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Lighting & Flash

Catchlight

The reflection of a light source visible in a subject's eye.

In depth

A catchlight makes eyes read as alive rather than flat, and its shape tells the viewer what shape the light was — a square softbox, a round beauty dish, a ring flash's perfect circle. Conventionally one catchlight is placed at the ten or two o'clock position; multiple competing catchlights usually look artificial and are often retouched out.

Examples in practice

An octabox leaves a single round catchlight at two o'clock, giving the eye life without the ladder-shape of a gridded box.