Catchlights

Sometimes, especially in glamorous portraits, I like putting in a small catchlight in the eyes even if it does not do much to fill in shadows because small catchlights makes the eyes look like jewels. Catchlights were quite ubiquitous in last century's photography--back when there was no photoshop to touch up shadows under the eyes. It was usually the result of a reflector or a secondary light source filling in the shadows that make eyebags and other signs of ageing too noticeable. And the catchlights--if you have two of them-- should frame the pupil vertically. Top and bottom. Never sideways. That is because left and right catchlights look like bad passport photographs. That's how they usually set up the lights inside a small studio in the mall. Unless you have huge softboxes that emulate big windows, horizontal catchlights on two sides usually make bad portraits. It's also nice if the catchlights are really small--like a glint or a twinkle. Like a distant flash got caught in the eye. That helps a portrait become more magical.