Getting the eyes right

[Aryel]

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Hello,

In many occasions, I have difficulties getting the eyes right. Some negatives clearly have different tones for the iris, pupil but very often when I print, I do not manage to separate these tones.

When the area is large enough, I dodge and this worked well. For photos where the eyes are too small to dodge, my best results so far were obtained by underexposing the face and burning at a lower grade after. The picture below was printed at grade 3. I then burnt all the top part at grade 1 to bring back details on the dress and push back the face tones. 

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Am I on the right track? Does anyone have a better approach?

Thanks a lot!

Aryel

Ps: the picture was taken with a rollei 35t, hope it is ok to post it here.

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[giannis]

There's no magic bullet unless the eyes take up considerable amount of space in the frame.  The issue is not the size per se, but the fact that they're shaded by the bone structure around the eyes, and film doesn't retain much contrast in the shadows. This is even worse in harsh light from above, like midday sun. In this case what helps is positioning the face in a way, relative to the lightsource, such that the eyes are hit directly by light and not shaded. You can achieve the same with a bit of fill flash which can make the eyes really pop.

 

PS: Or alternatively, pull your film a stop or a bit more. This will give adequate detail in the eyes, in most cases. Yes, you still might have to dodge them a bit to get the rest of the image adequate exposure and contrast when printing, but you'll have a much better starting point. It won't be nearly as good/obvious/popping as it would be if you changed the light via positioning or fill flash, but it's something.

Edited March 14, 2021 by giannis
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[Aryel]

@giannis: thanks a lot, this makes lot of sense. I will try to keep this in mind during exposure. 

I'll also try a roll of delta 400 rated and developed at 200. Time to take out the rolleiflex.

Thanks a lot for your advice. I was indeed hoping for a magic bullet!

[gbealnz]

I read this when you first posted but didn't really have an answer, that bullet you search for. Honestly, at the time, and again now, I think you are striving for perfection, and you may not reach that. The picture/print is lovely, and yes the eyes are dark, but I'm guessing they are anyway. As Giannis stated, a touch of fill-flash, perhaps. But that may skew the whole shot, and as I said, it's a beautiful shot as is. One way to find out, try some fill.

[Aryel]

@gbealnz, thanks. I am not striving for perfection but for constant improvements. 

Fill flash is definitely working well (at least with the p&s) but not an option for most of my cameras. 

Looks like i need to pay more attention whilst shooting rather than i  the darkroom. I will also try to pull one stop and see what this looks like. 

Thanks a lot for all the advice.

[giannis]

7 hours ago, Aryel said:

@gbealnz, thanks. I am not striving for perfection but for constant improvements. 

Fill flash is definitely working well (at least with the p&s) but not an option for most of my cameras. 

Looks like i need to pay more attention whilst shooting rather than i  the darkroom. I will also try to pull one stop and see what this looks like. 

Thanks a lot for all the advice.

Out of curiosity, what cameras are you using?

Fill flash is not that complicated, you can do it “roughly” by eye. The only limitation being sync speed of course, if you need shallow DoF in bright light.

[Aryel]

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8 hours ago, giannis said:

Out of curiosity, what cameras are you using?

M3, M2, Minolta cle, rolleiflex, yashica t4, and occasionally a rollei 35t. Mostly running after the kids these days so I am also trying to keep it light. 

I am usually not after shallow background, especially for candids and moving subjects where the depth help to compensate for focus.

Thanks again for your advices.