The Natural Light Portrait Book

You Want to See Catchlights

Generally, we see a reflection of the light source our subject was lit with in their eyes (as you can see here). It usually appears as a very small white circle near the center or top of their pupil when you’re shooting with natural light because you’re seeing either a reflection of the sun or a round reflector (if the sun is behind them). That little white dot in each eye is very important to the overall success of the portrait. That white dot of a reflection in the eyes is called a “catchlight,” and if you don’t see a catchlight in your subject’s eyes, their eyes tend to kind of look “dead.” These catchlights are ...