If you want to take your photos to next level, It’s important to know how you should use the lighting sources.
I believe you are looking for some tips about lighting in photography, in that case, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, I’m going to give you 5 simple, but important tips for improving your images by using external lighting.
Let’s get started.
the first of our photography lighting tips for beginners:
Table of Contents
1. Take the Flash Away From the Camera
First things first:
“Never aligned the external lights with your camera.”
Whenever you’re using an external light, even if it’s a flash, get it away from your camera. Don’t put it on top of your camera via the hot shoe. Don’t put it just behind your camera, or just above your camera, or just below your camera via a lighting stand. Keep it on the right or the left, significantly above or below.
You will see, if your camera and flash will be perfectly (or even closely) aligned with one another, your photos will be extremely flat. Photos that generally look terrible. So instead of putting the external light near your camera, mount it on a light stand. And move it away.
Now, there are plenty of places you can put a light that will work and I will explain many of those in this article. But the first step is to get that light disconnected from your camera.
2. Making the much softer light
Lets read the second of photography lighting tips for beginners. Naturally external lights are designed to be very harsh. They give you a burst of directional, bright light, and sure, it’ll do a lot to illuminate your subject. But what it won’t do is make your subject look good.
In fact, the harsh light of a flash will make your subject look pretty bad unless you do something about it.
You can do a lot of things for making a softer light, but the best option is light modifiers.
Modifiers go between the light and your subject (they usually attach directly to the flash) and soften the light. The particular degree of softness depends on the modifier, but good modifiers will make your photos seem like they’ve been lit by diffused window light.
A great way for beginners to get started is with translucent white umbrellas. These attach to your setup via a flash mount, and they do a lot to soften the light. The main drawback when using umbrellas is that the light spills everywhere. So if you’re aiming for a dramatic, spotlit photo, you’ll struggle to get it done with an umbrella. You’ll also need to keep the subject pretty far from the background if you want to capture a low-key shot. Other than that, an umbrella is a great way to go. This is super useful, This is easy to work with, and this is cheap.
If you want a lighting modifier that’s a bit more directional (in that it allows you to guide the light more carefully), then a softbox is a great second option. Generally, softboxes produce light that’s slightly harsher than umbrella light, but not significantly so. If you don’t want to shell out the money for an umbrella or a softbox, the cheapest option is a 5-in-1 reflector. This should include a large diffuser, which you can place over your flash to get similar light to a softbox.
No matter which modifier you choose, you should use at least one of them, because modifiers are amazingly useful, and they’re a huge step in the right direction!
3. Find the right angle for your subject
While there are plenty of lighting setups to try (especially if you have two flashes, or even three) a nice basic setup is the 45-45. You take your flash, and you walk it 45 degrees to the side of your subject. And then you mount it about 45 degrees above your subject, pointed downwards.
This is a classic portrait setup, and it’s where portrait photographers often start out their photoshoots—because the 45-45 produces some nice shadows on one side of your subject, while illuminating the other side beautifully. At the same time, it’s not too dramatic, because it doesn’t produce complete side lighting (for more on dramatic lighting, see the next two sections).
The 45-45 setup is also a good way to work with products (though you may eventually want to increase the side lighting angle), as well as still lifes. In other words, it’s a good starting point for pretty much any type of external light-based photography.
4. Using Backlight
I love the backlighting. This is because it adds so much drama and depth to photos. The backlighting adds a highlight toward the back of the subject, which’s known as a rim light, and it’s the most common reason to include a backlight in your images.
To create a brilliant rim-lit photo of your own, put a flash behind your subject. It’s okay if the flash isn’t positioned directly in the background, it can be off to the side.
Modify the flash however you like, but note that rim lights can look cool with hard light, soft light, even with light modified by a flash gel for interesting colors. So don’t be afraid to experiment.
Then point the flash at your subject. If the flash is directly behind your subject and has a wide enough beam of light, you’ll get a full rim light effect. Whereas a flash off to the right will light the right side of your subject, and a flash off to the left will light the left side of your subject. So if you’re struggling to get the full-rim light effect with one flash, or you want a more pronounced rim light effect, you can always add a second flash on the other side of your subject.
If you’re going for an ultra-dramatic look, a rim light may be all you need. But if you want to just use the rim light as an added touch, then I’d recommend putting a light in front of your subject (perhaps in a 45-45 position).
This will keep the front of your subject well lit, but won’t overpower the effects of the rim light.
If you don’t have a second light, by the way, you can always use a reflector in front of your subject. This will bounce some of the light from your rim-lighting gear back into the shot.
5. Use Sidelight to Add Depth
Sidelights are dramatic. Sidelight illuminates one side of your subject but shrouds the other side in shadow and while the illuminated side of your subject looks nice and bright, the shadowy side will appear dark, moody, and (potentially) intimidating.
To create sidelight, all you have to do is place an external light off to the side of your subject. If you like, you can raise it up high (to 45 degrees), but you don’t have to, and it’s a good idea to experiment with different looks and see what you prefer.
Note that if you find that the opposite side of your subject is too shadowy, you can always add a reflector for some fill light. Now, side lighting isn’t just reserved for moody portraits. Product photographers use it all the time to create darker-style shots. And if you add a second weak light or reflector opposite the first (on the other side of your subject), instead of a moody image, you’ll end up with a sculpted product photo. So make sure you keep sidelighting in your photography arsenal because it’s can give your photos a very professional feel.
photography lighting tips for beginners
Actually there are some other tips other than lighting that you should know to have a good photography. you can read this article about taking better photos , to learn more
for further reading you can read our complete article: Tools for photography