An affordable lighting kit is an essential accessory for photographers who frequently shoot indoors. While nature controls the major lighting outdoors, once you step foot inside a building, there is limited natural light the sun can provide. Videographers also depend upon lighting kits for video when they can’t depend on natural lighting. Due to this
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Profoto B10: Quality, Reliable Photography Lighting
When it comes to high-quality studio lighting, one name usually pops to the top of the list on a regular basis. Profoto has been producing pro-level studio lights for some time, with the Profoto B10 aimed at those who want a more portable solution, while still providing all the functionality needed for every shooting scenario.
StudioFX 2400 Watt: Affordable Studio Lighting
Anyone venturing into studio lighting or cost-effective light modifiers for the first time can be easily bowled over with all the options available (and the cost). Once you start pricing up a decent set of strobes or Speedlites and softboxes, you can be easily put off, justifying why natural light is the only way to
The Elinchrom D-Lite RX 4/4: Quality, Budget Studio Lighting
Let’s dive in before I come up with some groan-worthy pun about the Elinchrom D-Lite RX 4/4 being a signature model for the early 90s dance group ‘Deee-Lite.’ The RX 4/4 is a self-contained lighting rig with two studio strobes, stands, softboxes, and a transmitter, which truly proves groove is in the heart. When it
5 Best Ring Lights for iPhone
Ring lights are popular for social media and selfies. By shooting up in popularity faster than the selfie stick, the ring light improves the already superior camera of an iPhone. We thought you might benefit from learning about our picks for the best ring lights for your iPhone. Ring lights are not just for beauty
Genaray SP-AD75 SpectroLED-14 LED Light: Alternative Light Power
Ever since tiny LED lights gained enough power and reliability to be used in commercial settings, they have been an option for not just video work, but also stills photography. Constant illumination may seem reserved for video work, but more and more photographers are using constant LED lighting as more predictable light-shaping solutions. This is
Canon Speedlite 580EX II: A Still Worthy Flash
Flash speedlites used to feel like quite the expensive proposition, but with the proliferation of cheap, third-party versions, the variety and range has become ever more accessible. If the latest top-end speedlites still feel very costly, then older models such as the Canon Speedlite 580EX II still have plenty of capabilities. The 580EX II has
5 Best Strobe Lights for Portraits
Lighting is to a photographer what a pen is to an author or a brush to a painter. It opens you up to multiple creative possibilities as you play with everything from shadow effects to glowing patterns. Your success here is determined by the kind of lighting you use, such as continuous lighting, on-camera flashes,
5 Best Monolights
There comes a time in every photographer’s lighting journey when they need to progress from regular flashguns/Speedlights to a monolight. The issues with a flashgun may be about needing more light output or features, which a monolight can provide in droves. Monolights can then be used both in the studio and on-location work, fulfilling all
5 Best Lighting Gels
If you’ve never come across the term lighting gels before, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s some sort of coagulated substance smeared onto a flash in some way. Instead, lighting gels are translucent, colored sheets of material that change the characteristics of a light source. These can be applied to a light source for many
5 Best Lighting Solutions for Portraits
If there is one area of photography that we need to master above others, it’s the lighting. The intricacies of lighting setups and how we control light for a certain scene is out of the scope of this article, but it’s enough to say that without any form of light, we would have completely blacked
5 Best Lightboxes
If you have ever ventured into the world of product photography, then you are most probably already familiar with the usefulness of using a lightbox. For the uninitiated, a lightbox provides even and soft lighting when photographing a product. This even lighting is usually achieved by light sources being positioned at either the sides or
5 Best Light Diffusers
It’s the usual way of things that once you venture into the world of artificial lighting, you’ll soon need a variety of ways to modify the illumination coming from your average flashgun or strobe. These can range from light diffusers which are huge units for the studio or small solutions that fit onto a hot
5 Best Speedlight Softboxes
Light modifiers or in this case, speedlight softboxes, are camera accessories that can easily polarize photographers. Not so much in their application or uses, but rather some buy only what they need, while others acquire them like an obsessive collector. Both avenues of thinking are valid, but why use a speedlight softbox in the first
5 Best Light Tents
Light tents, which are also known as light or bright boxes, can be a very useful solution to provide soft and even lighting. Most commonly light tents are used in product photography where consistent lighting is needed. This is why many people who sell products online use a light tent which can be easily set
