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How to create 5 cinematic looks with 2 lights in under 3 minutes

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People always go on about 3 point lighting setups. They’re a staple amongst photographers, cinematographers, and even CG work. Or people talk about shooting with just a single light source. The two light combo, on the other hand, is often neglected. Personally, 2 lights is the route I take most often in my own work, for both photos and video.

In this two and a half minute video, Nerris from the A-Team walks us through five different lighting setups. Each uses only a pair of lights. Many of them are quite common in higher end production from commercial advertising to Hollywood cinema.

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5 important things for lighting bald people

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It’s always fun and useful to learn skills, tips and tricks about lighting, and Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter has shared tons of them so far. In his latest video, he shares important things to consider when lighting a bald subject. There are five tricks which will help you light hairless people properly, and since Caleb decided to shave his head, he demonstrates them on himself as the subject.

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4 lighting hacks you need to know to make your fashion photos and videos better

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One of the key conditions for getting amazing shots and telling the story is choosing the proper lighting. In Apurture’s latest video, fashion cinematographer Kazu Okuda and Ted Sim share their best tips on lighting for fashion shots. Although they focus on high fashion videos, most of these tips are also applicable to photography. So no matter if you shoot video or stills, these techniques will help you improve your work.

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Lighting tips: How to give your photos the famous National Geographic style

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National Geographic photos are a synonym for exceptional photography. In this video from Advancing Your Photography channel, you will learn how to achieve this kind of shots. Award-winning photographer Robert (Bob) Holmes teaches you how to master the techniques that will give your photos the National Geographic style. He shares some secrets of recognizing and catching the perfect moment and light, and these can help you make your travel shots NatGeo worthy.

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How to take fitness shots for a magazine cover

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Do you know those classic fitness magazine cover shots? White background, clean and flattering lighting, recognizable poses and really fit and happy-looking subject? In this video, Joe Edelman shares some tips for taking these kinds of fitness shots. He covers everything, from choosing the right model, to preparation, shooting and even choosing the outfits. These shots are not difficult to make if you have the right gear and invest some time into planning the shots.

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Broncolor helps you learn dozens of lighting setups for free

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If you’re new to studio photography, here’s something you could find immensely helpful. Broncolor has a wonderful learning section to help you learn dozens of different lighting setups for all kinds of studio and outdoor shots. Portraits, product photos, sports, still life and more – there are image examples with explanations of all the settings. Even if you’ve been into studio photography for a while, you can get inspired and learn something new. And you can do it all for free.

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3 simple ways to backlight your model and make your portraits pop

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When creating studio portraits, it’s good to make the subject stand out from the background. Most photographers know this, but many still make the mistake and don’t backlight their models properly (or at all). In this short video, photographer Manny Ortiz will show you three easy ways to backlight your model and make it separate from the background using speedlights.

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Creating the Perfect Gelled Background

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At first glance this seems like an easy thing to achieve, how hard can it be to get a great looking gelled background in your shot?

As anybody who has used gels in the past will tell you, there’s certainly a few key things to pay attention to if you want to avoid those flat, washed-out and uneven gelled backgrounds. If instead you want clear, saturated and brightly coloured backgrounds by using gels alone then simply read on.

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See How Lighting Position Affects The Mood and Perception of a Scene

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Lighting is hands-down one of the most important elements in visual production and has the power to single-handedly alter the mood and perception of an entire scene.  On a more macro level, lighting position, more so than diffusion or tone, is probably the most vital aspect to control.  Lighting affects our moods, distorts space and time, and alters our perceptions of what we see, which is why optical illusions can be so baffling to the human mind.

While we have previously published a very helpful portrait lighting cheat sheet, visual creator Nacho Guzman gives us a real-time look at the varied impact of light positioning on the human face in a segment of his music video for Opale.

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