Advice on how to light animal eyes

Hi there

I have been photographing some sheep in a field by my house the last few mornings before the sun has risen in the sky. One thing that is annoying is the eyes of the sheep are very dark and there are no catch lights.

This morning I thought I would have a go at adding a Flash to see if that would help.

This has certainly created some light in the eyes but it doesn't look that great. I did have the flash on top of the camera.

Anyway I would be interested if anyone has any advice on techniques to add catch lights. The eyes are such an important element so adding some catch light I felt would improve things. Without the flash I normally have to try and brighten the eyes in Photoshop with some selective use of the dodge tool.

Thanks in advance

Paul

Here are a couple of photos from yesterday with no flash

It's less common these days, but just a few years ago, many serious birders including myself were using flash rigs along with our long telephoto lenses to use fill flash for better color, catch lights in eyes, and to help with shadows.

Two bits of kit were required, a flash projector, to get the flash out further along with the long lenses reach, often called a "better beamer" and most important, a flash bracket.

The bracket is the key. In birding we get what we call "Steel eye". it's the same phenomena as "red eye" in humans. but birds tend to have that steel blue. Most of us use this one;
https://www.tripodhead​.com …et-telephoto-brackets.cfm

IMAGE LINK: https://jakehegnauer.z​enfolio.com/p150760014​/e3077e50e

IMAGE LINK: https://jakehegnauer.z​enfolio.com/p506722924​/e3da2b45

A better example with the flash off axis, ie: on a bracket; again, by chance, in snowy weather conditions;

IMAGE LINK: https://jakehegnauer.z​enfolio.com/p150760014​/e330cdc40

Are they possessed?
Seriously flash on camera is not the way to go. Those eyes are dark and imho that's no problem. All I would do is lighten a little bit in post or better leave it. Off camera flash and wildlife is not that easy in the field.

edit: seeing Jake's reply(almost simultaneous) I was talking about the sheep's eyes, their pupils are very dark.

Sorry I didn't see any notification to see there had been replies.

Thank you Jake and pcs. I had considered an external flash on a lighting stand just to try and get a bit of a catch light off center. The results of the flash this morning were not great and I agree they look possessed. Sheep are easy as they just stand still but I appreciate real wildlife don't so off camera flash is not going to work for that even if it did produce the results I was looking for.

On reflection I think I prefer my photos with no flash where I have just dodged the eyes. If I waited for the sun to come up a bit more I would prob get more light on their faces anyway and this would not be an issue.

Thanks for the advice and great photos Jake!!

I love your pics, Jake, but not really a fan of the catch lights.

Steve, what I do is just bring out the eyes in post. I use curves. I will also sometimes duplicate the eye to a separate layer and use Color Overlay to correct colour or to remove a colour cast.

Left the raw file. Right, the finished version.

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I haven't shot wildlife with a flash in a very long time. The last time I felt the need was that old 1D2. Even with the improvements in noise and shadow recovery that the 1D3 offered, was enough to make me not bother. There were definitively times with the older sensors in poor lighting that it made all the difference in the world though.

that said, probably all my own examples will be subpar, I certainly was never an expert at it.

Thanks Levina. I think dealing with the eyes in post is the best way forward. It was just an itch I needed to scratch.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19200631
I haven't shot wildlife with a flash in a very long time. The last time I felt the need was that old 1D2. Even with the improvements in noise and shadow recovery that the 1D3 offered, was enough to make me not bother. There were definitively times with the older sensors in poor lighting that it made all the difference in the world though.

that said, probably all my own examples will be subpar, I certainly was never an expert at it.

Hosted photo: posted by CyberDyneSystems in
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More superb photos!

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19200631
I haven't shot wildlife with a flash in a very long time. The last time I felt the need was that old 1D2. Even with the improvements in noise and shadow recovery that the 1D3 offered, was enough to make me not bother. There were definitively times with the older sensors in poor lighting that it made all the difference in the world though.

that said, probably all my own examples will be subpar, I certainly was never an expert at it.

Hosted photo: posted by CyberDyneSystems in
./showthread.php?p=192​00631&i=i138107245
forum: Wildlife

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forum: Wildlife

Wow. These are great, Jake.
Really, nobody is going to care about catch lights in images like these!

Some natural catch lights this morning - much better than artificial ones

Levina de Ruijter wrote in post #19200582
I love your pics, Jake, but not really a fan of the catch lights.

Steve, what I do is just bring out the eyes in post. I use curves. I will also sometimes duplicate the eye to a separate layer and use Color Overlay to correct colour or to remove a colour cast.

Left the raw file. Right, the finished version.

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forum: Wildlife

That's also what I do(if I take the trouble, lately I'm a bit lazy with pp). I use C1pro and I've made a preset(bit exposure, shadow lifting, clarity, structure). Using the brush I paint or adjust the size and just click on the eye, choose the preset and with opacity slider adjust to taste, quick& easy.

PSteven wrote in post #19200851
Some natural catch lights this morning - much better than artificial ones

Those look good, natural is best!
Below maybe not the best example because also in sunlight but I just lightened the eye a bit so the iris is visible(before/after).

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PSteven wrote in post #19200851
Some natural catch lights this morning - much better than artificial ones

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This is the best solution!

For sheep and goats, the secret is to have them lift their heads to catch the reflection of the sky.

Here's my pet, Dopey, looking down and looking up.

IMAGE LINK: https://www.flickr.com​/photos/anniemacd/5098​3507282/

Dopey's in the Hospital

Photo from AnnieMacD's gallery.