Recent Lighting Articles
An Entry-Level Light for Anyone Starting Out: A Review of the Nanlite FS-60B
If you are a beginner photographer, filmmaker, or content creator in the process of learning about and investing on lighting, quality should be alongside affordability and ease of use. The Nanlite FS-60B might be something worth considering.
How to Use Gels and Hard Light in the Studio
How to Light a Portrait Using a Single Speedlight
Portrait lighting can sometimes take complex multi-light setups, but you would be surprised at what you can accomplish with just a single light — even only a speedlight. In fact, you can even create professional images with one, and it is a great place from which to start as a beginner to artificial light. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to use a single speedlight to create compelling portrait images.
How to Improve Your Sports Action Photography
When it comes to sports portraits and action photography, employing a bit of artificial light can make a huge difference by giving you the ability to shape the look of the frame and add a lot of drama to the image. If you are ready to get started working with artificial light in your sports action portraiture, check out this excellent video tutorial that will give you a range of helpful tips and advice sure to put you on the right track.
Should You Buy the Godox AD200 Pocket Flash? We Review
The Godox AD200 has been around for a few years now, and in 2019, Godox released the "Pro" version of the AD200. Is this small, lightweight, powerful flash the right choice for you in 2023? Why do so many photographers think so highly of this pocket flash?
Why Professionals Use These Lighting Modifiers
Lighting modifiers aren’t quite as expensive as they used to be. However, some of the quality and flexibility has gotten lost along the way.
How to Add Realistic Light Using Lightroom’s Intelligent Presets
3 Portrait Lighting Setups Using 2 Lights
Tutorials on using a 1-light setup for portrait photography are commonplace, and rightly so. There are several ways that a single light source can be positioned to create flattering lighting on a subject. You might think that switching to a 2-light setup would be twice as complicated. This isn’t the case. There are several 2-light arrangements that are easy to understand and quick to set up. Using 2 lights can make it easy for you to transition between a clean headshot and a dramatic portrait.
Innovative Design Meets Quality Performance: Fstoppers Review the Hobolite Avant LED Light
Hobolite has recently entered the market with what could possibly be the most aesthetically pleasing LED lights created by any company within the past decade. In this article, we will be looking at the new Hobolite Avant, a mid-tier 100-watt LED light.
How to Create Beauty Lighting With Speedlights
When it comes to studio lighting, you might think that you need powerful monolights or pack and head systems, but you can accomplish quite a bit with speedlights. This great video tutorial will show you how to do just that using affordable and easy-to-use speedlights.
A Beginner's Guide to Working With Flash
Working with flash intimidates a lot of photographers, but it is well worth taking the time to learn it, as it will make you a vastly more versatile photographer and enable new creative opportunities that simply would not be possible with only natural light. This excellent video tutorial will help you learn the basics of flash through examples and have you up and running in no time.
A Simple and Effective One-light Portrait Photography Setup
A lot of portrait photographers are scared of working with artificial lighting, but it is a skill that is well worth learning, as it will make you a more capable and versatile photographer and better enable you to realize all your creative visions (and those of your clients). If you are new to working with flash, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you a simple and highly effective one-light portrait photography setup.
7 Hidden Features and Tips for Editing Landscape Photos in Lightroom
Though we normally think of Photoshop as the place for complex edits, in recent iterations, Lightroom has become a tremendously capable and surprisingly intricate program. As such, there are some features and capabilities you might not be aware of. This excellent video tutorial will show you seven such features and tips and how to use them to make your landscape photo edits more efficient and improve your overall image quality.
Simple Outdoor Lighting Setups for Filmmaking
Hone Complex Studio Lighting Through This Simple Exercise
Photography is quite literally painting with light. As such, it’s important for a photographer to be able to see and shape light.
Who Else Struggles to Understand Studio Lighting? This Will Help You
As a landscape and seascape photographer who also shoots surfing, I'm not too embarrassed to say that my understanding of indoor lighting setups is not where I want it to be. This video here is extremely helpful, especially if you'd love to get those gorgeously mysterious rim light shots.
10 Simple Portrait Lighting Setups for You to Try
There are myriad ways you can light your subject in portraiture, and whether you're jaded by your go-to setup, or overwhelmed as to where to start, this video can help you add some more styles to your arsenal.
