{"id":46470,"date":"2017-03-06T05:51:52","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T12:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=46470"},"modified":"2017-03-06T07:04:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-06T14:04:47","slug":"the-significance-of-catch-lights-in-bird-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/06\/the-significance-of-catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"The Significance of Catch Lights In Bird Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><em>Occasionally I recycle an older post because most current blog followers have never seen it. This one, first published in Dec. of 2011, has significance for bird photographers and artists and for most anyone who enjoys their work. I&#8217;ve\u00a0modified the text and\u00a0edited the\u00a0formatting of the original post.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Broadly defined a catch light in photography\u00a0is a reflection of a light source in the eye of a\u00a0subject.\u00a0In bird photography that light source is often the sun and typically appears on the shiny, wet cornea of the bird as a single\u00a0point reflection. However, as we will see there are many\u00a0variations on that theme.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3460\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/american-kestrel-7758\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"american-kestrel-7758\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3460\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758.jpg\" alt=\"american-kestrel-7758\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7758-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Catch lights are highly desirable, to the point that many\u00a0bird photographers simply delete any photo that\u00a0doesn&#8217;t have them (a painful process, to be sure).\u00a0Others resort to artificially cloning them into the eye when they don&#8217;t appear naturally &#8211; a practice that I find distasteful and\u00a0even dishonest for a nature photographer (that said I&#8217;ll sometimes run an extra round of sharpening or a Levels adjustment on a subtle catch light that already exists). And besides, cloned-in catch lights very often don&#8217;t look natural anyway&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Natural catch lights that are a direct reflection of the sun will appear in the upper half of the eye, usually from the 10 o&#8217;clock to the 2 o&#8217;clock position, depending on the angle and position\u00a0of the sun behind the photographer.\u00a0If the sun is behind the\u00a0bird (back light) or too high in the sky,\u00a0that kind of catch light will not\u00a0be produced.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3461\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/american-kestrel-7775\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"american-kestrel-7775\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3461\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775.jpg\" alt=\"american-kestrel-7775\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-7775-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Without &#8220;light in the eye&#8221; viewers perceive\u00a0the eye (and thus the bird)\u00a0to be lifeless, &#8220;dead&#8221; or even evil.\u00a0For this reason\u00a0cinematographers often deliberately eliminate catch lights\u00a0in the eyes of\u00a0villains in movies and television.<\/p>\n<p>There is almost no difference between the two American Kestrel images above except for the slight head turn in the first photo that allows light from the sun to be reflected as a catch light. Virtually all viewers would much prefer the first image.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3463\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/horned-lark-1543\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"horned-lark-1543\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3463\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543.jpg\" alt=\"horned-lark-1543\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543.jpg 720w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1543-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll provide two more examples of the value of a catch light to the\u00a0aesthetics of an image. In this photo of a Horned Lark there is no catch light because the sun is too far to the viewer&#8217;s right.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3464\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/horned-lark-1545\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"horned-lark-1545\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3464\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545.jpg\" alt=\"horned-lark-1545\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545.jpg 720w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/horned-lark-1545-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But with just a slight turn of the bird&#8217;s head the catch light is there. Here it&#8217;s in the 1 o&#8217;clock position, indicating that the sun is over my (the photographer&#8217;s) right shoulder and\u00a0that it&#8217;s about mid-morning with the sun fairly high in the sky. The lower the sun the closer to the\u00a0vertical center of the eye the catch light will be. It will not normally\u00a0appear in the bottom half of the eye of a perched bird\u00a0because the sun disappears below the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3466\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/prairie-falcon-1146\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"prairie-falcon-1146\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3466\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146.jpg\" alt=\"prairie-falcon-1146\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146.jpg 720w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1146-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>One more example. Here the eye of the Prairie Falcon appears lifeless.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3467\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/prairie-falcon-1147\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"prairie-falcon-1147\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3467\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147.jpg\" alt=\"prairie-falcon-1147\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147.jpg 720w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-1147-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But with just a slight turn of the head the light appears in the eye and the bird simply seems more &#8220;alive&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>When Mia and I have our lenses trained on the same bird there may be long periods of time when neither of us is firing our shutter because there&#8217;s no catch light in the eye of our subject. But it often makes me smile when the bird turns its head slightly, a catch light appears, and suddenly it sounds like two gatling guns are firing inside my pickup when we each begin\u00a0shooting long bursts at the same instant.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"46472\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/06\/the-significance-of-catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"snowy-egret-0315 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46472\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/snowy-egret-0315-ron-dudley-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes conditions will produce two or more catch lights, especially when\u00a0the subject is in or near water. It&#8217;s very common to have extra catch lights caused by the reflection of the sun off of the water&#8217;s surface. The catch light at the top of the eye of this Snowy\u00a0Egret is a direct reflection of the sun while the smaller one below it is from the sun being reflected off of the water.