Tech Tuesday: Your Perfect Tool for Clamshell Lighting—Westcott Eyelighter Now Shipping

June 24, 2014

By Laura Brauer

Portrait and headshot photographers take note: There’s a new reflector on the market and it’s well worth investigating. The brainchild of pro photographer Larry Peters, the Eyelighter—which is now shipping from Westcott—is an interesting take on the standard reflector.

Westcott Eyelighter

The Eyelighter, which measures  57-inches long and 25-inches wide, is ideal for clamshell lighting. Placed in front of and below the subject, the Eyelighter’s curved design produces beautiful catchlights and fills in age lines and helps eliminate other imperfections. You’ll need to measure (or estimate) the face/eye-to-reflector distance—ideally 30-inches from the center of the reflector—to ensure optimum performance but that should quickly become intuitive. What’s unique about this reflector is that it produces a slightly curved catchlight just below the pupil that follows the curve of the eye.

Peters put together a video to demonstrate how the Eyelighter works:

Reflective fabric, four curved rods, two tension knobs, one support spine and two straight tension rods and a carrying case are included in the kit, which runs about $300. Yes, it’s a little pricey, but the results we’ve seen make it a worthy investment.

www.fjwestcott.com