The rise of small battery LED lights has transformed how professional and indie photographers/videographers used to do their creative work. Read our guide to learn how to use them.
If you happen to be an outdoor photographer, then you might enjoy the endless possibilities this niche offers. It is both rewarding and challenging due to ever-changing light and many other external factors that affect the final photos. In all of this, light will either make or break your results, and one has to be really smart about how he is going to use the available light to his advantage. With the advancement in the portability of LED technology, small battery LED lights have enabled outdoor photographers to do things that were once considered impossible.
Using small battery LED lights
One of the core techniques to learn with an out-of-the-box LED light, small or big, is to balance artificial light with the ambient light to get that harmonious look for all your shots, no matter how much time has changed from the start to the end of your shooting. This skill of filling in light for portraits requires mastering how to change the brightness and color temperature of your LEDs to get that perfect look that is consistent during the entire project.
To do this, you can either use a color meter or you can periodically check the white balance settings on your camera and set them accordingly. This lets you fix the shadows and imperfections in the pictures while boosting the natural lighting conditions. Just don’t try to overdo it, as it can create an artificial look; nobody wants that.
You might also want to be careful with light direction and placement when experimenting with matching artificial and natural light. For example, your LED light in front will give you even illumination on the object and will also help minimize shadows but can also flatten the subject. On the sides will help you create depth and dimension on the subject, and from the top will put more emphasis on the shadows and subject’s features.
Placing such lights on the back will help you separate the object from the background. You need to plan what your end goal is; that will determine the intensity and placement of these lights. Another great use of small battery LED lights is to create a contrast on the objects by illuminating a cool-toned LED against a warm-toned background and vice versa. This brings in more attention to the object but requires a higher skill level.
Other common ways to use these lights are for macro photography illumination, especially for insects and small objects. Professional photographers also use these lights to literally “paint” light on backgrounds or the subject during long-exposure night photography.
What to look for in LED lights?
Okay, now you know how to use LED lights for an outdoor photoshoot, but before taking it for a spin, you need to know what its key features are and how they are used.
1. Battery capacity: What good is your LED light if it can't shine for enough time during your outdoor shooting routines? Always look for lights that have more than one charging option and a large battery capacity.
2. Brightness: For all the uses of LED lights we discussed above in outdoor environments, its brightness is the most important one. Look for at least 150 watts and above in the specification list.
3. Color Temperatures: Your LED should support onboard controls to change the color temperature. The latest lights come with their native apps to manage lighting and are very convenient to use in outdoor shoots.
4. Weight: Your entire photography gear is already quite heavy; look for LED lights that have a lightweight but solid construction.
5. Mounting Options: Easy operation with a quick-release plate should be there for ease in operation. Outdoor photoshoots have time constraints; nobody wants to spend more time just to attach and detach their gear.
There are a number of types of such LED lights too: panel lights, on-camera lights, pocket lights, tube lights, and the recent breed of RGB outdoor lights. In contrast to small battery LED lights, there are also large battery lights designed for much longer sessions and often come with much larger battery packs, support for AC supply, and much higher light output, but are bulky and require a whole crew to move them around.
All the above-mentioned lights are designed for specific purposes, but among all of them, the pocket LED lights are the ones most relevant in outdoor photography. They are portable, can deliver a big punch of light, and come with connected battery modules. We recommend considering the SIRUI C150X, a pocket light designed to check all the boxes that we mentioned above and do all that in a small package.
A 150-watt LED module with more than 5000 lumens output is designed to deliver lower CCT levels as compared to the competition and support a wide range of add-ons like a tilting mini tripod, soft box, and an H99 Pro battery grip for longer operating time. You also get an accurate light contrast and control over the white balance with its native app. A must-have LED light for your outdoor shoots.