A lot of people have asked me over the years how I take close up pictures and how I make the models eyes look so expressive.

Here’s are some things that I do when I take pictures.  I’ll start with my graphic settings for the pictures.

Graphic Preferences: (Click on any to enlarge)

I take my pictures in Ultra graphics.  If your computer cannot handle Ultra, try high or medium.  They will be at least better than low.

I save my pictures roughly around 6000 pixel width to 3000 / 4000 pixel height. After I am finished editing in photoshop, I will resize the picture to around 2000 pixels in width.  It’s better to save your picture as large as you can and then resize after editing.  I can try to explain this one all day but trust me, you will want to do this.

I use firestorm as my viewer. I find it’s better for taking pictures then the default SL viewer.

I use photo tools a lot.  The main thing I do is change the Depth of view -view angle.  I don’t turn Depth of Field on.  I just use the view angle on that tab.

DOF view angle combined with the free cam tool, you can use the mouse wheel to zoom in closer than you usually can.

See Part Two – Editing the face shape to make the eyes look more expressive