The Evolution of a Picture

I submit in all humility this post ... for your amusement. Remember this photo from a couple weeks back? It was part of my Blue series. I love the way it came out. And now I'll show you where this photo came from....

First, the final product...


Before it was final, it lacked a border and text (which were added in Flickr's editing section - I know I should be able to do this in PS Elements, but I've not yet figured that program out).


Before that I needed to sharpen the eye a bit and brighten the "catch lights" (which I attempted in Elements) and I also decided to saturate the greens & blues a bit and increase the "black" (in Lightroom). Un(?)technical jargon aside, I just messed with a bunch of sliders til it looked nice to me.

Alrighty, let's back it up a step more. The final photo comes from a VERY CROPPED image. I originally pictured in my mind that I would compose a close-up of the Firstborn Dude's beautiful greeny-bluey eyeS. Here's what the crop looked like when I included both eyes.

Ewwww. Definitely NOT what I was hoping for (thus the one eye crop!!). And it gives you just a tiny hint as to the nature of the full original image. Are you ready for that?!?


I warn you, it might not be pretty...


Wait for it....


And I should tell you that my Dude was trying soooo hard to help me get just the perfect eye picture. He was soooo cooperative. But it was a little bright outside, and tho we were in the shade, it was just so hard not to squint. And his attempts not to squint while still trying to keep his eyes wide open produced this...