Catchlights: What they are and what they can teach us about light
I LOVE catchlight! And I set up my lighting so that I always produce big beautiful catchlights every time I’m taking a portrait!
What are catchlights?
Catchlights are the specular patch of light reflected in your subject’s eyes.
These little lights brighten up portraits by adding dimension, depth and a little extra sparkle to your photo.
They draw our attention to the eyes in a portrait, creating a sense of connection.
There are no catchlight in this photo, which causes the mom to look tired.
When catchlights are missing in a portrait, the person in the image will look “hollow” and flat.
But add a catchlight and their entire face lights up!
Just look at these images to see the difference!
I lowered my light a little to produce a catchlight… and now her face lights up!
Catchlights as a learning tool
Creating catchlights in your portraits adds a spark! But in addition to brightening up a portrait, catchlights give you valuable information about how an image was created.
They can tell you where the light was placed, the size and shape of the light as well as how high or low it was.
When I first realized this and began paying attention to catchlights, I became a little obsessed.
My favorite thing to do was thumb through magazines, studying the catchlights in the photos. Based on their shape and placement in the eye, I’d try to figure out how the image had been created.
Did they use a round modifier or one with straight edges, like a softbox? Was the light place directly overhead, or to one side? Was there just one light used, or multiple? A little nerdy, I know! But playing this game taught me a lot about lighting.
Studying the catchlights in each image can give us even more clues to how each photo was created.
What catchlights tell us about these images
In this image, you can see that the catchlight is large, taking up a lot of space in the upper left side of the eye.
That tell us that this image was captured with a large modifier, resulting in large catchlights.
We can also see that the modifier was placed to the side and slightly above the model, which is why the catchlight is in the upper left side of the eye. And based on its round shape, we can assume that it was captured using a round modifier, like an umbrella.
One other thing to note is that there is only one catchlight seen in each eye, which lets us know that the image was captured with just one light.
In this image the catchlight is also in the upper left side of the eye, but it is much smaller than the one above and is in the upper left half of the eye.
From this we can tell that the light in this image was coming from the left and slightly above the model, but based on the small size of the catchlight, we can assume that it was created using a small modifier.
And the fact that there is just one catchlight tells us this image was captured with just one light.
Catchlights should always be in the top half of the eye, not the bottom half
In the image above we see a large catchlight in the upper left side of the eye, letting us know that this image was most likely captured using a large modifier, placed to the left of the subject.
The catchlights are positioned in the top half of the eye as well, letting us know that the light is falling on the subject from above. Because we are used to seeing light fall in this way (the sun shines down from above), we naturally find light that comes from above visually appealing, making it ideal for portraits.
Images with catchlights in the bottom half of the eye indicate light that is coming from below your subject. This is not flattering light for portraits and tends to result in photos that are unappealing, and even unsettling look known as Ghoul Light.
Want learn more about light?
Follow this link to download my free guide to getting started with strobes and flash!
