What Lighting Do I Use in Videos/Photos?

This is a recent photo I took from my latest video on Youtube. Reading through the comments, I spotted these!

Thank you for noticing, Berry and Divine! I have never really spoke/blogged about the lighting I use for my videos/photos because more often than not, I don’t use any professional lighting! I rely solely on the settings of my Nikon D5100 (usually at “Hi Key” from the Effects Mode) when filming in low-light areas (or usually at night; and the MOST NATURAL light I could acquire is from the daylight! So usually I sit by the window when I film. The problem with this? Inconsistent brightness.

I own a soft box which I used to use while filming, but with the soft box, it gets SO HOT, so I need to make sure I’m in an air conditioned room, especially when filming a makeup tutorial! I still have my soft box here at home, although I barely use it anymore. There are times when I film on location and I find the soft box difficult to transport, and more importantly, you need to plug it in.

After experiencing these problems with my soft box, I decided to purchase a VIDEO LED LIGHT. I really, truly wanted to get a ring light, but during that time, ring lights were not yet distributed in the Philippines (not until just recently!!!) Ring lights basically let you shoot/film THROUGH a ring of light, eliminating shadows and creating an even distribution of lighting all over your subject. The trademark of the ring light is getting those circular light reflections in the eyes of the subject. I first learned about the ring light through my fave Singaporean blogger, Xia Xue. That was way back! Judy of ItsJudytime also uses a Diva Ring Light—the same thing!

When I visited the shop where I usually get video lighting stuff and accessories quite recently, I found that they already have the RING LIGHT! And so do the other stores nearby! It just so happened that I already bought the Video Led Light, that’s why I couldn’t buy another one. The LED Light cost about 6,000.00 if I’m not mistaken. The ring light I asked about costs 7,500.00 and the other one 9,500.00.

Before my filming day last Saturday, I was itching to buy the ring light but I gave it a good, hard thinking; and ended up giving my LED light another chance. I don’t even remember why I stopped using it! Perhaps I found the light to be too harsh?

It wasn’t until I took these photos and videos that I truly appreciated this LED LIGHT.

This is the exact kit I have, you see the led light right there? You can attach it to a holder (if you have an assistant and/or you are filming on location/moving/achieving certain effects) but as for me, I attach it to the hot shoe of my Nikon D5100. So it looks like this…

It looks like it’s too heavy for the camera, but trust me, it’s safely locked in, and steady too! It’s up to you whether you want the panes opened wide or just concentrated in the center. In my case I have it opened up not too wide, nor too closed.

There are different light mixes you can use with this VIDEO LED LIGHT. You can adjust the strength of the light, the warmth (yellow lighting mixed with fluorescent) and the set even comes with different colors of glass panes that you can insert in your video led light to create different hues that add drama to your photos/videos. I don’t use those colored panes at all. But I might try them soon and make a video for you guys.

Here are unedited, raw photos from my filming sesh last week.

Look how the light beautifully illuminated the center of the subject. The light is perfectly distributed all around. No shadows! Unlike the ring light, you only see a white dot from the reflection of the subject’s eyes.

Here’s another shot. Again, perfect illumination on the subject! This is not edited at all! I must commend the foundation I used in this one, it’s super matte and I love it! :p

I tried moving in and took a close shot. The lighting was beautiful!

Now, for skin shots, I just adjusted the brightness of the LED light to achieve this (see: photo above) Unedited and raw.

All in all, I love the video LED light because:

• it’s easy to transport—it works with an external battery, so no need for plug-ins!
• it has endless lighting settings—mix in white and yellow light, adjust it the way you want!
• it doesn’t get HOT—because this is LED, there’s no way that the device will overheat/emit heat waves to the subject
• it illuminates subjects perfectly, no shadows

You can watch my most recent video here to see what it looks like on video!

I hope you enjoyed this post!

If you want to purchase your own video LED light, come by Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila. Almost all photo centers carry this kind of light.