MomShots

So after talking about how I was going to write this post, the actual post is going to be like those stories your friends start to tell you and then end up stopping in the middle. You are anticipating the ending for a few days and you ask about it and they say they’ll tell you later. Then when they finally do tell you, the story is not even as funny or as exciting as you had it built up in your mind. Anyway, here you go…

The subject is Catchlights.
The message is to look for them and photograph them.

So backing up, some of you may be asking what a catchlight is.

“Jessica, please tell me what exactly a catchlight is. I keep reading this word but I’m not sure I know what it is.” There, I asked the question for you.

Well, a catchlight is simply the reflection of your light source on your subject’s eyeballs. As fun a word as eyeballs are, catchlights are even more fun. I say that because catchlights can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. They can be the blue screen of a computer monitor, the yellow light of the sun shining through a window, the reflection of your flash or the glint of a birthday candle or like in one of Luann’s example the reflection of a hot air balloon. Sometimes, when looking closely, you can see the your own self portrait.

Wikipedia says this:

…Catchlight is a photography term used to describe either the specular highlight in a subject’s eye from a light source, or the light source itself. They are also referred to as eye lights or Obies, the latter a reference to Merle Oberon, who was frequently lit using this technique. A catch light may be an artifact of the lighting method, or have been purposely engineered to add a glint or “spark” to a subject’s eye during photography. This technique is useful in both still and motion picture photography. Adding a catch light can help draw attention to the subject’s eyes, which may otherwise get lost among other elements in the scene.

One of the results of a photo that has catchlights is that it gives your shot more dimension and depth. Catchlights help the photo not look so flat. They help to bring your photo to life. They sometimes appear to be the embodiment of that “sparkle” or “twinkle” in the eyes that is so often mentioned.

Since I have become aware of catchlights I notice them all the time. I will be watching my kids while they watch a DVD and I’ll notice the reflection of the TV in their eyes or I’ll notice the reflection of the blue sky while we are going for a walk. I see catchlights in their eyes all the time and have really enjoyed thinking about how those moments would turn out in a photo.

My challenge for you is to start noticing catchlights. See how varied they are. Look for different colors and shapes. Notice how much dimension they give to the eyes.

The following are your photos that have catchlights. I was so excited by the response of people sending in pictures for me to use. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

Click on the images below to see them a bit larger. You can see some of the detail a bit better that way.

Edit: I really wanted to do a better job of giving credit to each of these contributors. The following list is their names and a link to their blog if I have it. Thanks again for your help in putting this post together!

Luann Hawker
Jennifer Cavanaugh
Clint Long
Julie Taggart
Kerry
Rachelle Kolb
Jen Iverson
Gayle Vehar
Lindsey
Celeste Grover
Melinda Brookshire
Jenna Nelson
Bethany Balsis
Rachel Land

I asked for your catchlight photos and I received them. Thank you so much!!! You all are so awesome!!! I am super excited to write up the post about catchlights. The thing is, it might not be until next week. So it WILL happen, just not as soon as I originally thought and said.

I have this bad habit of biting off more than I can chew. I don’t do it intentionally but when the time comes and everything is due, I end up staying up all night and trying to finish all the projects at once. As I’m typing this I am thinking it might be a time managment problem instead…

I am having flashbacks to fashion design school. The night before a big project would be due I would stay up pretty much all night working like mad on it. In fact, one of my final projects for a specific class stands out in my mind. I stayed up all night busting my butt trying to get it done. I had until something like 10pm to turn it into my teacher at school and after that we could drop our projects off at her house. I remember driving to her house at 4 in the morning and leaving it on her doorstep in the middle of the night. Good times…

So the point is I think I need to do the catchlight post next week because last night I woke up around 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep until about 7am because I was thinking about my presentation on Saturday at Photocamp. I haven’t finalized everything I am going to discuss or my examples. I need to sit down and do that today so I can sleep tonight!!!

So before you point at me and call me a liar for not having the catchlight post ready, I would like to console you with a little giveaway. I would like you to answer a question for me. The answers will probably be used in my presentation.

Here’s the question (actually it is two): Why do you take photographs of your children? What do the photos mean to you?

Answer that in a comment for one entry. Post a link back on your blog for another entry, leave a separate comment with the link.

I have 5 prizes to give out so there will be many happy winners! Deadline is Friday, March 13th.

Obligatory photo. This is from last summer when we would go up to this great camping spot and have picnics and kind of “day camp” but we never ended up staying the whole night. Maybe we will this summer.

I want to make a post about catchlights. I have been thinking about these lately and would like to expand my knowledge and share what I have learned with you.

So here’s the Casting Call part… I bet you are sick of just seeing my kids faces on here. Would you like your child’s sweet mug to be in a post? I would love to open up the floor and see if anyone would be interested in letting me use one or two of your photos in a post.

If you are interested in contributing a photo or two, please contact me via a comment after this post, the MomShots contact page or email me at momshots@yahoo.com. I am specifically looking for any shots of your children that have great catchlights in the eyes. If you aren’t sure what a catchlight is here is a definition: Catchlights are a reflection of the light source in the eyes of your subject.

I’m looking forward to your contribution! Also, I would love to use your photos in future posts. If you have any ideas or thoughts on this I would love to hear from you. Seriously. Email me.