It’s all in the eyes.
The devil is in the detail and when you are photographing live subjects that detail can be as small as the little bit of catchlight that brings life to your subject’s eyes.
When you take a photograph, specifically with reference to wildlife, the idea is to convey reality. The real, wild world you saw. A living animal. Easy yeah? Well, most of the time!
When you include an animal, bird or a person in a photograph your viewers gaze will immediately focus on them. Living subjects have a lot more visual mass than inanimate objects. On a smaller scale, and depending on the size of the subject in your frame, your viewer’s gaze will then find your subject’s face. The next step down, size allowing, is the eyes.
It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Young lovers, and hopefully older ones as well, stare longingly into each other’s eyes. A naughty young boy has a glint in his eye when he is planning how next to make mom’s day more ‘interesting’.
Get the idea? The eyes. It’s all about the eyes!
Now should you choose to show your subject’s eyes in your photograph, as it is most definitely not a prerequisite for great images, there is one thing that will assure your photo comes to life.
Catchlight. That little ‘glint’ in the eye which in a two dimensional photograph conveys life and, when used correctly, even a little bit of tension.
An image without catchlight = lifeless.
In both the above image of two Bulbuls and the Forked Tailed Drongo at the top of this post, you can very clearly notice the little bit of catchlight. When you first saw the images was it the first thing that you noticed? Probably not, but now that I have pointed it out you can (hopefully) see the difference it makes.
Check out the difference between the following two images of the same bird.
A nice, clean image of a Pied Kingfsher but the eye has no catchlight which leaves you feeling that something is just not right.
Boring.
Lifeless.
Dead.
That little bit of catchlight in the eye makes the world of difference in bringing the Kingfisher to life.
The catchlight in all of the above images was a result of the sun. You can, of course, use a bit of fill-flash to bring some life to your subject’s eyes but most of the time you will be able to use natural light. The key is just to wait for that precise moment to click the shutter.
When you next have your wildlife subject lined up in the viewfinder, take note of that little bit of catchlight. A little goes a long way!
Catchlight does not only come into play in wildlife images but can make the world of difference when you are shooting portraits as well. Check out the following two images.
I am sure you will agree that the top image seems quite lifeless compared to the bottom one. All the result of a little bit of catchlight in my subject’s eyes.
With people it is much easier to use a little bit of flash to get the eyes to come alive but don’t write off the slightest change of position. Ask them to tilt their head a little or look in a certain direction. Small change, large improvement!
As I said earlier, a little goes a long way!
See ya tomorrow!
Gerry
This post was originally syndicated from
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