Lighting Guide: 10 Best Tips

Lighting makes all of the difference when it comes to the field of photography. A good image can be ruined by bad lighting - and a bad one can look good if the lighting is on point. That's why whether you're a photographer or a film-maker, it's vital to make sure that you know the basics of professional lighting.

With that in mind, we've pulled together this guide sharing our ten top tips for getting the perfect lighting. Let's jump right on in.

#1: Use diffusion
Diffusion scatters light across a wider surface, illuminating a larger area with a softer light. This can reduce glare and lead to a softer, lighter feel than if you'd shone a spotlight into a subject's face. It also helps to reduce shadows, which is why product photographers often use softboxes.

#2: Texture can be emphasised
Front lighting takes the emphasis away from texture, while lighting from above, below and to the side can help to emphasise it. This is worth remembering for nature photography and product photography in particular.

#3: Consider three-point lighting
Three-point lighting (with a back light, a fill light and a key light) is a versatile for choice for a range of situations and is particularly common in portrait photography to illuminate the subject without adding any unwanted emphasis. It's also the default setup for shooting video.

#4: Watch out for glare
Glare occurs when bright lights shine off reflective surfaces such as glasses, mirrors and windows and back into the lens of the camera. We mentioned this in tip one, so remember you can use a more diffuse lighting setup to deal with glare if it's a problem.

#5: Use natural light
Natural light can't be relied upon, but it's usually the option you should go for if you get a choice. Artificial lighting should be used either to enhance natural lighting or as a last resort. It's a small change that will make a huge difference.

#6: Experiment with different flash settings
Your flash should be used as a last resort, but that doesn't mean that you should never use it. When you do use it, take some time to experiment with the different settings on your camera and to make a call on the best settings to use on any given shoot.

#7: Different setups for different jobs
Portrait photography and product photography are very different. In fact, every different style of photography requires a different style of lighting, and so many different factors go into any shoot that you'll also need to consider everything from the location to the time of day and the angle you're shooting from.

#8: Colours are important
Even white light has a colour, which is why we have to deal with colour temperatures and white-balance control. On top of that, it's not our only choice, and different colours of light can have different impacts on the final composition of the image. At its most basic level, reds produce a warmer effect and blues produce a colder one, but don't be afraid to experiment with different setups.

#9: Shadows add depth
Using your lighting setup to create shadows can add volume and depth to your shoots, even leading to a 3D effect under certain circumstances. You can create shadows by lighting from the side, above or below, an approach often used by portrait photographers.

#10: Talk About it In Your Resume
Consider making the most of your lighting knowledge by talking about it in your resume. Better still, don't just talk about it: show it. Make sure that all of your portfolio shots are well-lit and that they showcase your work in a wide range of different lighting scenarios. If you're struggling to build the perfect resume, don't be afraid to try professional resume tools or to look for advice on CareersBooster.com.

Conclusion
Your approach to lighting makes all of the difference when it comes to the quality of your final photos, which is why it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with the basics of lighting and to experiment with different setups. Once you've taught yourself the basics, the rest comes with time as you practice and refine your approach. Good luck.

Based in London, Kurt Walker has spent the last six years working as a career coach at a cv writing service. A keen writer and freelance photographer, he specialises in working with photographers to develop their resumes and helping them to follow their dreams.

Virginia Hanusik: Into the Quiet and the Light

By Virginia Hanusik

Publisher : Columbia Books on Architecture and the City

2024 | 184 pages

In South Louisiana, where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, water―and the history of controlling it―is omnipresent. Into the Quiet and the Light: Water, Life, and Land Loss in South Louisiana glimpses the vulnerabilities and possibilities of living on the water during an ongoing climate catastrophe and the fallout of the fossil fuel industry―past, present, and future. The book sustains our physical, mental, and emotional connections to these landscapes through a collection of photographs by Virginia Hanusik. Framing the architecture and infrastructure of South Louisiana with both distance and intimacy, introspection and expansiveness, this work engages new memories, microhistories, anecdotes, and insights from scholars, artists, activists, and practitioners working in the region. Unfolding alongside and in dialogue with Hanusik’s photographs, these reflections soberly and hopefully populate images of South Louisiana’s built and natural environments, opening up multiple pathways that defy singularity and complicate the disaster-oriented imagery often associated with the region and its people. In staging these meditations on water, life, and land loss, this book invites readers to join both Hanusik and the contributors in reading multiplicity into South Louisiana’s water-ruled landscapes.

With texts from Richie Blink, Imani Jacqueline Brown, Jessica Dandridge, Rebecca Elliott, Michael Esealuka, T. Mayheart Dardar, Billy Fleming, Andy Horowitz, Arthur Johnson, Louis Michot, Nini Nguyen, Kate Orff, Jessi Parfait, Amy Stelly, Jonathan Tate, Aaron Turner, and John Verdin.

Rawsht Twana: Twana’s Box

By Rawsht Twana

Publisher : Fraglich Publishing

2024 | 252 pages

Twana’s Box' can be described in many ways: a journey through a photographer’s rare archive, documenting the Kurdistan region of Iraq from 1974–1992; a son’s quest to find his lost father, who was murdered by a military regime; a young man’s way to piece together the fragments of a scattered family in a scattered culture; the becoming of a photographer who, through the stories of others, starts to understand his own identity in times of war. 'Twana’s Box' is not only the photo book that holds a selection of Twana Abdullah’s archive; it is a unique insight into a time and place in a region that has since completely transformed. Rawsht has spent years piecing together his father’s negatives and stories. His archival work inspired him to become a photographer himself, working for Metrography – the first independent Iraqi photo agency – before immigrating to Europe. ills colour & bw, 21 x 27 cm, hb, Kurdish/Arabic/English

Akinbode Akinbiyi: Being, Seeing, Wandering

By Akinbode Akinbiyi

Publisher : Spector Books

2024 | 252 pages

Taken across Europe and Africa, Akinbiyi’s images of everyday city life muse on the sociopolitical labyrinths of urban society

Whether in Bamako, Berlin, London, Lagos or Durban, British photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi (born 1946) creates black-and-white street scenes that function as visual metaphors, ruminating on cultural change, social exclusion and colonialism’s effect on urban planning.

Grace Wales Bonner: Dream in the Rhythm

By Grace Wales Bonner

Publisher : The Museum of Modern Art, New York

2024 | 184 pages

A deeply personal meditation on and around modern Black expression, curated by the acclaimed London-based designer
This volume, Grace Wales Bonner: Dream in the Rhythm―Visions of Sound and Spirit in the MoMA Collection, is an artist’s book created by the acclaimed London-based designer Grace Wales Bonner as “an archive of soulful expression.” Through an extraordinary selection of nearly 80 works from The Museum of Modern Art’s collection and archives, this unique volume draws multisensory connections between pictures and poems, music and performance, hearing and touch, gestures and vibrations, and bodies in motion. Photographs, scores and films by artists such as Dawoud Bey, Mark Bradford, Roy DeCarava, Lee Friedlander, David Hammons, Glenn Ligon, Steve McQueen, Lorna Simpson and Ming Smith, among others, are juxtaposed with signal texts by Black authors spanning the past century, including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, June Jordan, Robin Coste Lewis, Ishmael Reed, Greg Tate, Jean Toomer, Quincy Troupe and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Artist’s Choice: Grace Wales Bonner―Spirit Movers, this resplendent publication is a deeply personal meditation on and around modern Black expression that echoes Wales Bonner’s own vibrant, virtuosic designs.

Lighting Guide: 10 Best Tips

Selected Books