Horizontal catchlight in birds - good, bad or indifferent?

I'm relatively new to bird photography and have come across something unusual (for me at least) which I don't know how to handle.

In some American Kestrel shots I got this morning all the catchlights are horizontal lines extending almost from each margin of the eye, left to right, about 1/3 if the distance down from the top of the eye. They were taken just before sunrise where I was, but behind me the sunlight was hitting the mountains which were very bright. So I assume this unusual catchlight is a reflection of the mtns and that's why it's linear and horizontal and wraps around most of the bird's eye.

Anyway, my question is this: Is this an aesthetic issue in bird shots? If it's a negative, is it common and accepted practice to alter this kind of catchlight in PS? If so, any particular technique anyone might recommend? I have never added or altered a catchlight in the past but might be tempted here if this kind of reflection is considered to be a strong negative.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ron,

This is perfectly normal give the conditions you described. Any time the sun is completely blocked in the sky (clouds, trees, whatever...), the best you can hope for is a catchlight like you described (the bright sky reflected from the top third or half of the eye) -- unless you create an artificial one with a flash. The sun is what creates a normal pinpoint-like catchlight. Sometimes, in hazy or light cloudy skies, you can get both the reflection you describe and a pinpoint catchlight.

I happen to like those soft hemispherical catchlights when they show up properly. Depending on your exposure, you may have to enhance a soft catchlight. This can be done by simply zooming in tightly on the eye, lasso around the eye, feather a little, and brighten appropriately with Levels. Be careful ! It's really easy to overdo this and make it look fake or over processed.

Hope this helps.

Something else comes to mind... Any time you are shooting around water in sunlight, it is possible to get more than one pinpoint catchlight. If the water is smooth, you can get two -- one from the sun above, one from the reflection of the sun from the water. If the water has ripples or waves, you can get even more than two. I once shot a wood duck with fill flash in sunlight that had SEVEN catchlights!!!

OK, I am a little bored this afternoon...

Here are a few different catchlights.

Upper Left -- heavy overcast, mid-day. You can see the sky and trees behind my position reflected in the eye, but notice there's no pinpoint catchlight.

Upper Right -- heavy overcast, mid-day. This time there's also flash. Two pinpoint catchlights, one directly from the flash (above) and one from the flash reflecting off the water (below).

Lower Left -- bright afternoon sun. The main catchlight high in the eye is from the sun, the small lower one is from the sun reflecting off the water below the bird.

Lower Right -- bright afternoon sun. This one has fill flash and two catchlights. One from the sun (upper) and one from the flash (lower).

Extra points for anyone who can identify all four species.

Thanks Bob - the info you provided is EXACTLY what I wanted to know. Sure glad you were bored this afternoon. This is the catchlight I'm dealing with (I probably should have made the image larger). To me, it looks a little different from any of those you posted - more linear. Is it still ok like this?

I won't get many extra points - I think the lower left one is an American Avocet. Not sure of the others.

Anyway, many thanks for your help.

Ron the catchlight you have on the Kestrel looks natural to me, I get catchlights like that when clouds are heavy in the sky (dark), then there is water which is bright, then land which is dark. I've even gotten some on the hawk that allows me close where I can see sky, clouds, trees and myself in the eye

Black necked stilt top left, American Avocet lower left, Willet top right?, some kind of Plover lower right?

Ron, that's an interesting catchlight. I 'think' what's going on is that you have the sky reflected in part of the eye, but the top is shaded by the protruding eyebrow of the kestrel -- thus the linear catchlight. I'd have to see the eye closer up to be sure.

Lia, you got 1 1/2 right.

Bob - Here's a little closer look. It almost looks car shaped and for a second I thought it might be my car reflection, since it was still fairly dark and the car is light silver but the "hood" is pointing the wrong way I think.

It's what I said before. The bottom of this catchlight is the horizon behind your position, the top is partially shaded by the bird's eyebrow feathers.

OK, I guess nobody else wants to play the "identify the bird from its eye" game.

UL -- Bufflehead
UR -- Northern Pintail
LR -- Black-bellied Plover
LL -- American Avocet

Sorry, I missed the test! Would not have got any correct in any event!

You've brought up an interesting topic. I "enhance" catchlights very rarely as most of my attempts look artificial, as Bob has mentioned, and I immediately abort and generally delete the image altogether. I do remove the extra pinpoint catchlight caused by the flash more often than not. My recent post of the Junco is unique in that the fill-flash I set at -3 did not produce any pinpoint tell-tale at all. As I was close enough I did not use the Better Beamer. I prefer, as Bob does, such catchlights in many situations.

I also think the eyebrow of the Kestrel is causing the top dark portion.