How to Pose and Light a Group Portrait With Just One Speedlight
Lighting a group of people can be particularly tricky for new photographers, but it does not have to be, nor does it take a lot of expensive gear. In fact, it can be done with just a speedlight and a bit of know-how. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced photographer showing you how to pose and light a group portrait using just a single speedlight.
How to Create a Professional Portrait With Very Affordable Equipment
You can spend a lot of money on lights and modifiers for portrait photography, and while there are certainly reasons why professionals invest in expensive equipment, you can absolutely create professional-level portraits with the most affordable gear — even a shoot-through umbrella and speedlight. This fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know.
Futuristic Portrait Photography Lighting Using a Secret Ingredient
Miguel Quiles is a studio portrait photographer specializing in creating beautifully lit portraits with lots of emotion. In this video, he walks through the setup and settings for this sci-fi-inspired image.
Creating Beauty Portraits With Hard Light
When you think of portraiture, you might think of large, diffused light. However, there are lots of applications of hard light in portraiture, with beauty being just one genre. In this video, watch as Lindsay Adler creates stunning portraits with harsh lighting.
LED Versus Flash: Which Is Best for Photographers?
There has been a lot of advancement in lighting technology for LED lights for photography recently, but are they the way to go? Check out this video for a comparison of the pros and cons of each.
The Proper Camera Settings for Working With Strobes
Learning flash can be a scary thing, but it does not have to be. Once you understand how flash works, it will unlock a multitude of creative opportunities that simply would not be possible when working with only natural light. This great video tutorial will show you one of the most important skills you will need: how to properly set your camera when working with strobes.
Outdoors Indoors: Simulating Summer Sun
No sun? No problem! Fake natural light in the studio.
How to Create a Professional Portrait Using Just One Speedlight
As a portrait photographer, learning how to work with artificial light will enable far more creative exploration and free you from needing to rely on certain times of day, locations, and conditions. The best place to start is with a single light. This great video tutorial will show you the ins and outs of working with a single speedlight and how to use it to create a professional-level portrait.
We Review the Elinchrom FIVE Monolight
Elinchrom has long been known for their amazing lights and modifiers. But does their newest release, the Elinchrom FIVE, live up to the hype?
Learn Complex Studio Lighting with One Simple Exercise
A fundamental lesson in photography is the exposure triangle. Learning about ISO, shutter speed, and aperture is something all photographers should do.
A Guide to Sunset Portrait Photography With a Single Speedlight
Sunset portraits are a timeless look that will always be appreciated by a lot of clients, and adding a bit of artificial light can help both to balance the exposure and to add a bit of creative flair that can really take the image to the next level. If you are new to working with artificial light, check out this great video tutorial that will show you how to combine a speedlight with a sunset to create compelling and eye-catching portraits.
How to Capture Eye-catching Beach Sunset Photos
The beach and a good sunset make for a fantastic combination and a timeless look. There are several ways to approach such a shot, and it takes some careful technique to deal with some often tricky issues, such as large dynamic range. This helpful video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer sharing a range of helpful advice on when and how to take the photo along with how to post-process it for the best results.
How to Use a Fresnel Light for Portrait Photography
Though it fell out of use for a while, the Fresnel lens has regained popularity for portraiture work, where it can provide a sharp and impactful light quality that is still flattering on the subject's facial features. If you have not used a Fresnel before and want to learn how to employ one to create compelling portraits, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know.
Affordable Lighting for your Home Studio: We Review the SmallRig RC120B
Constant lighting has dropped dramatically in price, with companies like SmallRig making excellent products — along with accessories — that are refreshingly accessible. How good is the SmallRig RC120B, a bicolor packing a decent amount of power and coming in at just $259?
Learn How These Fantastic Portraits Were Shot With Just One Light
While many professionals employ the use of complex setups consisting of multiple lights, even just a single source can create vivid and compelling images when in the right hands. This excellent video tutorial will take you behind the scenes to show you how a photographer shot a striking series of full-body portraits using just one light.
How to Control the Light on the Backdrop of a Portrait Photo
When it comes to learning lighting, we often focus on how to light the subject in a flattering way, but of course, the backdrop deserves attention too. It is about more than just getting the exposure on the background right, however. With a bit of know-how, you can drastically alter the appearance of the background just by how you place your subject and source relative to it. This great video tutorial will show you how to adjust your lighting to take full control of the appearance of your backdrop.