5 Best Light Modifiers for Speedlights
Once you’ve started down the path of artificial lighting, you’ll soon realize there is a veritable bottomless pit of accessories available. The usual steps are to purchase a Speedlight or two, then to use simple flash diffusers. If you want to dive further into light modifiers, then the world is your oyster with umbrellas, softboxes,
5 Best Flashes for Macro Photography
Once you dive into the world of macro photography, it soon becomes apparent that quality lighting is needed. If you already own a bunch of flashes and light modifiers, unfortunately, these won’t cover the bases of adequately lighting the smallest of critters. Very small, concentrated areas of light are needed in this realm, which means
10 Best Lighting Umbrellas
Every good photographer knows that light is the most important element of photography. Learning how to use light – to direct and control it – is key to getting incredible, impactful shots. There are different ways in which lighting can be adjusted using light modifiers to produce better photos. While the lights themselves play a
10 Best Light Meters
Every serious photographer knows that light is one of the most critical components of a shot. The available lighting determines your ISO settings, shutter speed, and aperture. When shooting in automatic mode, it’s less crucial for you to pay attention to the lighting as your camera does it for you. When transitioning to manual mode,
5 Best Gray Cards
When you have been shooting for some time, using a gray card becomes a necessity rather than an option. This is especially true when shooting under artificial light, but the first question is why use gray cards in the first place? Our own eyes are very good at adapting to different lighting conditions and we
6 Best Battery-Powered Monolights
If you have been using speedlites in your camera lighting setup for some time, there will come a point where you utter the Captain Kirk-like statement, ‘we need more power!’ Speedlites, or flashguns, are a great solution for most shooting scenarios, but they only have a relatively limited amount of wattage compared to studio lighting.
9 Best Cheap Lights for Photography
Lighting for photography is crucial for taking high-quality photos. Proper lighting can help accentuate the subject of the image with clarity and sharpness. Good lighting for photography lets you bring your creativity to the forefront and create whatever photographic mood your heart desires. There are many photographers’ lighting options available, whether in the studio or
6 Best Studio Strobe Lights
Creating your own lighting during shoots and not relying on natural lighting or your camera flash allows you to take full control of the mood in your photos. Good lighting is crucial for creating the perfect ambiance. There are plenty of ways to do this, be it the strategic angling of a lighting umbrella or
New LINK 800WS Flash Launched by Paul C. Buff
Paul C. Buff Inc., a manufacturer of professional lighting products, has launched the LINK 800WS flash. It is a new portable plug-and-play LED flash unit that currently stands as the company’s most powerful and versatile lighting product ever. Paul C. Buff (PCB) designed the LINK 800WS flash to “link” its past products with the current
8 Best Ring Lights
Ring lights are responsible for many of the great images and videos we see on social media. Have you ever swooned over how perfect your favorite makeup artists look in their tutorials? Or have you been in awe of how amazing the lighting is in the selfies your celebrities upload? Ring lights are affordable lighting
9 Best Softbox Lighting Kits
While indoor photography comes with the advantage of giving you the ability to control lighting in your photos. Softbox lights make your indoor photography turns out even better. Softbox lighting kits soften the light from camera photography to reduce shadow, spread light in a shoot evenly, and minimize the exposure of glare. Even though softbox
Profoto B1 Review: The Best Lighting?
There’s a reason why certain products become extremely popular or almost the standard when it comes to photography gear. One such example is the Profoto B1 portable studio monolight. It’s not the newest model on the market, but since its release in 2013, the B1 has been a consistent performer in both the studio and
9 Best Color Gel Kits for Brilliant Photography
Colored gel kits are an invaluable gift to photographers. Not only can a colored gel add a more defined mood and atmosphere to a plain and dull scene, but it can also give a photographer more opportunity to experiment with their creativity in shooting distinctive colored shots. These are the two types of colored gels
The Profoto D2: Fast, Fantastic Light
Profoto is well respected for its professional range of studio lights and the Profoto D2 is no exception. The Profoto B1 is a well-known unit which brought TTL, hi-power output, and High-Speed Sync as a battery-powered monolight which works great in any studio. Now the Profoto D2 is aimed at being the fastest monolight around
Gary Fong Lightsphere: A Quick and Simple Lighting Solution
The Gary Fong Lightsphere is a compact, light modifier designed to drop on top of your flash unit. The idea is that it will give you a more even spread of light than bare flash. The most common version of this type of light modifier is the Sto-Fen, which looks like a block of white