how to get more pop

[sakata1]

This photo is a close up of my brother's face that I desaturated and recolored the eye, but the color seems kinda pail and I can't seem to give it a deeper blue without making it look over processed. I a huge beginner at photography as a whole so if I can get solid advice for things to work on I would appreciate it.

[zona5101]

Hi and Welcome!

To make the eye a deeper blue you can selectively over-saturate the blue... or probably a better try would be to paint the iris the desired blue on it's own layer and reduce the opacity of the layer.

[MarkyLandon]

This photo has obviously been taken with the pop up flash and that'd be the first thing I'd change. Wait for daylight and stand by a large window to get a much more flattering softer, more diffuse light (vs harsh , directional pop up flash) Secondly think about the composition and apply the rul of thirds... having the main subject (the eye) slap bang in the middle is not the most interesting place to put it. There are loads of tutorials on here about composition and lighting so it's a good place to start.

Notice I've not said anything about the post processing yet as I beleieve the "solid advice for things to work on" you ask for is more basic than post processing techniques. Get the shot right first in camera.

If you want to make the blue pop a bit more you can do as the other post suggests, in addition to this you need to remove the last traces of red/orange in the lower eyelid... you'll need to zoom in close to do this accurately and use a small brush. Currently the red is a small but significant distraction away from the blue. The other thing you might want to do is sharpen the image more as well, perhaps just selectively over the iris.

[sakata1]

Originally Posted by MarkyLandon

This photo has obviously been taken with the pop up flash and that'd be the first thing I'd change. Wait for daylight and stand by a large window to get a much more flattering softer, more diffuse light (vs harsh , directional pop up flash) Secondly think about the composition and apply the rul of thirds... having the main subject (the eye) slap bang in the middle is not the most interesting place to put it. There are loads of tutorials on here about composition and lighting so it's a good place to start.

Thank you, this is similar to my teacher's advice, and I've been focusing on the object placement for my more recent photos.