Catch lights

[alannahrose]

Just wondering, why do people always tell me that there are too many catch lights in my subjects eyes? Is there a rule somewhere or is it personal preference? And the only thing I have available to me is regular work lamps, so I have to use more than one.

 

[IgsEMT]

too many

How many do you have - 100?
I got to lights in front of the subject thus I end up with two.
When using external/ on-camera flash, I have one.

 

[alannahrose]

In most of them, I have four.

 

[robbie_vlad]

Four is a lot. I find more than 2 to be distracting in most cases.

 

[Pugs]

For the most part (and remember that all rules in art are meant to be broken... but broken with purpose!), a single round catchlight is considered to be desirable.

The circle of a round catchlight is a repeated shape as the iris and the pupil are both round as well. A single catchlight mirrors the singular nature of the iris and the pupil. It provides a single point of interesting contrast in the eye. When you have multiple catchlights in the eye, it can obscure and distract from the pupil and iris.

BUT! Like I mentioned parenthetically above, rules are meant to be broken to suit whatever the artist is trying to convey or illustrate or... Breaking rules should always be done with purpose and intent. Have a square catchlight... have a perfectly round catchlight on either side of the pupil... have three describing a triangle in their arrangement... etc...

 

[alannahrose]

I use them because I need that much light and I don't have the money to buy anything better yet. It's just upsetting because when I ask to have a picture critiqued, that is what most people say even though I explain the situation.

 

[spudgunr]

Do YOU find the multiple catchlights to be distracting? Have you considered editing them out to either blend them into one, or to just make a black pupil? If nothing else it would get everybody off your back about it ;-)

 

[Pugs]

I use them because I need that much light and I don't have the money to buy anything better yet. It's just upsetting because when I ask to have a picture critiqued, that is what most people say even though I explain the situation.

I hear you! I feel for you! My first "formal" portraits were done in front of a wrinkled piece of white muslin and SIX 60W clamp lamps... It was SO far from ideal...

Thankfully, my best friend stumbled into a deal on a set of Calumet Travelites and a bunch of modifiers!

As hard as it is with improvised lighting, I found myself doing a bunch of editing on them to end up with a single matching catchlight in each eye...

Even if you describe the situation, people are going to comment on the multiple catchlights because they ARE breaking a "rule" and they ARE distracting...

Here's hoping that providence smiles upon you in the form of better lighting gear soon!

 

[alannahrose]

Thanks. I personally like them because I have never seen any like them before, but I'm weird like that.

 

[Pugs]

Thanks. I personally like them because I have never seen any like them before, but I'm weird like that.

Then I guarantee that you'll love your pics when you get some better lighting gear and can start creatively playing with lighting to create different catchlights intentionally!

 

[William Petruzzo]

Hey, you gotta make do with the gear available to you. If the catch lights bother you, you could pretty easily remove them with Photoshop.

 

[IgsEMT]

if lack of lighting is a problem, use the builtin flash with some DIY diffuser. It won't be perfect but it'll work.

 

[alannahrose]

Yeah, I just don't think that the built in flash looks very good, I'd rather have the catch lights. And I like them.

 

[Pugs]

I'd be interested in seeing some of the pics in question. I understand being defensive about the fact that you have limited resources available to you at the moment. The fact of the matter is that there is a "rule" of sorts and the fact that most people find multiple catchlights distracting. If you're serious about your photography, learning the rules so that you can break them creatively is generally a better approach than making a mistake and then getting defensive when the rule is pointed out to you.

The built in flash does suck, but there are VERY cheap diffusers that can be improvised or purchased.

You can like the multiple catchlights, but try experimenting with different ways to get the more conventional single one, especially if you're getting paid for your work or want to get paid for your work. Or continue to be defensive about it and stay stagnant and have people continue to comment on the multiple catchlights unfavorably.

 

[alannahrose]

I don't consider it a mistake. I think that being ugly can be distracting, but I'm not going to insist on only photographing beautiful people. And the rule of thirds isn't followed very often. I'm just saying that I wish people would look past the catch lights and critique the rest of the picture. After hearing the lights are distracting in the same thread a few times, I get the point.

And I don't want to be conventional. I don't want to do everything the way people think it should be done. If everyone did that we would be no where in terms of art.

I'm not getting paid yet. I'm a student in my first semester of college and I'm only 18. I don't have parents to buy everything I want. All I own now is my D300s, I'm borrowing the lens from the photography program at my school. I wanted to get the camera first and I will be working on building up my equipment. And I am very serious about this.

And the reason I was being "defensive" was because someone asked if I like them and I do. I don't consider that defensive.

Also, please don't consider this post to be defensive, because it's not meant to be. I'm simply replying to everything Pugs said.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I really just asked because I wanted to know if it was a rule or a preference.