Light Halos

[Brettles]

being trying to find a decent product or process of creating the light halos that can be produced in portrait shots,
usually a ring of light reflected in the subjects eyes.
tried a light ring on the end of my lens and had to get up REALLY close to even get a glimpse in the eyes reflection, so im guessing i need to go bigger, but how?

[Adrian Fischer]

I take it you mean catch lights like this:


You can achieve it with on camera flash but thats not usually attractive. You need a largish light source like a soft box or a reflector. If you have skills with pp it would be doable but no substitute for good lighing in the first place.

[Brettles]

yes and no
i mean more like this



but i had to get ridiculously close to get this and its still not as prominent as i would like

[Jules]

You'd need a ring flash - something like the Orbis, or Ray Flash. Both of these fit onto a shoe-mounted speedlight, so are easier to use than the large, pro ring flashes. Or you could google diy ring flash - much cheaper if you just want to experiment a little.

[Brettles]

would that be any different to the lens mounted LED ring light i use now?

[Jules]

Depends how big the LED ring is I guess.

How big a catchlight are you looking for? You can play with the size and proximity of your light source to a certain extent, but there's a limit as to how big a catchlight in a human eye can be. Now if your subject was wearing a big pair of reflective sunglasses, you can get a larger catchlight simple due to the greater surface area.

[Brettles]

cool thanks..... the ring i have now would prob be about 6 inch across
i had to get really close just for this photo near on 4-5 inches
so i might have to homemake something

[Jules]

What's the power output from the LEDs like? I imagine it's low, so you're having to get in closer for that reason as well?

If you can get your flash off the camera, you could probably dodgy up a bigger ring flash and position it closer to the subject, without the need for your lens to be right up in their face. I think I've seen a DIY ring flash made out of a disposable roasting pan and some white tracing paper, which might be a cheap way of experimenting.

[Brettles]

pretty piss poor

i might have to try and find that

[Jules]

Sorry, should clarify that when I suggested the off-camera ring flash, depending where you wanted to put it, you wouldn't necessarily have your lens extending through the ring. So in that case it would probably just be considered a ring-shaped modifier, rather than a true ring flash which sits around the lens.