How to Handle Harsh Light in Wedding Photography
One of the challenges of wedding photography is that you are on a tight timeline, and if conditions are not flattering or conducive to portraiture, you have no choice but to power through them and still create the best images you can. So, what can you do when the big day presents with harsh, hard light? This excellent video tutorial features an experienced wedding photographer showing you how she handles harsh light to still create flattering, memorable images.
An Effective, Professional One-Light Portrait Photography Setup
If you look at the work of top photographers, you might be fooled into thinking that the only way to create professional images is through the use of complex setups with several lights. However, you might be pleased and surprised to discover that you can create compelling portraits with just a single light, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know.
The Camera Settings To Keep in Mind When Capturing Crisp Movement in Studio
Here are some helpful tips on camera settings that you should use to capture crisp movement in the studio. I made a detailed video, but here is a breakdown of the settings you need to understand to keep your images sharp.
A Beginner's Guide to Softbox Shapes and Sizes
Along with the umbrella, the softbox is one of the most affordable, versatile, and important light modifiers. Thus, every photographer who is learning to work with artificial light should spend some working with softboxes and learning how to use them to their full potential. This fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about them, including shape, size, rendering, and more.
Using a Mood Board for Fashion Shoots
In this video, Lindsay Adler walks through her pre-planning, shooting, and post-processing of a themed photo shoot and explains from start to finish how to recreate this image.
Two Straightforward One-light Portrait Setups
When it comes to creating compelling, professional-level portraits, it can be easy to think that you need a complex, multi-light setup in order to get worthwhile results. And while two or three lights can certainly give you more versatility, you can absolutely create compelling results with just one light. This excellent video tutorial will show you two effective and straightforward one-light setups for portraits.
5 Great Available Lighting Portrait Scenarios
While every portrait photographer should learn how to work with artificial light, available light is still a fantastic tool for a lot of applications and can be the better choice in a range of situations. Available light can be more versatile than you might suspect, and this excellent video tutorial five different scenarios that make for fantastic portraits.
Lighting Ideas to Improve Your Creative Space
Lighting is everything to photographers, but how much thought have you put into the place where you work? Whether you shoot in that space, record videos and vlogs, or just are in there a lot, you can use your professional lighting to improve the space.
Steal This Dramatic One-Light Studio Lighting Setup for Food Photography
I am going to walk you through how these dramatic food shots were created using only one flash and simple light shapers to imitate light coming through a window frame.
Create an Effective Rim Light With One Light
When starting out with off-camera flash, especially in portraiture, we don't always have access to a lot of high-tech or expensive strobes and modifiers. Here's a simple setup that will help you create stunning low-key rim lit images with very little equipment required.
3 Subtle and Natural Off-Camera Flash Portrait Techniques
Photographers who are new to working with artificial light often think that strobes always look distinctly different from natural light. And while it is true that you can shoot creative, highly stylized images that would not be possible with just sunlight, you can use strobes to emulate natural light to make subtle, natural looks. This excellent video tutorial will show you three off-camera flash lighting techniques that will allow you to create effective and compelling portraits.
3 Creative and Effective One-light Portrait Photography Setups
When it comes to portrait photography, you might think that you need complex multi-light setups in order to create professional images, and while these certainly have their place, you might be surprised by how much you can accomplish with just a single light. This excellent video tutorial will show you three creative and effective one-light setups for portrait photography.
Why Mistakes Are Such an Important Part of the Photography Process
When you are new to photography, it can feel like professionals know exactly what they want and how to achieve it, but that is how social media can be quite misleading. The truth is that professionals make mistakes all the time; in fact, they embrace them. This excellent video tutorial will take you behind the scenes of a photographer's portrait lighting process and show you how mistakes can lead you to a great final image.
Proof That Almost Anywhere Can Be a Photo Studio
Of course, it would all be great if every portrait photographer could afford their own studio, but that simply is not feasible for most of us. That being said, you would be surprised how little space you need to make creative, compelling, and professional portraits. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to light and shoot portraits in a small hallway.
How to Add Contrast When Shooting Portraits on a White Background
The clean, white background portrait style is a classic look that will always be in demand for a wide range of clients and applications. However, it takes a bit of lighting savvy to create a pure white background while retaining crisp contrast and defining shadows on your subject. If you are wondering how to achieve that, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know.
Portrait Photographer Gives His Best 5 Tips for Improving Your Portrait Photography
Do you think you know how to take good portrait photos? Here, a highly credentialed professional portrait photographer gives his top five tips for improving portrait images. How many of them do you use?