Double catchlights, why?

[ILoutdoorcpl]

Hi all. I have been playing around with my new lights and have noticed several of the photos have double catchlights. My main light is set at 45 degrees to the front right and is being fired by a sinc cable from the camera. The fill light is located to the left of camera and is working as a slave. I have noticed that they do not fire at exactly the same time, could that be the problem? If so, what can I do to fix the problem. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, the main is set at f/8, fill at f/5.6 if that helps any.

Thanks again, Jim

[robertwgross]

Let's think about this.

The main light is on a sync cable from the camera. Then the fill light is an optical slave? I assume that you do not have any built-in flash working.

If so, then the main light is going to light up first, and then a tiny fraction of a second later, the fill light will start up. If your shutter is relatively slow, then you should get both of the lights showing in the scene. In each eye of the subject, you may see one or two lights reflecting.

What is the problem?

---Bob Gross---

[ILoutdoorcpl]

Bob,
I was shooting at 1/60 of a second and the fill is an optical slave. Besides changing the shutter speed is there any way to avoid this problem such as a way to fire both lights at the same time.
Jim

[robertwgross]

With a relatively normal shutter like that, the light from both main and fill will be visible in the subject, and that is what you want. If you had the shutter much faster, you might be able to get the first one and not the second one, but that is not what you want.

You could consider a splitter on the PC-sync connection, and running that to both lights. That would rule out the optical slaving circuit and any speed problem it might have (which I would expect to be near zero).

(Again) What is the problem?

---Bob Gross---

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

You will alway's see 2 catchlights if you place the lights in front of the model.
You could experiment with placement, when looking in the eyes of your model you can see the lights, when I want one catchlight (I don't care if 2 are visable) than I will use one softbox and one umbrella from a high point.

[charlesu]

THis issue has nothing to do with optical slaves and shutter speeds. You h ave two lights firing into the eyes.

Of course the rules say only one catch light. Screw the rules.

[robertwgross]

Of course the rules say only one catch light. Screw the rules.

The rules say that there is only one sun in the sky.

The rules LIVE!

Long live the rules!

---Bob Gross---

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Well sometimes I agree with sometimes I don't.

IF there was one sun sky in the sky and this would apply for ALL photography than why use fill-in, hairlights etc. ??

I think sometimes double catchlights are not good, but there are also a lot of times it doesn't bother me at all.

Take nature again, one catchlight from the sun and maybe 1-2-3 extra from reflective surfaces from the area.

Now the other question ?
Can we use softboxes ??
If you follow the one sun rule you cannot because the sun is round :D.

In ART there are no rules, if you want a totally black picture and call it black on black and you are famous people will buy it for alot of money, when you are called Frank it will not sell and people will call it not by the rules :D.

Greetings,
Frank

[charlesu]

Well sometimes I agree with sometimes I don't.

IF there was one sun sky in the sky and this would apply for ALL photography than why use fill-in, hairlights etc. ??

I think sometimes double catchlights are not good, but there are also a lot of times it doesn't bother me at all.

Take nature again, one catchlight from the sun and maybe 1-2-3 extra from reflective surfaces from the area.

Now the other question ?
Can we use softboxes ??
If you follow the one sun rule you cannot because the sun is round :D.

In ART there are no rules, if you want a totally black picture and call it black on black and you are famous people will buy it for alot of money, when you are called Frank it will not sell and people will call it not by the rules :D.

Greetings,
Frank

Frank, good job stating what should be obvious. I've seen multiple catchlights in shots lit only by ambient light (window and white wall). There's nothing wrong with this and it reminds me of why camera clubs so often fail. Most of the members get so hung up on rules, that they miss the beauty of an aesthetically pleasing photograph. I've seen people get out their rulers to see if an image adhered to the rule of thirds. Damn, off by 3/32nds. Ruined what would have been a good shot!!

I break rules all the time but I look to ensure that I have an aesthetically pleasing image, regardless of the rules. I've been told that it takes a pro to know when to break the rules. I don't agree with that either. A lot of things go into it but the key is knowing whether an image comes together overall and works but many pros don't know it.

Sorry for the vent. I get passionate about rules!!

I guess the other way to look at it is that rules are rules. Not natural law.

[ILoutdoorcpl]

Thank you all for your comments. I dont know if I agree or disagree that more than one catchlight is acceptable or not, I guess it depends on the look you're going for. My reason for asking is because I'm completely new to using multiple strobes and was unsure about the set up, such as distance, angle and height of my fill light.
Jim

[Headcase650]

try raising your main light higher, so not to produce a catch light.

[charlesu]

Thank you all for your comments. I dont know if I agree or disagree that more than one catchlight is acceptable or not, I guess it depends on the look you're going for. My reason for asking is because I'm completely new to using multiple strobes and was unsure about the set up, such as distance, angle and height of my fill light.
Jim

Jim, who are you taking the pictures for? If it's for camera clubs and competitions with judges who will get out a ruler or a magnifying glass looking at the technical details, well, you better stick with the rules. If it is for yourself, then why don't you educate yourself on the rules and decide which ones to apply and when? If it's for your customers, you need to know the niche.

Good luck!