When shooting headshots or any close up portrait one of the first things you notice are the eyes. The thing that can draw the viewer to the eyes are the catch lights. Those specular highlights in the eyes are what gives life to the face. The Angler Catchlight Reflector is a device that, placed just below your subject’s face and out of frame, will “fill in” shadows created by the “key light”. The bonus that you’ll get is a very interesting and appealing catch light near the bottom of the eyes.
This image was shot using a medium octabox placed above and centered to the subject and pointed down at a 45 degree angle. This lighting gave a very dark shadow around the jaw line but with the addition of the Angler Catchlight Reflector that shadow is lighter but is still present creating shape and a three dimensionality to the face.
A close crop of this image clearly shows both the octabox and the subtle curved catch light from the angler.
For a full rundown of this reflector and it’s features, please check out our video review below.
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