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3470\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/cinnamon-teal-0209\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"cinnamon-teal-0209\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3470\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209.jpg\" alt=\"cinnamon-teal-0209\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cinnamon-teal-0209-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a female Cinnamon Teal with two catch lights &#8211; the larger one on top from the sun and the lower one reflected off the water surface.\u00a0 From the near-center\u00a0position of the larger one it can be surmised that the photo was taken with the sun quite low in the sky.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3472\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/pied-billed-grebe-2672\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"pied-billed-grebe-2672\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3472\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672.jpg\" alt=\"pied-billed-grebe-2672\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-2672-400x266.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If the water surface has ripples multiple catch lights\u00a0may be produced.\u00a0This submerging Pied-billed Grebe shows three &#8211; the top one directly from the sun and the bottom two from ripples in the water.<\/p>\n<p>Some photographers will\u00a0occasionally use\u00a0artificial flash\u00a0that will also produce a catch light. Well-known bird photographer Bob Steele once photographed a Wood Duck with fill flash in sunlight that had <em>seven<\/em> catch lights!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3474\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/prairie-falcon-5301\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"prairie-falcon-5301\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3474\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301.jpg\" alt=\"prairie-falcon-5301\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301.jpg 720w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prairie-falcon-5301-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Occasionally I&#8217;ll get an extra catch light that I can&#8217;t explain. This Prairie Falcon somehow got two that were nearly identical.\u00a0The only water behind me was hidden from the bird by an elevated road and both lights are at the same level in the eye anyway so I can&#8217;t quite figure\u00a0this one\u00a0out. There must have been something behind me or to either side\u00a0that was\u00a0very bright.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3476\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/american-kestrel-6784\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"american-kestrel-6784\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3476\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784.jpg\" alt=\"american-kestrel-6784\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Not all light in the eye is a pinpoint catch light. If what is being reflected is large, as compared to the relatively &#8220;small&#8221; sun,\u00a0its reflection can be correspondingly large\u00a0and\u00a0usually less bright. A bright sky with the sun hidden by thin clouds can often produce this kind of reflection where\u00a0most of the upper half of the eye has a diffuse &#8220;catch light&#8221;. And if there&#8217;s\u00a0snow on the\u00a0ground it can cover much of the bottom half of the eye also.<\/p>\n<p>This American Kestrel has what I call a linear catch light. This image was taken on a day with high, thin clouds (the background is mountains, not sky). What we see in the eye is the reflection of the bright horizon behind me with the top of the eye being shaded by the kestrel&#8217;s &#8220;eyebrow&#8221; feathers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3478\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/13\/catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/great-horned-owl-2776\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"great-horned-owl-2776\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3478\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776.jpg\" alt=\"great-horned-owl-2776\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/great-horned-owl-2776-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes\u00a0actual objects or people\u00a0can be seen in the reflections. This Great Horned Owl is high in a barn and I&#8217;m photographing it from my bright red pickup that can be seen in the bird&#8217;s left eye. If you&#8217;re close enough to the bird when you take the photo you may see yourself in the reflection.<\/p>\n<p>This phenomenon is sometimes used as a plot point in movies and television where computer magnification of a catch light in a photograph is used to obtain information about the surroundings of the person being photographed &#8211; often\u00a0as an\u00a0aid in solving a crime.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"976\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/26\/the-challenges-of-photographing-birds-in-flight-in-low-light\/northern-harrier-1734\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,702\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Male Northern Harrier\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-976\" src=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734.jpg\" alt=\"Male Northern Harrier\" width=\"900\" height=\"702\" srcset=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734.jpg 900w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734-150x117.jpg 150w, https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/northern-harrier-1734-400x312.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ok, now that I&#8217;ve beat to death the importance of catch lights in bird photography I must cover one significant exception &#8211; birds with brightly colored eyes. Many if not most birds have dark eyes which scream for light there but those with significant color in their eyes look just\u00a0fine to most folks without catch lights. Many owls and this male Northern Harrier would be examples of birds that don&#8217;t require catch lights for their eyes to show &#8220;life&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In individual blog posts I often mention\u00a0the importance of getting catch lights in the eyes of my subjects and my frustration when they&#8217;re missing so I thought some\u00a0viewers might be interested in a comprehensive discussion of the subject.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catch lights are highly desirable, to the point that many bird photographers simply delete any photo that doesn&#8217;t have them (a painful process, to be sure). <\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/06\/the-significance-of-catch-lights-in-bird-photography\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,334],"tags":[28,566,84,159,174,567,3319,234,251,254,287],"class_list":["post-46470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-photography-methods","category-birds","tag-american-kestrel","tag-catch-light","tag-cinnamon-teal","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-horned-lark","tag-light-in-the-eye","tag-multiple-catch-lights","tag-northern-harrier","tag-pied-billed-grebe","tag-prairie-falcon","tag-snowy-egret"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/american-kestrel-6784.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-c5w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}