Tips to get the right lighting for your video calls
What's the story
Lighting is a crucial aspect of video calls that can make or break your experience. Proper lighting ensures that you are clearly visible, which is important for professional and personal interactions. It minimizes shadows and highlights your features, making communication more effective. Whether you are working from home or catching up with friends, understanding how to use light effectively can improve the quality of your video calls significantly.
Tip 1
Natural light positioning
Positioning yourself near a window during daylight hours can do wonders for your video call quality.
Natural light is even and soft, reducing the chances of harsh shadows on your face.
Ideally, sit facing the window so the light falls directly on you. This way, you will not have to worry about backlighting issues, where the background is brighter than you.
Tip 2
Using softbox lights
If natural light is not an option due to time or location constraints, softbox lights are an excellent alternative.
These lights mimic natural sunlight and provide even illumination without causing glare or harsh shadows.
Place one or two softbox lights at 45-degree angles from where you are sitting to achieve optimal lighting conditions.
Tip 3
Avoiding overhead lighting
Overhead lighting can create unflattering shadows on your face, making you look tired or older than you are.
To avoid this, turn off any ceiling lights and rely on lamps with adjustable arms or tripods that allow you to direct the light where needed.
This way, you can control the angle and intensity of the light better.
Tip 4
Adjusting brightness settings
Most video conferencing platforms come with built-in brightness and contrast settings that can be adjusted according to your environment.
Tweak these settings until you find the right balance between visibility and comfort.
Not only does this help in optimizing how you appear on screen, but it also helps in reducing eye strain during long calls.
Tip 5
Experimenting with ring lights
Ring lights are becoming increasingly popular for video calls because they provide uniform illumination around the camera lens.
This helps eliminate shadows and highlights your facial features evenly.
They are easily adjustable in terms of brightness and color temperature, giving you the freedom to customize them according to different times of day, and personal preferences.