sharpening eyes

[Anne12343]

I'm a newbie. Anyone got suggestions to sharpen just the eyes in a photo. I have Gimp and Photoshop Elements7 and Memory Manager (Creative Memories) for editing. Some of my shots, unfortunately, were not focused well on the eyes. I realize this is difficult to fix, but I have seen photographers that make the eyes really pop with sharpening on really good pictures. How do they do that?
Thanks for all your help. You all are awesome.

[Rentham]

No amount of sharpening will fix a photo where you miss focus or have motion blur. If you're starting with a good image, there are a few ways to sharpen. Google "unsharp mask" and "high pass sharpen". Find one that fits into your workflow. They all get you to the same place. While sharpening eyes is important, you can't go too far. Over sharpening is very obvious, as the image gets crunchy because of artifacts and halos.

To really make eyes pop they need to be lit well. You can do this in post through a variety of techniques and actions. But, again, over cooked eyes are very obvious. There is no substitute for lighting the eyes well before you make the image.

[scootermcq]

I just posted this thread:

Eye touch up

[sk66]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

I just posted this thread:

Eye touch up

SPAMMER!!
Nice "how to".

[Anne12343]

http://www.carleymac.com/wp-content/.../2011/05/K.jpg

This is what I was talking about. Photo taken outdoors. How do they get the eyes that sharp?

[Anne12343]

http://www.carleymac.com/wp-content/...011/05/S-1.jpg

Here's another. I hope the link works. How do they get the eyes that sharp?

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by Anne12343

http://www.carleymac.com/wp-content/...011/05/S-1.jpg
How do they get the eyes that sharp?

They are shooting fairly tightly cropped. 1/2 & 3/4 length on a baby... almost the same as a head shot on an adult. Good glass, good technique and lots of post processing like I posted above. Here is another example of the above technique in a head shot of an adult.

[Blitzkrieg]

I was looking at your lenses list and can t help but wondering if it d be a good idea to get my hands on a Minolta 50mm f1.7 ?I found on the cheap.Its an old lens but the f is amazing for indoors portraits.(~90€)
N.