Sunday Snapshot: There’s a light in your eyes

If I had a dollar for every time I read the idiom “the eyes are the window to the soul” within student journal entries, I would be looking at a very early retirement. However, as much as I may roll my eyes every time I read the saying, there is quite a bit of truth in the statement. And when it comes to photography, in my mind at least, it’s all about the eyes. Consequently, the following is my very best piece of photography advice–find the light!

“Catchlight” is the fancy photography word for the specks of light and reflection that can be captured in a subject’s eyes. And whenever I think about this technique, I instantly have the song of “There’s a light in your eyes that I used to see…” running through my brain. I hope you will now hum that song through the rest of this post.

Capturing light in people’s eyes, especially those with dark colored eyes, adds life and depth to your subject. It also draws the attention in the photo straight to the eyes, allowing the viewer of the photo to connect more with the subject.

Exhibit A: No catchlight. Stella and I are cute girls, but you’re not instantly drawn to our eyes and the photo falls a little flat.

Exhibit B: Catchlight. Your eyes are instantly drawn to the subject’s eyes.

In my previous tip, I recommended taking lots of shots. One of the ways I weed through and decide which shots to pitch is the presence of catchlight.

And so, whenever you’re taking pictures of people, either move yourself around, or your subject, until you’ve caught that light.

Just a bit of light in their eyes, and your photography will be taken to a whole new level!