Make eye whites look clearer?

[rafikiphoto]

I have been asked to retouch a portrait of a person whose eye whites are reddened due to illness. I am new to AP so wondered if someone could point me to a guide on how I can do this. Any pointers please?

[Gabe]

Hi @rafikiphoto,

You can try to use the sponge tool and/or the dodge tool with a soft brush and soft opacity and it should do the trick. 

Thanks,

Gabe. 

[rafikiphoto]

Thank you. Sponging, if I am doing it correctly, is making the considerable red flecking turn the eye whites an even pinkish colour. Am I doing something wrong or is there a way to then convert that pink to a natural looking white?

[carl123]

What king of red eyes do they have

Are there a lot of red veins in the eyes

or is the whole eye red?

 

[rafikiphoto]

They are veined.

[Gabe]

It's hard to say without seeing the photo. The sponge tool works by desaturating the image. Dodge will lighten the area. You can try the impainting brush tool or the clone tool to get rid of the veins 

[carl123]

The sponge tool set to desaturate should get rid of the redness but you will still have the veins.

Depends on the age of the person and how close to the camera they are if you want to get rid of the veins as well.

You can also whiten the eyes afterward (if appropriate to the person's age)

 

[Gabe]

Or you can try and use the median brush tool?

[HVDB Photography]

After selecting  the eyeball
Using :
- HSL shift Adj
- Selective color adj
- Brightness adj
- some dodging

See the native .afphoto file attached
 

Red Veins.afphoto

[toltec]

hello @rafikiphoto

Another method. You don't want it to look too unnatural, so select the white bits of the eye. Apply an HSL Adjustment, reduce the Saturation shift and increase the Luminosity shift to lighten the eye.