Is it just me?

Wachel

Okay, it seems like everyone lightens and sharpens the eyes in portraits. Fine. BUT...

Is it just me or has it gone off the rails from subtle to absurd? There are many photos posted here and elsewhere where the eyes are so over processed/sharpened that it takes away from the photo.

So...is it just me?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Hackbone

I'm probably one of the guys your talking about. One of the first things my senior moms say is "Honey, look how beautiful your eyes are". That translates into money so I got to go with it. I do try to keep it down to a reasonable amt. It's that old ESP adage......expression sells portraits.

TGAllen

I think you'll always find good, bad and everything in between on here. People don't see things the same way and there's all kinds of skill levels on here. Beside's, you should be happy if you're the only one doing it the right way.

reyvee61

Hackbone wrote: »

I'm probably one of the guys your talking about. One of the first things my senior moms say is "Honey, look how beautiful your eyes are". That translates into money so I got to go with it. I do try to keep it down to a reasonable amt. It's that old ESP adage......expression sells portraits.

Funny you say that because after looking at your site again tonight I didn't see any of that over the top "eye pop" stuff at all though I admit, the picture that Trudy posted of the little girl that you post processed was just a wee bit much with regards to her eyes.

My take on that is that it's much harder working on a lo res file such as the one she posted vs working with the original. I found that out when I had my hand at that earlier and I'm sure her eyes would not appear so.....

Getting back to the original question......yes, I agree there seems to be a trend towards what I like to call "alien eye pop" since they look like so out of this world....

Can say that I have not seen much of that here though browsing sites like Flickr will show many examples of this.....

Babies are a perfect example of this, I find that just a bit of sharpening is all that is needed since their eyes sometimes have that glazed over look naturally....

Wachel

I am all for people doing what they like or what sells. Many different tastes and that is what makes the world go round. I have just noticed some folks going a little crazy to the point that it doesn't look real anymore.

Hackbone: I wasn't referring to you specifically...now I have to go check your stuff out! HA!

run_kmc

Some people just have eyes that pop. I took a slight amount of heat recently for the eyes in this one:



But all I did was adjust contrast and brightness for skin tones. I don't own Photoshop. I wouldn't know the first thing on how to make everyone's eyes look like this. For reference, here is the same girl in another shot:



Other than slightly darkening the corners, this is straight out of the camera. The eyes pop anyway.

I guess my point is it's not always someone's fault.

reyvee61

Wachel wrote: »

I am all for people doing what they like or what sells. Many different tastes and that is what makes the world go round. I have just noticed some folks going a little crazy to the point that it doesn't look real anymore.

I share your sentiments

reyvee61

run_kmc wrote: »

Some people just have eyes that pop. I took a slight amount of heat recently for the eyes in this one:



But all I did was adjust contrast and brightness for skin tones. I don't own Photoshop. I wouldn't know the first thing on how to make everyone's eyes look like this. For reference, here is the same girl in another shot:



Other than slightly darkening the corners, this is straight out of the camera. The eyes pop anyway.

I guess my point is it's not always someone's fault.

Are you sure the body was not set to vivid as in Nikon's Picture Control....not sure what Canon or other manufacturer's calls it?

Wachel

run_kmc wrote: »

Some people just have eyes that pop. I took a slight amount of heat recently for the eyes in this one:



But all I did was adjust contrast and brightness for skin tones. I don't own Photoshop. I wouldn't know the first thing on how to make everyone's eyes look like this. For reference, here is the same girl in another shot:



Other than slightly darkening the corners, this is straight out of the camera. The eyes pop anyway.

I guess my point is it's not always someone's fault.

Those are the bluest eyes I have ever seen! Crazy.

run_kmc

reyvee61 wrote: »

Are you sure the body was not set to vivid as in Nikon's Picture Control....not sure what Canon or other manufacturer's calls it?

Yup. I actually shot in RAW and just adjusted brightness, contrast and exposure. I have a wonderful collection of lightroom presets, but I didn't need them for this shoot. You'll notice Dad's eyes look completely normal.

(And isn't Nikon's "Vivid" everyone else's "natural"? I kid, I kid. )

run_kmc

Wachel wrote: »

Those are the bluest eyes I have ever seen! Crazy.

I know, right? There were a few in which I dialed blue down, but that made the overall images feel overly warm and did things I didn't like with the skin tones.

Jeremy Winterberg

I'm glad you made this thread, because I was thinking about this last night as I looked through the thread being referred to. I too feel that people overdo the eyes.. quite often. Personally, I dont do much to eyes. Sometimes I'll make the whites brighter and sharpen a smidgen, but to the point that it still looks natural. I hate seeing overly processed images, which is why I try to get the picture as close to perfect sooc.

Sure, some clients like the effect, and maybe even demand it from you. While we're supposed to make them happy, there comes a point that you can't let them control your creative stamp on the image.

I guess it depends on your style. My style and vision is to create the most natural images possible to show the true person in front of my camera. This includes posing, processing, everything. Some photographers might want have a supernatural style where people look like aliens.. to each their own.

More importantly, if their clients like it, who cares.

