When you're making videos, lighting is super important. It can really change how your final video looks. Lots of people spend a lot of money on cameras and editing programs but forget how much good lighting can help. Whether you're filming interviews, reviewing products, or making short, creative videos, knowing how to light your scene well can quickly make your videos look professional instead of amateur.
The Dramatic Difference: Video With and Without Proper Lighting
Bad video lighting can make viewers click away due to darkness or unprofessionalism. A face shadowed by poor lighting lacks appeal, while a well-lit subject appears clear, engaging, and trustworthy.
Technically, good video lighting allows lower ISO settings for cleaner footage, captures greater detail, ensures vibrant colors, and controls viewer focus.
Psychologically, professional video lighting signals credibility, as viewers quickly judge video quality. Proper lighting communicates effectively, captivating audiences and enhancing your content's impact. It shows viewers you care about what you're doing.
Practical Video Lighting Equipment for Every Creator
You don't need a Hollywood budget to start with video lighting, but if you' re serious about making content, good equipment is worth the investment. Better tools might cost more at first, but they pay off with much better video quality and work well in different shooting situations.
LED Video Lights: The Modern Creator's Best Friend
LED video lights have changed video lighting because they save energy, don't get too hot, and can be used in many ways. Unlike older lights, LEDs can stay on for hours without getting too hot, which is great for longer videos. Many of them let you change the brightness and color, so you can control the lighting exactly how you want it.
A small, but strong choice is the Harlowe MAX 80W LED Photography Light. It puts out a lot of light and has a 96+ CRI (Color Rendering Index), which is a measure of a light source's ability to accurately reproduce the colors of objects compared to a natural light source such as sunlight. This is important for making skin tones and product colors look right. It's also easy to carry around, which is perfect if you film in different places.
Good LED video lights usually let you dim the light from 0-100%, so you can set it to the exact brightness you need. This is really useful when you're using more than one light or trying to match the artificial light with natural light.
Light Modifiers: Shaping Your Light
Light straight from the source can be too strong, making shadows and reflections that don't look good. That's where light modifiers help:
Softboxes and diffusers spread out and soften the light, making it look better by wrapping around the person or object you're filming. They're especially useful for interviews and videos about beauty.
Barndoors let you control where the light goes, so you can point it exactly where you want it and keep it away from other areas.
Optical light lenses with gobos let you get creative by shining patterns onto the background. Products like the Harlowe Optical Light Lens with Gobo turn a regular LED video light into a tool for making cool designs, able to project clear patterns and shapes. This can make simple backgrounds more interesting or create a certain mood for stories.
If you have a small setup, even a white foam board can work as a reflector. You can put it in the right spot to bounce the main light back into the darker areas, making the lighting look more balanced.
Matching Video Lighting Kits to Your Vision: Selection Guide
Picking the right video lighting kits depends on the kind of videos you're making. Here's how to choose lighting for different types of content:
For Vloggers and YouTubers
If you primarily shoot yourself talking to camera, focus on lights that will create flattering illumination on your face. A principal light at about a 45-degree angle from your face and a fill light to one side to minimize the shadows would be good. Small LED lighting kits, like the MAX 40W, are perfect for this because they are portable and feature adjustable brightness.
If you're working in multiple locations, battery-operated lights allow you to have the light color remain constant wherever you are working. Get LED lights with both AC and battery power input compatibility. Then they're compatible with content creators that are constantly on the move and might be able to work anywhere.
For Product Reviews and Demonstrations
When photographing products, and especially shiny products that may reflect light, good lighting is important to bring out details without too much glare. It is often better to use several lights at a lower power than one very bright light. This enables you to control reflections and emphasize important details.
The Color Rendering Index (CRI) of your LED lights is also very important here. A high CRI (95 and higher) will guarantee that product colors will be rendered accurately to camera. This is especially important if shoppers might buy something based on your video. Quality LED lights will keep red fabrics look red and skin looking natural, instead of orange or green.
For Narrative and Creative Content
If you're telling a story, you'll often need more dramatic lighting. Being able to control the difference between light and shadow is key to setting the mood. That's where special tools like optical lenses with gobos come in handy. They let you create textured backgrounds or copy lighting from the environment, like window blinds or shadows from trees.
Mastering Basic Video Lighting Techniques
Having the right lighting equipment and knowing some basic techniques will help you get professional-looking videos every time.
The Three-Point Lighting Setup: A Timeless Foundation
Three-point lighting is still the go-to setup because it works well, looks good, and is easy to set up.
The key light is your main light. Put it about 45 degrees to the side of your subject and a little above their eyes. This makes natural shadows that give them shape.
The fill light goes on the other side of the key light, but it's not as bright (usually 50-75% as bright). It's there to soften the shadows from the key light. It makes the shadows less harsh but doesn't get rid of them completely, so your subject still has shape.
The backlight (also called a hair light or rim light) goes behind your subject. It separates them from the background, which adds depth to the picture and keeps them from looking like they're just stuck on the background.
You can change this setup to get different looks. If you want more dramatic lighting, make the fill light less bright for darker shadows. For a brighter, more commercial look, make the fill light closer in brightness to the key light. These fundamental adjustments allow for endless creative variations while maintaining the core principles of three-point lighting.
Working With Both Natural and Artificial Video Lighting
A lot of people filming videos use natural light. Instead of trying to block it out, learn how to make it work with your lighting equipment.
If you're using window light as your main light, put your subject at about a 45-degree angle to the window. Use your LED video light with a diffuser as a fill light, and make sure its color matches the daylight (around 5600K). If the window light is too strong, soften it with thin curtains or even a shower curtain clipped to a stand.
Keep in mind that natural light changes during the day. Good LED video lights let you change their color so you can keep your lighting consistent even when the daylight gets cooler or warmer.
Take Your Video Lighting to the Next Level
Good video lighting does more than just make your videos look nicer. It also helps you communicate better with your viewers. If you learn and use these lighting tips, you can make videos that grab people's attention and keep them watching. Start with the simple stuff, try out new ideas, and see how your videos go from looking amateur to professional.
