Using your photography lighting to get the desired effect takes a little bit of skill and lots of knowledge on manipulating your light to get stunning visual effects. With a SIRUI photography light, you can light your subject to get the most out of your shots.
The Main 7 Methods of Lighting
There are 7 main ways to set up your photography lighting to highlight and outline your subject. These include:
- Front Lighting
- Top Lighting
- Base Lighting
- 45-Degree Angle Lighting
- Side Lighting
- Rim Lighting
- Backlighting
A challenge of these 7 methods is that they usually have to be combined to show the best results, and using them in the wrong combination or the wrong degrees can produce an effect you’re not looking for.
However, by leveraging the basics of photography lighting composition, you can get a variety of effects that capture your subject perfectly.
The Basics of Photography Lighting Composition
Basic 1: Ingenious Lighting Can Highlight Metal Textures
Metal surfaces reflect light and other objects in the environment, so getting the right lighting is important to offset this. Full-enclosed or semi-enclosed lighting, like from the SIRUI Dragon Series Bendable RGB Panel Light B25R, is the best option to get the most out of these objects without losing reflectivity by bending around the object to avoid reflections.
Basic 2: Backlighting Shows the Transparent Texture of Glass
Backlighting is when you put the subject between the camera and the light source. Using this method when shooting glass highlights and expresses the transparency and modelling characteristics of the glass.
Basic 3: Use Shadows to Express Heaviness
Shadows help to create depth and heaviness, highlighting and shadowing objects to show their weight and gravitas. Using a light with a wide aperture like the SIRUI A100B Bi-Color Automatic Inflatable Photography Light helps mimic real-life light to create this shadowed effect.
Basic 4: Use Reflection to Enhance the Three-Dimensional Effect
Shooting inside means being within a darker environment. However, using a flash isn’t always the answer because flashing directly on the subject can create unrealistic colors and sharpness. Instead, adjust the white balance and shutter speed to allow light to reflect onto the subject.
Basic 5: Use Soft Light to Retake Pictures
When retaking pictures, ensure that the light is soft and even. Take care to avoid shadows and shaking from the camera.
Basic 6: Build a Simple Still Life Studio
You can use white paper or white fabric to outline your simple home studio. You can then choose a simple solid-colour background, using a single light source to illuminate the subject, such as a desk lamp or a spotlight.
Basic 7: Use Soft Light on Objects with High Reflectivity
Soft lights don’t produce obvious shadows and are diffused to light the subject more gently, such as the Ultra Slim LED Video Panel Light E30B. Objects that are likely to reflect benefit from these soft lights.
Basic 8: Use Hard Light to Highlight Three-Dimensionally
Hard light produces obvious shadows. These shadows can help highlight and contrast with three-dimensional objects to make them pop in the shot.
Getting the Most Out of Your Photography Lighting
Understanding the basics of this and using a high-quality SIRUI photography light will help you use your lighting in the best way to get the right effect from your photoshoots. For more tips and tricks on getting the most out of your photography lighting visit our website.