Double catch lights

rutt · February 20, 2006

I've asked this question before, but it was in the middle of a long post and maybe got lost.

There is a Annie Leibovitz portrait of Barbara Bush in Women. The portrait is perfectly sharp and detail is very good. No glamor blurring here. The eyes have these double catch lights, though. It really makes the shot.

Can anyone guess how this was done?

tmlphoto · February 20, 2006

Are you talking about something like this? For this I used a soft box for the large catchlight on the subjects left and I believe a second softbox for fill. By placing it more to the front of the subject rather than the side it produces the second, smaller catchlight. Am I on the right page?

rutt · February 20, 2006

Close.

http://rutt.smugmug.com/photos/14487369-O.jpg

It's much more dramatic in the print in the book.

tmlphoto · February 20, 2006

rutt wrote:

Close.

http://rutt.smugmug.com/photos/14487369-O.jpg

It's much more dramatic in the print in the book.

Looks like a two light setup to me. I have a new hobby. I study the catchlights of all kinds of photos, but advertising shots especially. If you look closely, you can tell exactly what kind of lighting was used. You can tell if it is an umbrella, softbox etc. and where the lights were placed. It's a good way to learn about studio lighting.

Here is a heavy crop of another shot to show the catchlights better. You can see the octabox on the subjects left as key light and a softbox subject right as fill.

pathfinder · February 20, 2006

tmlphoto wrote:

Looks like a two light setup to me. I have a new hobby. I study the catchlights of all kinds of photos, but advertising shots especially. If you look closely, you can tell exactly what kind of lighting was used. You can tell if it is an umbrella, softbox etc. and where the lights were placed. It's a good way to learn about studio lighting.

Yup!!

Sometimes its even a good self portrait. There was an image her on dgrin somewhere of the photog's grisage in a close up of a an equine eye.:):

Your corneas should be two perfect spherical mirrors, and reflect the lighting used.

Cool hobby Thomas.

Unless the catcthlights have been airbrushed.

Rutt - Did you ever take a gander at "In My Stairwell" I forget the author/photog right now, but I am sure it pops up on Amazon. I think you may enjoy it.

Shay Stephens · February 20, 2006

Two light sources, one on either side and in front of the face. Look at the direction of the shadows on the face to determine which light was used as main and which was used as fill.

The ratio between the lights is rather low, so the brightness of the two catch lights is nearly the same in the eye.

rutt wrote:

Close.

http://rutt.smugmug.com/photos/14487369-O.jpg

It's much more dramatic in the print in the book.

XO-Studios · February 22, 2006

rutt wrote:

I've asked this question before, but it was in the middle of a long post and maybe got lost.

There is a Annie Leibovitz portrait of Barbara Bush in Women. The portrait is perfectly sharp and detail is very good. No glamor blurring here. The eyes have these double catch lights, though. It really makes the shot.

Can anyone guess how this was done?

I am with the others on this, I am barely a rank amateur, but two light setup and...

#1

#2

FWIW,

XO,

Double catch lights

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