Everyone has heard the phrase “The eyes are the window to the Soul”. In a glamour photograph, the eyes are often the most crucial element in the image. If you’ve captured a great image, but the eyes just don’t have enough ‘pop’, here are some Photoshop post-production techniques that can help:

• Use the dodge tool to lighten the whites of the eyes. However, don’t overdo it! Zoom in on the eyes, and with a soft brush at a low opacity (about 15%), make one swipe over the whites of the eyes. This will brighten the eye without creating an artificial look.

• If the subject has brown eyes, it’s often hard to see the difference between the iris and the pupil. While zoomed in on the eye, take a soft round brush, and (at 15-20% opacity), use the dodge tool to take one uniform stroke over the colored part of the eye. Leave the pupil untouched, and you will create a distinction between the iris and the pupil.

• If the eye color of the subject is dull, zoom in on the eyes and use the eyedropper to color pick the eye color. Then use the color palette to choose a slightly more intense color. At a low opacity (15-25%), with a soft round brush, brush one swipe over the colored part of the eye to brighten and intensify the color. The low opacity, combined with using the color palette to slide to a slightly more intense color, will help keep you from creating an unnatural color in the eye.

• To finish off the image and really make the eyes stand out, use a small (2-5px) brush and use the burn tool to darken the very outer edge of the iris of the eye (where the colored part meets the white). Some people have a naturally dark rim there, and some don’t. Adding or intensifying that dark rim really helps the eye ‘pop’.

Draw attention to the eyes in your glamour photo, and you’re practically guaranteed a great image! For more information on the post-production techniques we’ve developed, attend one of our workshops. Please visit

Photoshop Tips & Tricks Photography Workshop