One of the more rewarding types of photography, portraiture is also one of the most popular forms. A good number of peoples pictures end up being little more than snapshots, though.
The best lights for portrait photography are part of what will transform your people pics from snapshots to quality portraits.
Other parts of the of the puzzle of good portraiture include high quality cameras and lenses and how to use them properly. A basic knowledge of exposure techniques and composition rules is also vital in order to get the best photographs.
Is artificial light needed for portrait photography?
Some of the best lights for good portraits can be the Sun or the soft ambient light of a well lit room. But, often times, the natural light isn’t quite good enough for a real, professional quality portrait. So, we augment or replace natural light with some form of artificial light.
Artificial light lets us control the placement of the lights. For certain styles of portraits, lighting ratios are important in order to achieve the desired results.
Light ratios are made by varying how much light from each source or direction is falling on the subject. Either distance or power can be varied in order to accomplish this.
Some other things artificial light allows us to do is to make certain lighting effects, like a catch light for the eyes, a hair light, or a light for the background.
One of the other things that artificial light lets us do is keep us focused on the subject and not worrying about varying conditions affecting the exposure settings.
So, if you’re wanting to create portrait photos that a client will pay for and rave about to other potential clients, then you want to be able to control lighting somehow. Even using sunlight often requires use of reflectors and indirect light.
If you aren’t trying to sell your skills as a portrait photographer, but only wanting to make good images of your friends and family, then you would still benefit from a decent light kit.
If you want to make portraits that cause others to say, “Wow! You made me look great!” then you need to be able to control light as well as exposure and focus.
How to setup a studio/room for portrait photography
Virtually any room in your home or office can be converted to a full time or part time portrait studio if you have enough space. More is involved in making good images than just equipment. Good technique and knowledge of how to use the equipment is also vital. So, what is needed?
1. Lighting arrangement. Enough room to move the lights around for the basic portrait lighting techniques is a good idea. Butterfly lighting has the lights in different positions than Rembrandt lighting, for instance. There are nice basic guides for the standard lighting techniques.
2. A good background. Some of the biggest issues with snapshots as opposed to good portrait has to do with backgrounds. A distracting background can be downright annoying in a portrait. Taking control of the background thus becomes important.
Also, with a backdrop, we can change how it looks by adding light, even colored light, to it.
3. A portrait lens. A pleasing perspective in a head and shoulders portrait is easy to accomplish with a slightly longer than normal focal length lens. What focal length works best? Well, that depends on what size format your camera is.
A full-frame 35mm camera normal lens is about 50mm, so a short telephoto in the 85mm to 105mm lens could be a great choice. Use your camera’s crop factor to figure out what lens you need.
4. Posing. One of the other more common issues with portraits is how the subject is posed. Hand placement, head angle, which way the body is facing, all of these are important to control to get consistent good results. Many posing guides are available for free or low cost online.
5. Tripod and stool. Since you’ll be working with light placement and subject distance and things like that, it’s beneficial to keep other variables to a minimum. Putting the camera on a tripod and the subject on a stool helps you do that. Besides, having your camera on a tripod generally gives sharper images than handheld.
6. F-stop. The lens aperture controls more than exposure. It also controls depth of focus. Selective focus might make the difference in getting a great portrait instead of a basic picture.
7. Miscellaneous accessories. Color gels for lights, lens filters for soft focus or other effects, reflectors for even more light control, and even a smoke machine, all of these can become part of a great portrait, if used correctly.
Top 5 Best Lights for Portrait Photography! + Reviews
1. Neewer 2.6M x 3M/8.5ft x 10ft Umbrella Softbox Kit Review
A full studio in a box is what Neewer gives photographers with this kit. Basically everything you need except the camera stuff and a posing stool.
The continuous light makes it easy to set lighting ratios for the various lighting techniques and makes exposure calculation simple. Daylight balanced CFL bulbs emit a good amount of light to work with. This kit has four lights and the adjustable stands to put them on.
Two of the lights are in simple socket mounts, each of which has a mounting hole for a photo umbrella. The umbrellas are 33 inch white fabric that can be shot through or used as a reflector.
