Secrets to lighting up the eyes

[Collin85]

OK, I'm a newbie for this. Sometimes I see stunning portrait shots with just magical eyes. They glow up, and have a really awesome reflection in them which just grabs the viewer straight away.

I seem to have a hard time replicating this and keep thinking it's PP.. but some shooters insist it's the lighting and lighting alone.

Teach me, folks.

EDIT: I have a 580EX and 430EX and no other lighting equipment.

[e r y k]

are you looking for catchlights? it depends, if you are using an on cam flash, you can try to use a bounce card to produce a catchlight.

also, look into making a DIY ringlight, those catchlights are beautiful :)

[cdifoto]

Called "catchlights." Lights high and off to the side, shooting directly into/through a softbox/unbrella. Basically what you want to do with your Speedlites is get a pair of light stands and umbrella mount adapters and shoot-through umbrellas (and a way to trigger the Speedlites). Specific placement varies based on preference and lighting goals. You can do well with just one light. Fill in the other side with a reflector.

[Collin85]

OK, is it possible to do 'on the move'? I'm not just referring to a studio environment.. I don't really shoot studio portraits.

Suppose I was just outside with a subject, are there any techniques I can employ? Some sort of contraption I can attach to my 580/430? Or perhaps certain angles I should look out for which involves the Sun?

I'm not experienced with this eye-lighting topic in the slightest, so any responses in detail would be highly appreciated.

[cdifoto]

You can get catchlights but those really awesome ones come from having large but bright light sources. The 580EX by itself isn't a large light source. Adding an umbrella enlarges the apparent size of it. As a matter of my own opinion, even an umbrella doesn't create awesome catchlights. Softboxes are what I prefer for that...not exactly portable though, thus my usage of umbrellas for most situations.

You can get really cool reflections by having the subject look up towards the open daylight sky, no other light sources or modifiers needed. Works best when it's overcast, I think.

[SolidxSnake]

you could probably get a diffuser and set the flash to low power, using wireless triggers and hold the flash somewhere off-axis to eliminate red eye to be used solely as a fill flash.

Just what makes sense to me... Don't take my word for it, I don't know a damn thing :)

[Collin85]

Thanks for the contributions by everyone.

:lol: OK, this is gonna sound stupid.. but it's the only way I'm gonna learn. Does the term 'catchlight' refer to that distinctive light in their eyes, or the required lights/or lighting needed to get that effect? I presume it's the former..

Called "catchlights." Lights high and off to the side, shooting directly into/through a softbox/unbrella. Basically what you want to do with your Speedlites is get a pair of light stands and umbrella mount adapters and shoot-through umbrellas (and a way to trigger the Speedlites). Specific placement varies based on preference and lighting goals. You can do well with just one light. Fill in the other side with a reflector.

That sounds good, my dear porn shooter. :D

What about homemade softboxes, if I just want to experiment? I was thinking some crude cardboard box with soft white paper over it attached over my 430EX.

As for the reflector, I was thinking of getting a reflector umbrella and fire my 580EX into that. As for a light stand, perhaps I could get some sort of an adaptor clamp (or even just make one myself somehow) and use my old Slik tripod as the stand instead.

To trigger the two Speedlites, I was considering an ST-E2.. although some seem to think that they're a waste of money. Comments on this would be welcome too!

Now just a few general lighting Qs:

1) In terms of lighting effects, what's the main difference between using a softbox and an umbrella reflector? The suggestion to use a reflector as fill suggests that the softbox gives a more harsh light (and hence used as a primary), is that correct?

2) All the recommendations so far seem to suggest an additional light source above 'high' or 'on the side' etc. Does that mean a certain 'angle' the light must hit the eye in order to produce these 'catchlights'? Or can one still produce these effects shooting a Speedlite attached to the camera?

I'm trying to also learn about the technicals behind creating these effects.. so I can manipulate the theory and get flexible results anywhere, rather than just learning some pointers but don't understand why they are so.

Oh, and I have Stofen diffusers for both my Speedlites. No idea if that's relevant though.

:lol:

[cdifoto]

Catch light is the light in their eyes, not necessarily the source itself. How much wow you get out of the catchlight depends on many factors...primarily your own standards of wowness and the shape/design/quality of the light source. You can get perfectly acceptable catch lights from bouncing off a nearby wall if you're not anal-retentive about the shape.

My personal favorite catch lights are from my single ginormous softbox (4x6') but I've tolerated less due to time, space, and costs.

There's not much more I can really explain. You'll just want to play around.

[Benji]

The catchlight is that bright white spot in the eye. The eyes will look dead without them.

To get "glowing" eyes takes several techniques. For lots of color in the iris of the eye the light source must be powerful enough to cause it to close down. This will be a different amount for different people, but a 500 watt "work light" will close them down for nearly everyone and a fast shutter speed will prevent the orange cast from showing in the final image (assuming you are using flash as your main light source. The light source should be off to one side and at such an angle that it strikes the whites of the eyes which permits the light to backlight the irises and causes the color of the eyes to be brighter just like sunshine streaming through a stained glass window will cause the window to be brighter. Lastly, in Photoshop most professionals will lighten the crescent shaped reflection of the main kight in the iris. This reflection is always found directly opposite the catchlight and is about 1/3rd as bright as the catchlight.

Benji

[Strayz]

as Much as I hate saying this, sometimes you do need to PS the catch lights in, I have a square, round, and star brushes to add them in when needed. I will also agree with the above poster that the eyes need them to bring a little life to the eyes.