Justiceiro

Kitsch sells. I think it is really that simple.

Hackbone

Jeremy Winterberg wrote: »

I'm glad you made this thread, because I was thinking about this last night as I looked through the thread being referred to. I too feel that people overdo the eyes.. quite often. Personally, I dont do much to eyes. Sometimes I'll make the whites brighter and sharpen a smidgen, but to the point that it still looks natural. I hate seeing overly processed images, which is why I try to get the picture as close to perfect sooc.

Sure, some clients like the effect, and maybe even demand it from you. While we're supposed to make them happy, there comes a point that you can't let them control your creative stamp on the image.

I guess it depends on your style. My style and vision is to create the most natural images possible to show the true person in front of my camera. This includes posing, processing, everything. Some photographers might want have a supernatural style where people look like aliens.. to each their own.

More importantly, if their clients like it, who cares.

Jeremy, I haven't found a woman yet who doesn't want to look better than she photographs!! Not being a sexist just the way I've experienced it.

Hackbone

justiceiro wrote: »

kitsch sells. I think it is really that simple.

ouch!!

Hackbone

Some of the eye effects are not pp but use of reflectors. The first one is straight out of camera and you can see the reflector in the bottom left. The second one is just alittle bit of dodging at 30% and you can see the results of the reflector. Remember eyes are the windows to the soul. Get them to pop and you've got a sale.

1.

2.

Justiceiro

Hackbone wrote: »

ouch!!

I didn't intend that as a dig. Photographers make and evaluate photos entirely differently than "normal" people. Clients relate to their photos more emotionally than aesthetically, and there is a significant difference between good kitsch and bad kitsch. I think you need to keep the Kitsch in your portfolio if you want the maximum number of sales. I shoot kitsch myself, unapologeticaly.

Hackbone

Justiceiro wrote: »

I didn't intend that as a dig. Photographers make and evaluate photos entirely differently than "normal" people. Clients relate to their photos more emotionally than aesthetically, and there is a significant difference between good kitsch and bad kitsch. I think you need to keep the Kitsch in your portfolio if you want the maximum number of sales. I shoot kitsch myself, unapologeticaly.

No offense taken just yanking your chain. Have a great Christmas or Holiday Season.

Moogle Pepper

I like shiny eyes...

zoomer

Yes there are a lot of overdone eyes and over whitened teeth.
My favorite is when people claim they did nothing to them when people call them on it....really?

Yes the eyes do need a bit of sparkle, "some" sharpening definitely helps to make them pop. Just be careful not to overdo it.
When in doubt leave the eyes and teeth alone.

Darren Troy C

run_kmc wrote: »

Some people just have eyes that pop. I took a slight amount of heat recently for the eyes in this one:



But all I did was adjust contrast and brightness for skin tones. I don't own Photoshop. I wouldn't know the first thing on how to make everyone's eyes look like this. For reference, here is the same girl in another shot:



Other than slightly darkening the corners, this is straight out of the camera. The eyes pop anyway.

I guess my point is it's not always someone's fault.

Where does this family live? I need to calculate the gas mileage to get there because unless it's Greece or some other non-continental land mass, I'm there!

Moogle Pepper

Darren Troy C wrote: »

Where does this family live? I need to calculate the gas mileage to get there because unless it's Greece or some other non-continental land mass, I'm there!

I'll carpool with you!

SimpsonBrothers

Ok, are these too much? Lets see who can spot whether eyes have been sharpened or not.

Jeremy Winterberg

SimpsonBrothers wrote: »

Ok, are these too much? Lets see who can spot whether eyes have been sharpened or not.

For my taste, yes, too much. The eyes are too bright compared to the rest of the image - which is underexposed.

Justiceiro

SimpsonBrothers wrote: »

Ok, are these too much? Lets see who can spot whether eyes have been sharpened or not.

This is perfect. Looks like a ward heeler for Tammany hall.

As per Kitsch, I actually own a pair of Lederhosen. If anyone visits Germany, I'll let you try them on.:D

kris10jo

When I first started post-processing, I got a little crazy with the high-pass filter on the eyes. I think a lot of people go through that phase. Anymore, I do a light sharpening, and if the eyes are dark, I dodge a little bit to bring the color and light back in.

Eyes are what most of us are drawn to. But I agree that there's a fine line where it can go from looking striking to alien-ish.

kris10jo

SimpsonBrothers, I really like the photo. I like the expression, the conversion, the eyes.. it works for me.

run_kmc

zoomer wrote: »

My favorite is when people claim they did nothing to them when people call them on it....really?

In my case, yes, really.

reyvee61

Simpson Brothers, I don't think the eyes are overdone in that portrait.

SimpsonBrothers

Used Highpass Overlay at 1.5 and blended from center out. It's sharpened, but very little. Luckily kids have naturally bright eyes, mine are a different story.

zoomer

run_kmc wrote: »

In my case, yes, really.

ha, I didn't mean your photo necessarily.
But have seen lots of obvious cases, where people then denied having done something in processing.

Just don't see why someone would deny having done an edit when it is just a pic and it is no big deal anyway is my general point.