In the portrait photography world, there is a very popular type of equipment, it is the ring light.
Its usage is very simple: place the light directly in front of the subject, and place the camera in the center of the light circle to shoot. The resulting photos tend to be evenly exposed and have few shadows, a favorite among photographers.
In addition, the ring light can also create a specially shaped ring-shaped catch light – which will undoubtedly make the eyes more attractive, especially when taking portraits and close-ups of faces.
However, the usefulness of ring lights doesn’t stop there. These lights of special size and shape have many “other uses” than ordinary photography lights – although they may not be what they were designed for, they are just as good.
1. As a “normal” main light source
The ring light can certainly be placed directly in front of the subject to provide “even and dead-end” lighting, but it can also be placed in other locations and used as a “normal” camera light – and it works well.
Because of its “hollow”, you have to put it a little further away, crank up the brightness, and tilt the panel towards the subject.
You can also occlude the light body with other objects to control the area it illuminates, or to add shadow effects.
The special structure of the ring light makes it a “self-contained softbox” light source. Maybe it requires you to adjust more parameters (brightness, position, angle, etc.) when using it, but its lighting effect is better than “normal” photography lights.
2. As a fill light source
In addition to acting as a “normal” main light, the ring light can also be used as a fill light source, mixed with other studio lights such as photography lights, flashes, etc.
The ring light is used as a fill light source, and the fill light effect is also very good.
Compared to a “normal” fill light source, the fill light effect of a ring light will be softer – similar to the effect of a normal light source loaded with a large softbox.
It is worth mentioning that the power of the ring light is often not as good as that of the flash, and you need to adjust the power of the flash.
In addition, when you need to change the color temperature of the fill light, the ring lights tend to be relatively weak – ordinary color filters cannot meet the huge ring lights, and there are fewer ring lights with their own color temperature adjustment function.
3. As a prop
Most LED ring lights don’t get hot when powered on, and you can use them as portrait photography props to make your photos more lively and interesting.
Let your model play with the ring light and take some fun photos. In this way, not only can you get a few special photos, but also help to liven up the atmosphere, reduce the tension of the model during the shooting, and be more helpful for the next shooting.
Ring lights of different sizes also have different props to play, develop your brains~
4. As a composition tool
When the ring light is working, it is a bright ring. It has high attention and is not ugly, and can be used as “material” for framed composition:
You can also place it behind the model to create a circular halo. Trust me, the resulting photos will be eye-catching and fun.
