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im wondering if what i did in PP works or not, my goal was to bring out her eyes, im not sure if the gaussian blur was overkill or not

critiques/comments pls


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/deesignphotography/19276060/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://photos14.flickr.com/19276060_ac6e6a0eca_o.jpg" width="1124" height="843" alt="portrait of an Angela" /></a>

Dee,

IMHO leave the pupils or iris sharp and gaussian blur the rest. right now, it looks like her eyes are about to pop out...literally

so meaning not the eyelids or lashes ?

its seems a bit unnatural, why not use a effect like wide dof on your lenses? use selective dof to have one eye sharp?

Sorry, Dee, but this doesn't do it for me. I'd like to see both eyes crystal clear, and perhaps a tad less light blowing out on the far cheek.

flipfrog wrote:so meaning not the eyelids or lashes ?

Nope not eyelids or lashes, leave them as blurred.

If you have a wacom, this is when it becomes extremely useful

what I usually do, which by no means is the definitive answer, is duplicate the layer, g/blur it about 3.x pixels or to suit, then change the layer style to overlay or soft light.

using the eraser in airbrush mode, reduce the flow to ~20% or less, and casually erase the blurred areas that you would like sharp. This takes a bit of refinement so best to duplicate the layers before you begin each step, just in case you want to go back

You can do it with a mouse as well, but I find the size of the brush and flow is much easier and more dynamic with a wacom.

Btw, I'd consider sharpening the teeth as well...err not Dracula style

As is, it doesn't work for me, Dee. The blur is too heavy for my tastes. A more subtle blur might do it, either as an overall thing or by selecting an oval around the eyes with a very large feather to gradually blur the image the farther away one looks from the eyes.

With such a close up shot the sharpness of both eyes does not look natural. The brain tends to say ”there’s something wrong” IMO

its ok to experiment, but this one does not work
bobrob