How do you make the eyes pop?

I am very new to photography, and I have been experimenting with different editing programs online, I can't afford to buy photoshop yet, it is like 700 dollars, so I was wondering if anyone knows a way to make the eyes stand out in pictures without using photoshop?

Hi Tamra,

You might consider the much less expensive Photoshop Elements. It's got a lot of bang for the buck. It has a lot of the basic features of the full Photoshop CS.

The usual way I make eyes pop is:
1) Dodge (lighten) the eyeballs in general in the MIDRANGE range. Don't overdo this step.
2) Dodge the "catchlight" (reflections of light) in the HIGHLIGHT range wherever they are in the eyes.
3) Burn (darken) whatever part of the pupils not covered with catchlight.

I also dodge highlights on the lips, on the hair, and on any jewelry.

I'll try to post a sample this evening.

Here's a simple example of enhancing the eyes (and other highlights: lips, hair, jewelry). I didn't enhance the eye makeup at all.

Tamra wrote:

I can't afford to buy photoshop yet, it is like 700 dollars, so I was wondering if anyone knows a way to make the eyes stand out in pictures without using photoshop?

Have you considered using Gimp? It's free and seems to be very functional.

http://gimp.org/downloads/

I use photoshop but have also found 2 other sources very helpful. I have actually found photobucket.com has a lot of features/options comparable to photoshop. But is FREE...yeah. Only downside is that it will decrease the size of your image. Also, Nero PhotoSnap Viewer has a lot of features & does not reduce the size of your image. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any help. Both are very user friendly.