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Dim studio creates large pupils. fix?

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jugglervr

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I thought about getting a little hotlight to shine in the subject's eyes, as suggested in the Master Lighting Guide for Portraits (actual title may vary), but I think I DID that on this shoot and still got large pupils:



(i know her eyebrows are strange. it's not her fault.)

I saw a stencil for re-doing irises but my efforts were, shall we say, a little alien looking.

the pucker tool in photoshop> filter> liquify wouldn't do a good job, i don't think. ;)

any suggestions?
 
Add a fluorescent that with a foot switch. Keep it on until you
turn on your strobes. These can cause your strobes to go off, so
be aware of that. Otherwise, you can add other lights to your
shooting area.
jugglervr said:
I thought about getting a little hotlight to shine in the subject's
eyes, as suggested in the Master Lighting Guide for Portraits
(actual title may vary), but I think I DID that on this shoot and
still got large pupils:



(i know her eyebrows are strange. it's not her fault.)

I saw a stencil for re-doing irises but my efforts were, shall we
say, a little alien looking.
the pucker tool in photoshop> filter> liquify wouldn't do a good job,
i don't think. ;)

any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
Four steps:

1. On a blank layer, paint in a new pupil (shown in green so you can see it).



2. On a blank layer below the pupil layer, use the clone stamp tool to duplicate eye color/texture from the existing iris. (Be sure the "use all layers" box is checked, and the "aligned" box is not checked. Re-sample often so you don't repeat the same texture too much.

This step might take a little practice, but it's really not difficult. With the pupil layer above this clone layer, you can clone under the edge of the pupil without making a mess.



3. On a new blank layer above the pupil layer, paint in any of the original catchlight that got cloned out. Or you can erase that part of the clone layer to reveal the original catchlight.



4. (extra touch) One more blank layer, this one in soft light mode. Paint with black using a small, soft-edge brush, about 10% brush opacity, around the outer rim of the iris to darken it a bit. Gives the eye a little more contour.



Here's how the layers stack up:



All steps in sequence:



--
~ Peano
 
Dup layer, Liquify, Forward warp tool & then some cloning to touch up. Took me a few minutes. If you really take your time, this may work.



--
Dave
 
These things are a matter of taste, of course, but I don't see large pupils in a pretty girl's eyes as a fault.... and I wonder why any bodyelse does. (shrugs)

Indeed, in times past women used to put drops of Deadly Nightshade in their eyes as a cosmetic... to dilate the pupils and enhance their erotic power...

That's why Deadly Nightshade is named Atropa "belladonna" --- "beautiful woman"
--
Regards,
Baz
 
Barrie Davis said:
These things are a matter of taste, of course, but I don't see
large pupils in a pretty girl's eyes as a fault.
Click to expand...
Since "large" doesn't have an non-relative meaning, maybe we can agree on this:

A is too small, C is too big, and somewhere in between, there's a B that's just right. But the size of that B is, as you say, a matter of taste. And I would add, judgment.



--
~ Peano
 
If the photographer thinks they're too big, then they are. If you think they are just right, then thats fine. As Barrie said, I don't see an issue. I can't say I've ever worried about pupil size, but have never had results with fine-point pupils either. I guess if I did, I'd turn down the modelling on the key light. Depending on what theme/ style you are shooting, it could be made to look quite cool/ surreal.

Cheers
Chris
--

 
Note that you are the first to use the word "rules" in this discussion. I certainly wouldn't use it myself.
--
~ Peano
 
the model is my sister. she is consistently upset with how giant her pupils are in photos (red-eye with her is comical).
I tend to agree; big black saucers does not a flattering photo make.
 
I can relate to this.

I'm of the same opinion as the OP that smaller pupils look more attractive. I also find the modelling light of the AB800 to be to weak and would like to increase the ambient light in the room by increasing the regular lighting in the room.

Now, I wonder how high can I go on these without having the ambient lighting interfere with the strobes ?

Say I'm shooting @ 1/160-200 around 5.6-8

I have a feeling that as long I don't go below 1/60 I won't notice the ambient light in the frame, but I would appreciate if an experienced person could give me some guidance.

Regards ,

Dan
 
Dan Goldman said:
I have a feeling that as long I don't go below 1/60 I won't notice
the ambient light in the frame, but I would appreciate if an
experienced person could give me some guidance.
Click to expand...
As long as the ambient lighting, were it to be shot on its own, requires 4 times the shutter duration you are using, [or longer]... then that ambient light effect will be negligible in the shot.
--
Regards,
Baz
 
Barrie Davis said:
As long as the ambient lighting, were it to be shot on its own,
requires 4 times the shutter duration you are using, [or longer]...
then that ambient light effect will be negligible in the shot.
Click to expand...
Sorry..... NOT 4 times...

I meant to say, 4 "STOPS"... Forgive me please.

Meaning that, if the ambient is four stops underexposed when metered separately at the flash shutter speed in use -- aperture remaining the same, of course -- then it will not show significantly in the flash-lit exposure.

Again, sorry about that.
--
Regards,
Baz
 
I just bought the book "Skin" (excellent BTW) and he discusses techniques to make the pupils bigger. He points to a study where people were shown two photos that were identical except for pupil size. A huge majority felt the person looked "friendlier" in the photo with the larger pupils.

Doug
 
Thanks Barrie ,

I'll do some testing and calculations on that when I get home tonight. It should be fine to using the in-camera meter since I don't have a separate meter. Before I got my strobes I used a flashlight held in my left hand and sometimes in my mouth :) A far from smooth operation. I wonder if I can get a stronger modelling lamp to the AB800, that otherwise works great. The pupils get smaller when placing the SB say a foot from models face; but most people find that to close but also comes in the way of the camera angle.

Dan
 
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