Unnecessary Cuteness

I mean really? How can one little person be this cute? I wish I could bottle up his cuteness to sprinkle on him when he becomes a teen. Although I am sure he will still be cute then, just not so cute when he is dirty and smelly after football or basketball games.

So, I posted this on facebook last night and another photographer commented, "He's eyes are captivating." Here are the steps I take to get captivating eyes (not always in this order):

1. Start with a sharp image. The eyes must be in focus to achieve captivating eyes. I focus on the inside corner of the eye which is hard to do on a busy 1 year old.

2. Remove color cast from the eyes. Often my children have a blue color cast in the white of their eyes. In this image, I am sure it came from the blue hat.

3. Brighten the whites of the eyes...but don't over do it. With a sharp well lit image you will not need to do much brightening. You can use the dodge tool in Photoshop or an action. There are plenty of free ones out there, but the dodge tool is just as easy.

4. Brighten the iris... again don't over do it. My children have dark brown eyes. They often photograph almost black, therefore, I will lighten them to get them closer to their natural color.

5. Brighten the catch lights/highlights in the eye.

6. Burn the lashes to make them stand out more (optional)

7. Slightly sharpen the eye (optional).

It seems like a lot of steps but it only takes 3-5 minutes once you get the hang of it!