Creating Eye-Catching Portraits with the Eyelighter

This review is courtesy of Canadian portrait photographer and digital artist Nikki Harrison.

This is something I have been dying for – for a really LONG time.  I use under light reflectors all the time, especially with women because it is such a flattering fill light.  The way the Eyelighter 2 (5230) bends the light and wraps it around your subject(s) has been done before, but never quite so easily or beautifully.  One reflector, simple installation, adjustable height in seconds.

For the following portraits, I used a Westcott Stripbank as my only light source.

I default to this simple set up in almost all basic portraits, because I love the softness of shooting wide open, and now with the Eyelighter, it is a very quick, easy set up, with the exact results I want.  There are never any questions any more, I know exactly where to place the Eyelighter, to achieve the exact results that I want.

The catch light in the eyes is gorgeous.  I am picky about catch lights, I tend to stay away from ring lights (which is another source of all around evenly distributed light) now because I found myself constantly editing out and replacing the catch lights.  I am in love with the catch lights the Eyelighter produces, that you can see in this close up portrait.

The Eyelighter is not just for ONE subject, contrary to what many other photographers have asked me.   As you can see from this Mother/Daughter portrait, it can easily be used with small groups of people. In this portrait, I had all the girls standing up.

This black and white shot was done with all the girls sitting down and I caught a beautiful candid moment with them, showing their personalities.  A simple adjustment dropping the light stands down was made to accommodate the change.  In post, I simply cropped out the Eyelighter, and this image was sold as is.

This is a particularly useful light source when shooting older women.  I use it for all my corporate head shots of women, any age, simply because it is so flattering, and every woman absolutely loves it.  This is a must have, in your arsenal for portrait work.  It is even so versatile, you can use it outside, in sunshine, if placed strategically.

To see more of Nikki’s eye-catching photography, visit her website at nikkiharrison.ca.

Lighting Gear in Action