Figuring out lighting is essential for great photography. At least, that’s what I’ve read. Honestly, I’ve never put a lot of thought into why certain photos work and others don’t when it comes to lighting. I remember hiking with one of my best friends and we went to take a selfie on a summit. I kept turning in circles trying to find the best light cast by the setting sun and she just laughed at me and whispered, “Find your light.”

I say this in my head when I’m trying to take photos or I’m in a less than ideal situation.

“Find your light.”

When I got my Fujifilm X-S10, I also purchased a ring light. The ring light is a great tool to have in your lighting arsenal. Recently, I started making videos for Tiktok and realized there’s so much I don’t know about lighting. And sometimes, the quality of what you’re putting out there can make or break your work. So many things are perfectly crafted and curated, we don’t even realize the effort going into what we’re seeing. If you want an example, just scroll Instagram for five minutes. Noticing that my videos could benefit from better lighting, I found a video detailing one woman’s set up for recording https://youtu.be/lpEeYwrkBPU . I did a search for “photography lighting” and thought I would try out some of the techniques mentioned. https://www.theclickcommunity.com/blog/types-photography-lighting/

I went with black and white photos–the highlights and shadows dramatic enough to notice the effect. Don’t mind my wrinkled backdrop. (This was the lighting and backdrop kit I used. Yes, this is an affiliate link. https://amzn.to/3X1pFc2)

Split light (light from the side at a 90 degree angle). I could have used a softer/dimmer light or moved it farther away.

Short light (face at angle and the shadowy side is toward the camera)

Butterfly light (the image on the left is using a ring light and the image on the right is using a soft box, where the light is above and in front) The ring light is a little bright and almost washes out the effect. The soft box gives depth, but is unflattering.

Loop lighting (45 degrees and slightly above eye level). I used a ring light here, but I should have dimmed it or adjusted my camera differently.

Rembrandt lighting. I don’t think I did this right. I don’t know what I’m doing here, but it doesn’t look good. 😀

Artificial backlight (left: ring light with flash, middle: ring light, right: umbrella lighting)

I’m happy with this first try and I look forward to improving my work.