This is week 4 of the Pet Photography 52 Weeks Project. The topic is “Catchlights”. Catchlights refer to the highlight or reflection of a light source in the subjects eyes. This is a very important element in portrait photography, both with people and pets. Good catchlights will make the eyes sparkle and really stand out. In a studio setting the catchlights are produced by the size, shape, distance and postion of the lights. Outdoors the sky will typically produce natural catchlights in the eyes.

These photos were taken at “Puppy Reunion”. Mom, Skyla, a Mini Australian Shepherd, and several of her 6 month old puppies got together for a little party.

The mom, Skyla, has white irises, so the catchlights are harder to notice. They are really only visible when they cover the pupil. Getting nice catchlights in dogs with light colored irises can be tricky.

Lastly I included 2 pictures of a very cute Lab puppy as an example of when catchlights can be too much. In this instance the puppy had her paws up on a picnic table covered with a white tablecloth. In addition to the reflection of the sky in the upper part of her eyes, the white table cloth is reflected in the bottom part of her eyes, almost completely obscuring them. Kind of makes her look like a zombie. I toned down the reflection of the tablecloth in the bottom portion of her eyes to make them look more natural.

Here you can see the reflection of the white tablecloth in the bottom of the eyes.

I’ve toned it down in this image.