening as a starting point and then a bit of Dodging. It is quite simple and can really make those eyes zing!
Take your start image, for this tutorial I am using a baby shot taken a couple of weeks ago.
Using the Polygonal Lasso Tool make a selection round the pupils, right click and feather by 5 pixels....
Hit CTRL C and then Ctrl V to make a copy of the eyes on another layer then go to Filter > Other > High Pass.
At this point the eyes will become grey, don't worry, this is supposed to happen! Move the slider until you can start to see some detail showing through the grey, I find that about 5% is usually the right amount.
Now go to the Layers Palette, click on the Blending Mode box and select Soft Light. The grey will disappear and hopefully you will have noticed that the eyes are sharpened. Flatten the image
To finish off this process select the eyes again using the Polygonal Lasso tool set at 5 pixels feathering and click on the Dodge Tool....
Select Highlights at the top and about 75% opacity. You can vary the opacity to suit the subject but I find that anywhere between 55-75% is about right. Make sure your selection is slightly larger than the eye and then click
once over each eye. If you are not happy with the final result go back and change the opacity.
The final image:
Enjoy!
