The Lighting Handbook

As a photographer, I love playing with new lights that can change the look and feel and my portraits. Admittedly, I've adapted my shoe mount for close-ups, especially with zooms, but I always keep a ringflash at the ready as an able companion for my macro lens. A surefire way to make yourself look unprofessional (and sometimes even a little creepy) is to have poor lighting for your video.

So in this image, we have our classic key and fill light setup. If you don't have the budget to invest in a camera to shoot video, just use your smartphone. Sync to recharge between flashes in case you shoot quickly between images. Streaming light or lens flare can be pretty if that's what you're going for, but often, it ends up washing out your image, taking away the richness in contrast and color.

You do need to know where you are going wrong so that you can learn how to create better lighting systems. First and foremost for this type of brief you want the image to have the impression of being lit by a single light source. Using these ring flashes, you will have a journey in the mystical world of spectacular photography where you can capture every detail in your picture with complete sharpness.

Many people ask about backscatter because we have been taught since 'underwater photography kindergarten' that if your strobes are pointing along the axis of the lens you will get backscatter. Built-in or on-camera flash units illuminate the subject straight-on, resulting in a flat, boring effect.

With strobes, one can dial the intensity of the light down or up in minute increments, and since shutter speed doesn't matter (below a certain threshold - shutters can be too fast” for strobes and that will get discussed more later), aperture can be adjusted to control the look” of the product in concert with moving the lights around the object (close or distant).

I bought a studio kit Best YouTube Ring light for around $110 which included a backdrop frame and white and black screens plus 3 box lights and stands. There is nothing to set and since the strobe is on the end of your port, the light goes where you aim the camera. Angle your lights down at the product and set each to the same power.

Using a wide aperture, the out-of-focus specular highlights have taken on the shape of the 100mm lens diaphragm and become part of the composition. The ring flash clips to the front of the lens and encircles the lens opening, casting a uniform circle of light on the subject.

If you have someone who can assist, have them raise the lights and look through the camera viewfinder until the light is no longer visible in the glasses lens. If you want to blow out your background and create a composite shot in Photoshop, be careful not to move the camera.

As we've talked about in previous discussions on macro photography, one of the main issues with this genre of photography the problem of light fall off. These spectacular highlights instantly make the portrait more attractive and engaging, as they instantly draw the viewer's attention to the subject's eyes.

What they mean by that is that the viewer is presented with the subject without being distracted by the complicated lighting. In the case of ring lights, checking the price of its replaceable bulbs would be a smart thing to do. Moreover, check the durability and quality of the product and don't just buy a cheap product with inferior quality.