Step 8: Select The Brush Tool

We're going to paint away the unwanted blurred areas around the iris, which means we need Photoshop's Brush Tool. Select the Brush Tool from the Tools panel:

Step 9: Paint Away Any Unwanted Areas

Photoshop uses the Foreground color as the color of the brush, so let's make sure the Foreground color is set to black by pressing the letter D on the keyboard, which will reset the Foreground and Background colors to their defaults, making the Foreground color white and the Background color black (the normal default colors are reversed when we have a layer mask selected). Then press the letter X on the keyboard to swap the colors, which sets the Foreground color to black. You can see the current Foreground and Background colors in the color swatches near the bottom of the Tools panel:

With black as the Foreground color, use a small, soft-edge brush and paint around the outer edge of the iris to clean up the unwanted blur streaks in the white part of the eye. Since we're painting on the layer mask, not on the layer itself, any areas we paint over with black will disappear from the image. You can adjust the size and edge hardness of the brush directly from the keyboard. Pressing the left bracket key ( [ ) will make the brush size smaller by 5 pixels each time you press the key, while pressing the right bracket key ( ] ) will make the brush larger by 5 pixels. If you hold down your Shift key while pressing the left bracket key, you'll make the brush edge softer by 25% each time you press the key. Holding Shift and pressing the right bracket key will make the edge harder by 25% each time :

If you make a mistake and accidentally paint over the iris, simply press the letter X on your keyboard to swap the Foreground and Background colors, which makes your Foreground color white. Paint over the mistake to bring back the blur effect, then press X again to change your Foreground color back to black and continue painting around the iris.

We also want to remove the blur streaks inside the pupil, so again using a small, soft-edge brush, paint with black over the pupil to clean up that area. When you're done, the blur streaks should be visible only inside the iris itself:

Step 10: Add A Hue-Saturation Adjustment Layer

We've created our zoom effect, so now let's brighten the iris and increase its color saturation. Hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Choose Hue/Saturation from the list of adjustment layers that appears:

Holding down the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key while selecting the adjustment layer tells Photoshop to first pop open the New Layer dialog box, the same dialog box we saw back in Step 3. You can leave the adjustment layer's name set to its default, but select the option directly below the name, Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask, by clicking inside its checkbox. Then change the Mode (the layer blend mode) of the adjustment layer from Normal to Screen:

Click OK to close out of the dialog box, at which point Photoshop adds the new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer directly above the "Left Eye" layer. Notice in the Layers panel that the adjustment layer is indented to the right with a small arrow pointing down at the layer below it. This tells us that the adjustment layer is clipped to the "Left Eye" layer, which means it will affect only the contents of the "Left Eye" layer. The original photo on the Background layer will not be affected. Also, note that the adjustment layer's blend mode has been set to Screen in the top left corner of the Layers panel:

The Screen blend mode is one of several layer blend modes in Photoshop that has the effect of lightening the image, and with the Hue/Saturation adjustment set to Screen, the iris in the eye is now much brighter:

We can increase the color saturation in the iris as well. If you're using Photoshop CS4 or higher, you'll find the controls and options for the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer in the Adjustments Panel which was first introduced in CS4. For Photoshop CS3 and earlier users, a separate Hue/Saturation dialog box will be open on your screen. To increase color saturation in the iris, drag the Saturation slider towards the right. Keep an eye on the effect in the document window as you drag the slider so you don't push the Saturation level too far. I'm going to set my Saturation value to around 60:

For Photoshop CS3 and earlier users, click OK when you're done to close out of the Hue/Saturation dialog box. Photoshop CS4 and higher users can leave the Adjustments Panel open. Here's my image after boosting color saturation in the iris. Depending on the original eye color, the increased saturation may appear subtle, as it is here, or more intense:

Step 11: Try A Different Lightening Blend Mode (Optional)

As I mentioned, the Screen blend mode is just one of several layer blend modes in Photoshop designed to lighten the image, and it's by far the most commonly used of the lightening modes. However, for a different result, try changing the blend mode of the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to either Color Dodge or Linear Dodge, both of which will give a stronger, more intense result. I'll change my blend mode from Screen to Color Dodge:

Here's the result that Color Dodge gives me:

Next, I'll try changing the blend mode from Color Dodge to Linear Dodge:

And here's the result. In my case with this image, I think the Linear Dodge blend mode gives me the best result, but be sure to try all three blend modes and choose the one that works best for your image:

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Step 12: Fine-Tune The Result With The Layer Opacity Option

Once you've decided on a blend mode to use, you can further fine-tune the results by lowering the adjustment layer's opacity value which controls the layer's level of transparency. You'll find the Opacity option directly across from the Blend Mode option at the top of the Layers panel. I'm going to leave mine set to 100%, but if needed, you can reduce the intensity of the brightening effect simply by lowering the opacity value:

After you've completed the effect in one eye, simply repeat the same steps with the other eye. However, before you begin, make sure you re-select the original image by clicking on the Background layer in the Layers panel to make it active:

With the Background layer re-selected, you can repeat the same steps to add the effect to the other eye. Here's what my final result looks like:

And there we have it!

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