Fun in the sun

So, I've got a secret.  Rather, I am a secret, a secret admirer of this photographer, Esther Hernandez, who is just so fabulously talented.  All of her work is stunning and I especially love her series entitled "Canteras Beach".  All of the images in this series are intentionally blurred causing a dreamy effect, and she frequently applies texture which creates a painterly edge. 

So, anyway, these images included in this post are my beach scenes from Rockport, Texas, and my homage to Esther.  Thank you Ms. Hernandez for your inspiration.
 

The photo above and below are of my beautiful daughter, Drew.
 

At the beach

I'm up late tonite, probably because I slept all day.  Watching my favorite show (It's Complicated) and working on some old shots.  I've also listed these on my etsy shop for purchase.

Bright Eyes (How to)

There are several ways to brighten the eyes in a photograph.  I'm going to show you how I do it, and I am currently working in Photoshop Elements 7.

First, of course, you'll open up the desired photo.  This processing works best if you choose a photo of someone with a good reflection of light in the eyes.

Enlarge the photo so that you can easily work with the eye areas.  Choosing the lasso tool, draw around the first eye.  Then, hold the Shift key down while you use the lasso tool to select the second eye (shown below).  Keep in mind that your selection does not have to be perfect.  Right click on the photo and you'll see a drop box appear; select the Feather option and set it anywhere between 5 and 9.

Now go to Enhance on the toolbar at the top of the screen; it drops down and after selecting Unsharp Mask you will see a pop up box appear.  For this shot I've set the Amount to 160, the Radius to 9.0, and the Threshold to 0, but your settings may vary a little depending on your photo and preference.

Select OK, and voila! 

Below is a before and after for your reference.

Well, I hope you find this tutorial useful.  As I said before there are several techniques for enhancing the eyes, so I may post other methods later as well.  Until then...enjoy.