Tips and Tricks for Cinematic Lighting

Lighting is often the difference between a boring scene and an interesting one. In this video, you get to see a full breakdown of the transformation of a scene from flat and common lighting, through to complex and cinematic looking.

While this tutorial by Armando Ferreira is primarily intended for videographers and filmmakers, it's useful advice for anyone with a camera. Now although Ferreira has a lot of higher end lights, a lot of what he's doing can be replicated with cheaper alternatives. I use LEDs for a lot of my work and some of the practical lights I use aren't necessarily intended for photography.

Ferreira's lighting style is one I particularly gravitate towards; a dark, moody overall frame which still uses color effectively. Some of his work wouldn't look out of place in a blockbuster.

Remember, light is light, and don't be put off by some of the expensive equipment he reaches for. Take away the techniques and styles he uses and work out how to create something similar with what you own.

Rob Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

Log in or register to post comments
1 Comment

Great video. These concepts will be super useful even without all the gear.