Independent Learning Project

ILP “Participation”- Lynda.com tutorial: Eye Enhancement for Portraiture with Photoshop with John Derry

Activity Log:

Actual run time of video 44 mins

Completed Tuesday 2/7/17 5:40pm-6:40pm

I chose to watch this tutorial because I used to take an Adobe Photoshop class. The class was really fun and extremely helpful, but it has been awhile since I have worked with Photoshop and I am forgetting how to do the basic functions. I no longer own the software so I could not practice along with the tutorial, but since I have used the software before I was able to follow along with the video very easily as it refreshed my memory. I was intrigued to this specific Photoshop tutorial because I love to edit and make photos look better and eye enhancement is one big way to do that. In the past, I had just used the dodge and burn tools to brighten and darken certain parts of the eye; however, John Derry uses multiple techniques to increase contrast and lead one’s gaze to the eyes in a portrait.

What I thought was really interesting was John Derry’s use of the pressure sensitive pen and tablet. I think that if I had access to this in my class I could have been a lot more precise in my work. I learned that you can use the tablet to help erase the distracting reflections in the eyes. The whole process of erasing these reflections and adding new and more aesthetically pleasing reflection/refractions was new to me. It is so intricate and he thinks about every small detail. Before, I would only edit photos by dodging the inside of the iris and burning the dark ring around the iris to make it pop. I had no idea that some of these techniques existed and I am excited to use them to better my photography in the future.

He had many tips and tricks that will benefit anyone listening. He created multiple new layers in his work and kept repeating the reason why he was doing it. He said that it was a safety net so that if something goes wrong all you have to do is delete the layer and start again. It does not compromise the original photo or any of the work you have already done in Photoshop. I knew this trick from experience. I have messed up some projects badly and created a lot more work for myself because I forgot to add a new layer so I was very appreciative of the reminder. He also said when editing the whites of the eyes many people get too carried away and get them too white. This can make them cartoon-like. To avoid this, John Derry said to use the eyedropper and get a white color that is already in the white of the eye to lighten up near the dark outline of the iris. This increases the contrast between the two parts of the eye without being too dramatic of a difference. He also discussed ways to edit the eyelashes as well. He carefully filled in spaces in the eyelashes with a brush that was not too perfect or large. He also tried his best to match the existing lashes. Another technique John Derry used was a vignette. He slightly darkened the background of the photo to add more contrast between the background and the face and to create less distraction from the eyes. I think that this technique makes the photo look so much more professional alone, so with all the other tricks it perfects the picture. John Derry obviously knows what he is doing and uses terms that make anything he is trying to teach simple and easy to follow. This tutorial was very helpful to me and I cannot wait to try some of these techniques with my own pictures soon.