Gray Eyes on Animal Shots

Uncle Yik

Everybody knows how to get rid of redeye, but what do you do about gray eyes on animals without having to take everything in profile? Even outdoors or without flash, if the dog is facing the sun, the reflected light in the eyes can ruin an otherwise good shot.

JustPlainMe

Uncle Yik wrote:

Everybody knows how to get rid of redeye, but what do you do about gray eyes on animals without having to take everything in profile? Even outdoors or without flash, if the dog is facing the sun, the reflected light in the eyes can ruin an otherwise good shot.

I see no one has responded, I thought someone who was more knowledgeable than I am would answer.

I had this problem for the first time last Thursday, on an alligator in an exhibit that I had to shoot with fill flash. I think this is sort of what you're talking about, if not, I think you can still use this technique for any problems with eye colors.

I outlined his pupil in Photoshop (Elements), and colored it with a medium-opacity (maybe 70%) fill layer. (Made sure to feather 1-2 px.) Then I put the color picker on his eye, knowing that in reality it was a shade or two greener than the gray-green that showed up in the picture, and chose an approximate color. I zoomed in and painted the iris with a low-opacity soft bristle brush. I think it improved it a bit, and I think this technique would work on many animals. I have to do the same thing with friends' photos who shoot their cats with flash.

Original image:



Fixed image:



Quick and dirty, ya' know, this ain't a family portrait, as cute as he is. Hope this helps!

[Edit: I went back a re-read your post, this may not be the problem you're having. Sorry if this is redundant information!]

Uncle Yik

JustPlainMe wrote:

I see no one has responded, I thought someone who was more knowledgeable than I am would answer.

I had this problem for the first time last Thursday, on an alligator in an exhibit that I had to shoot with fill flash. I think this is sort of what you're talking about, if not, I think you can still use this technique for any problems with eye colors.

I outlined his pupil in Photoshop (Elements), and colored it with a medium-opacity (maybe 70%) fill layer. (Made sure to feather 1-2 px.) Then I put the color picker on his eye, knowing that in reality it was a shade or two greener than the gray-green that showed up in the picture, and chose an approximate color. I zoomed in and painted the iris with a low-opacity soft bristle brush. I think it improved it a bit, and I think this technique would work on many animals. I have to do the same thing with friends' photos who shoot their cats with flash.

Original image:



Fixed image:



Quick and dirty, ya' know, this ain't a family portrait, as cute as he is. Hope this helps!

[Edit: I went back a re-read your post, this may not be the problem you're having. Sorry if this is redundant information!]

That's exactly what I was talking about. Well done! Might have to go a little higher with dog eyes, but that's what I'll do. It'll finally give me a chance to use Elements after 5 years of it just lying around on my computer gathering ... whatever it is that software gathers from lack of use.

Thanks again.

Ethan

JustPlainMe

You're welcome, and it's easy to customize. Make sure you create a layer with the outline of the pupil, or you can just zoom way in and do it by hand.

I use Elements every day (I'm a better digital scrapbooker than photographer), so I'm glad you'll get a chance to use it!