Eye reflection shot...

[Tyler138]

I am thinking of doing a shot of a eye but capturing the reflection on the eye on something they are looking at.

What would be the best way to do this. What sort of lens would i be looking at to achieve this, atm i only have a 50mm 1.8 and 70-200mm f4 but may try rent one for this shot or borrow one.

Also what would be the best way to catch the reflection would it just be the matter of having the right light as i imagine a flash wold help.

Thanks, and if anyone has any other info that may help it would be much appreciated .

Tyler

 

[Digital_Clarity]

Hi Tyler,

My first thought is that due to the eye being a sphere it will act like a fisheye mirror capturing everything in front of it, including you. It would be very hard to get a shot without you being in it.

With regards to lighting and lens; you'll need a macro lens and possibly some soft light (flash in a softbox for example).

If you're looking to capture a reflection in the eye you won't want too strong a flash on the eye as you're looking to capture the ambient light (the light that causes the reflection).

Not sure how much sense that makes but have to dash off; good luck!

 

[Canonman II]

To capture the reflection and see what it is, you need to get the eye as big as possible in the frame. You may be better off using the 50mm at it's minimum focus distance, but give the 70-200 a go too, but at the 200 end. Your aperture should not make much difference to the reflected image, as the eyes curvature will render the reflection sharp. What will be affected by the aperture is of course the depth of field across the eye.

As for lighting, you would be better off having the reflection brighter than the light falling on the eye. You really need to play with your exposures, but a good starting point would be to have your subject look out of a window at say a sun lite street and then simply use the natural light falling on the face for the eye exposure. Here's an example http://www1.clikpic.com/wispics/images/Debbie_-_017.JPG even though it's not a close up of her eye. This one however is a semi close up and you can see the softbox I used to light her face http://www1.clikpic.com/wispics/images/Debbie_-_018.JPG Hope this helps and have fun trying

 

[Ploddles]

You may also want to put a drop or two of optrex or something similar in the eye to ensure a nice shiny surface to reflect off.

 

[woof woof]

You may also want to put a drop or two of optrex or something similar in the eye to ensure a nice shiny surface to reflect off.

Or just make the subject cry

 

[TCR4x4]

I just used a window and natural light with a macro lens.
Not human, but same principle.

Sebbe eye by TCR4x4, on Flickr​