What’s a Catchlight? (And Why You Need One—Actually Two!)
Merle Oberon, a British movie star who worked in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s, found that when a cinematographer put a small light on top of the camera that causes a specular highlight in a subject's eye in an image—a catchlight—that she looked best. So, she began to request a light on top of all cameras filming her. That got known as an Obie light and it’s a term still used in cinematography to this day.
When I photograph your business portrait, I will insist on a pose that creates a strong catchlight, because with one, your eyes look alive. And without, they’re dark. So catchlight it is.
It looks like this.
It’s actually seen in any good professional portrait and gives you a clue as to what lighting device was used to make the photograph. In the first one, the light is off to the subject’s left, which is why the side of her face closest to the camera has a light shadow, and why the catchlight is seen in the upper left of her eye. Sometimes you can see an umbrella shape in the catchlight if the photographer used a lighting umbrella for a modifier. The eye creates a perfect representation of the lighting device used.
It’s a fascinating look that once you see it, you’ll notice it in magazine portraits and advertising photographs all the time.
It’s what makes eyes look alive!
