Catchlight Ideas

[David Matthews]

As simple as the topic sounds. I'm just looking for some new and innovative thinking when it comes to catchlights. I realize it can be all relative to the subject matter, but I was hoping some of you might have a few clever ideas for creating a unique look when dealing with eyelight reflections. Any and all unorthodox methods are welcome. I've got a Christmas themed hospital shoot involving lots of close ups on children coming up and I'd like to do something different. The direction I'm heading at the moment involves several dozen frosted Christmas bulbs around the matte-box. It seems to be working nicely, but prompted me to seek out new ideas. I figured if nothing else, some fresh ideas might be shared.

 

Thanks

D

[David Auner aac]

Hi David,

a couple of years ago we used Christmas fairy lights suspended a little bit above the lens via magic arm. Worked really well and made a unique eyelight ;)

Regards, Dave

[Francesco Bonomo]

If I remember correctly, Andrew Lesnie used a relative big frame with many many Christmas lights for the unique eye-light of Galadriel in "The Fellowship of the Ring". The frame was not incredibly close to the camera, but in the ecu you can definitely see all those little dots shining in her eyes.

[David Matthews]

Thanks for the feedback. The trick is getting these lights configured in a manner that won't be cumbersome when moving from set-up to set-up. I'm still doing a bit of troubleshooting, but getting good results.

[Chris Keth]

Thanks for the feedback. The trick is getting these lights configured in a manner that won't be cumbersome when moving from set-up to set-up. I'm still doing a bit of troubleshooting, but getting good results.

 

Put them on a spare hard matte for a wide lens.

[Robert Harper]

If the camera has to be farther back, you could also use a string light with larger medium base colored party bulbs that should catch nicely in the eyes.