It has been said that “The eyes are the window to the soul” and in a photograph this is so true.  There is nothing I love more than a tack sharp image of what I’ve come to call “sparkle eyes”.  Sparkle eye images are basically images with tack sharp focus on the eyes and just enough catch lights to make them glisten (or sparkle).  This is the image that I’ve been going into each session aiming for. I just love them, I love the way it looks like the eyes are smiling, even if the people aren’t.  It feels like the little bits of the personality are peaking through and I love it!

In order to get the eyes to really sparkle they have to be sharply in focus.  My best test is to zoom into just one eye and if it still comes out crystal clear then I know it’s a winner!  Now what happens 2/3 of the time when I zoom in is they aren’t sharp enough and I have to discard them but it’s those images the other 1/3 of the time that stick out like gems!  When I get to these images and realize I don’t have to do much editing because they already shine, my heart skips a little beat and sometimes I’ll even pull out my little victory dance (picture Chandler Bing’s victory dance from Friends).  

Here are some of my favorite “sparkle eyes” images, I have to admit not all of them are 100% tack sharp but I still love them so I had to include them!