Brightening eyes in a dark photo means lifting the shadow inside the eye sockets so the gaze and eye color can be seen, without making the whole picture look like it was taken with a flash. In this example, a woman in a navy dress is photographed by her husband at their 25th anniversary dinner. A small spotlight hangs right above the table, so her face is lit but her brows throw her eye sockets into shadow, which makes her look tired in the one photo they want to keep from the evening.
What changed in this photo, and what stayed the same?
- Brightened: both eyes and the area around them, so the iris and the direction of her gaze are readable.
- Kept: the rest of her face exactly as shot, her hair, necklace and dress, the glass, and the dark restaurant behind her.
Why not just brighten the whole photo?
Raising the exposure of a dim restaurant photo also lifts the background, turns the warm candlelight gray, and shows the noise from the phone sensor. Working on the eye sockets alone keeps the mood of the evening while bringing back the part people look at first.
What can and cannot be recovered?
If the eyes are dark but still contain some detail, the editor can bring back the iris and the catchlight that is already there. When an eye is almost completely black, its detail has to be rebuilt, and the result will match a reference photo only if you send one. The editor does not change your eye color or add sparkle that the light could not have made.
What should you send?
The original phone file, not a screenshot from a messaging app, which loses the shadow detail. If you have a daytime photo of the same person, include it so the eye color is matched to the real one.
For a face that is dark because the light was behind it, see fix a backlit face.
Photos
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anniversary.jpg
1 credit ($8)
1 photo to edit
Instructions
My eyes are lost in shadow here. Can you brighten them a bit?
Private: recreated on our own images, not customer photos
The before/after shown here is recreated on images created or licensed for this site — never a real customer's photo. Your upload is seen only by the editor working on it, and the edit comes with free revisions within 14 days of delivery if anything needs adjusting.
