A high-quality video always has a good lighting setup. You don’t need a professional lighting kit to get your videos on-point. A bright window, lamps and ceiling lights, are all you need to make your videos look like it was shot by a professional. However, the key is to get your angles right. Your lighting must be placed in the right spots to eliminate shadows and enhance your facial features. Here’s how you can play around with your lighting setup and shine bright like a YouTuber.
The classic 3-point lighting setup is a great way to start. All you need is a key light, fill light, back light and diffuser if necessary. This is one of the easiest and most common lighting setups YouTubers use.
1. Make the key light your focus
Place your camera in front of you and angle your key light source 45 degrees from the camera. Your key light should be your brightest lighting source.
2. Don’t miss out on fill lights
If you’ve placed the key light on your left side, place the fill light on your right side. The fill light covers the spaces the key light cannot reach and eliminates shadows. You can even stand next to a window and make this your fill light.
3. Make your back lights aesthetically pleasing
Finally, place a light behind you to clearly separate you from the background. It creates depth and makes your video look less flat. You can use beautiful china lanterns, led light strips and even spray paint your light bulbs with colourful effects and place them in your backdrop.
4. Make your own diffuser to eliminate shadows and glaring lights
If you’re squinting and have bright light pouring in all around you, cover your camera lights or even windows with a diffuser. Diffused lighting gives your videos a softer undertone and makes you look more natural. Rather than buying traditional diffusing sheets, you can make your own diffusion sheets from cheap grease-proof paper that are essentially made for ovens.
5. Shoot outdoors when possible
If you’re shooting outside, the best timing to get natural sunlight in your videos is early mornings before 10 AM and late afternoons after 3 PM. If you’re shooting in between these hours, the sun will be directly over you and can affect your videos.
As you can see, lighting is super easy to set up. While setting up your equipment, there are no hard and fast rules to where you should be angling your lights. It’s all about trial and error, so have a blast while you’re at it!
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