The other two lights are 24 inch square softboxes. A softbox gives a great looking diffused light for portraits, products, and other types of subjects. Thes softboxes fold up like an umbrella for very quick and easy set up.
Behind the subject goes the background system. An 8 by 10 foot adjustable background mounting system holds the supplied 6 by 9 foot muslin backdrop.
The kit has three different color backdrops, white, black, and a green screen. Greenscreen gives you lots of post processing options to change the background.
These lights can be transported fairly easily in the two soft sided bags, so you can take this studio on the road. It’s a great set up for all sorts of photography. Since it’s continuous light, you can even use it for videography or film movies.
2. LimoStudio 700W Photography Softbox Lighting Kit Review
A pair of lights inside softboxes, this is an extremely portable light kit.
The softboxes are 24 inch square and fold up like an umbrella instead of needing to be assembled each time you set it up. Bulbs are daylight balanced CFL bulbs, offering good light output for minimal power draw. It operates on AC power.
Each light sits on top of its own 86 inch tall adjustable stand. Since the power cord for each lamp is only 6 feet long, that means you will definitely have to use an extension cord.
For a very basic light configuration, these lights are more than adequate. In addition to portraits, these lights can be used for product photography and for videography.
Both lights fit into a soft bag for transport or storage. Hard to go wrong with a simple, basic light kit.
3. Fancierstudio Lighting Kit 2400 Watt Lighting Kit Review
A boom mounted hairlight makes this one of the more versatile light kits for portraiture. The boom lets you position the 3rd light of this three light kit overhead of the subject. Several of the most used lighting techniques are best accomplished with an overhead light position.
One of the other things an overhead light can be used for is flat art imaging.
Each of the three lamps in this kit have four sockets for the CFL continuous light bulbs. Of all of the kits in our list the best lights for portrait photography, this kit might emit the most light intensity. Twelve CFL daylight balanced bulbs throws off a lot of light.
You can also vary the light output by using the dual switches on each lamp. Turn on all four bulbs or just two. This lets you adjust lighting ratios without requiring moving the light position.
Two of the lights are in a 16 by 24 inch softbox and one is in a 16 inch square softbox. The square softbox is a good fit for the boom arm, since it’s a little bit lighter than the larger softboxes. A sandbag fits on the other end of the boom for balance.
There are many ways to use an overhead boom light for portraits and other types of photography.
Everything in this kit fits into a soft bag for transporting or storage.
4. Linco Lincostore Photo Video Studio Light Kit Review
A lighter weight version of a complete photo studio in a box.
Four lights are included in the kit. Two are paired up with 32 inch photographic umbrellas, and the other two with 24 inch square softboxes. These softboxes are also umbrella folding type softboxes, so they’re not all that hard to set up when assembling the kit onsite.
Daylight balanced CFL bulbs provide the continuous light output for the four AC powered lamps. Bulbs are included.
It has a background system and three different color backdrops, white, black, and green. Everything fits into two soft bags. Since it is a lightweight kit, it is quite simple to transport it anywhere you need to be.
Each of the four stands adjusts to a maximum height of 75 inches, making this one of the best lower cost portrait or product lighting kits available.
5. Neewer Ring Light Kit: 18″/48cm 55W Review
A ring light is usually chosen for close up or macrophotography, but a large diameter ring light can be a great light source for beautiful portraits.
This light is 18 inches in diameter and comes with a 61 inch tall adjustable light stand. A bag is included for storage and transport.
One of the reasons for using a ring light is to create a virtually shadowless light for the subject. For certain types of portrait photography, this can be a very flattering look. A camera is positioned inside the opening of the ring.
Thus, the light is falling on the subject from all directions at once. This can provide a very soft light if exposed properly.
An interesting effect can be achieved in portraits by adding a ring light an otherwise complete lighting configuration. Shooting through the ring directly pointing towards the subject, a very interesting and beautiful reflection can be seen in the eyes of your subject.
You can do that with any light, it’s called a catchlight. But doing it with a ring light makes the catch light reflect as a circle in the eye. Once you see it, it will mesmerize you.
Portraits can be virtually perfect when you use the best lights for portrait photography and employ all the techniques and skills you have learned.