Today I´m going to show you how to get the best lighting for webcasting:

Great looking videos and professional results.

Without braking the bank or ANY sort of previous knowledge.

Let´s dive right in.

How To Look Good On a Webcam?

First things first, there are a few things you have to consider before your next webcam video.

Although lighting is really important there are some steps you have to take before you start your video recording.

Here´s what to do:

1. Get rid of any other light source. If you are going to use any of the light setups I´m going to mention is better to have some control over your lighting, and a way to do just that is to get rid of other light sources that affect your shot. Close the window curtains and turn off ambient light if necessary.
2. Keep your face 2 to 3 feet away. Webcam (usually) have wide angle lenses, therefore, sitting too close to the lens will accentuate your nose and forehead as well as any other feature that is close to the lens. If you are 2 to 3 feet away everything will look more symmetrical.
3. Clear your background. In order to keep your viewer focused on YOU create a simple background. Clear things out, get rid of or order the messiness. Make your background as simple and minimalist as possible.

Now that you know how to look good with any webcam let´s talk about lighting.

1. Ring Lights

Probably the number one option for many video makers out there.

Why?

Well, ring lights are (usually) pretty cheap yet they offer a great look to your videos by lighting up things symmetrically, especially on your face.

They come in a variety of options but the ones that I would suggest you focus on are:

• Selfie Ring Light. You can search them by typing that exact name and you´ll get a similar result to the ones that I´ve used in the past. They are great because they can clip on your laptop, have adjustable brightness features, and are rechargeable. Plus they are compatible with pretty much any type of computer. You can get one for less than $15.
• Mini Ring Light. Another option you can check out is the mini ring light. The main difference they have with the previous one is that they are bigger, therefore they offer a bigger and brighter light source, as well as more control over your look as they usually have different color tones too.

Any of those are great and really cheap products you can get started with and improve your videos without much else.

Now, if you want to make your footage look even better without breaking the bank I have a few more options, so keep reading.

2. Light Clamps

Super cheap yet surprisingly effective.

Great lamps you can use pretty much anywhere as they´ll have enough force to easily hang from wherever you can clamp them on.

One of the good things these type of lamps have is that they are (usually) made from aluminum, which is a reflective metal that will help to better project light, giving it a brighter look.

Plus, if you take the time to find the right ones, you can get the right model as they come in different sizes.

For example, my current backlight setup is two clamp lights I got from Home Depot.

I wanted something unexpensive but yet powerful enough to light up my background as well as my self if needed.

So, if you don´t want (or can) spend too much money these are a great optino you can trust will make your videos look much more professional.

PRO TIP! You can use a diffuse paper if you need to soften the light in order to get that beautiful glow many videos have. More on that later.

3. LED Lighting Panel

Another great affordable option you can try are LED panels.

They make really practical lights and you´ll get to choose from a variety of options.

It also comes with a dimmable capabilities, which means you can make the light brighter and softer, you can place it pretty much anywhere you want, and (in some cases) even come with colored diffusers.

The best feature is possibly the ability to control light brightness and be able to choose how strong you want it to be.

Picture this.

You´ll get to choose exactly where to place your LED light and adjust its brightness depending on how do you want your video to look.

Which is great if you don´t have available options near you where to place your lights.

You can easily paly around with it, use it as a hair light, a back light, something that complements your shots in any way you want.

4. Proper Use Of Natural Light

There are a few things you MUST know about natural light in order to get the most out of your environment and shoot your videos.

For example, the time of day you record your videos is huge, as well as how you place both your camera and yourself.

So, what can you do to make sure you nail natural lighting every single time?

Here´s how:

1. The Golden Hour. These are the hours of the day where the sun gives a great golden color for your shots and makes a perfect natural light source due to the fact it´s not as bright or low as other times of the day, it´s pretty much perfect. The golden hour is actually what most photographers use for their professional looking shots.

1. Light Direction. Another important aspect of lighting a scene or a person is the direction. From where the light is coming from matters as much as brightness, the light source, or any other factor. A 45-degree angle makes the perfect shot, it doesn´t create too much shadow but still gets the perfect glow for the face.
2. Diffuse Light. One more thing you should be aware of is light softness. By using a light diffuser that lowers the brightness of your light source you get that glowy and enhancing effect most professional videos have. You can use a blank sheet or a diffuse paper and get that softness by spending just a few bucks.

Reflectors

One great tool that can help to get the most out of natural light are reflectors.

They are cheap, easy to use, and will not add any sort of additional cost no matter how much you use them.

If you combine their use with a good source of natural light you´ll get a great looking video for a really small investment.

Plus, you don´t have to learn how to use them, they are a simple way to maximize natural sunlight by reflecting the light that enters the room and directing it wherever you want.

5. The Mini Softbox

Last but not least, probably the ONLY option that would actually cost you a bit more…

…or maybe not.

If you are going to use your webcam to shoot a video then you won´t need super expensive lighting set up as if you´d be recording with a DSLR.

There are more affordable options that can get similar results.

As I´ve mentioned earlier, webcams have a wide angle lens and usually pick up more from your background than you´d like.

But.

The amount of light that enters the lens is not really that much, and because you can´t control its aperture, you can light up your face and darken your background if you want your audience to focus on YOU.

That is where a mini softbox comes in.

Simply put, the mini softbox is pretty similar to the one you are already familiar with, the only difference being that is very small (yet really effective).

It has the same diffuser properties but on a smaller scale.

You can use it with any type of light you want and get that soft light on your face to make your highlights and shadows pop.

In fact.

You can even build your own for cheap and still get that professional looking lighting setup most vloggers and video creators rely upon.

Related Questions

What is the best lighting to record with a Logitech c920? Due to the fact that this webcam has a glass lens, the auto focus feature, 3.67 mm of focal length, and it can record at 1080p 30 fps, which is good average quality, you can pretty much get away with (almost) any type of lighting set up. That bein said, the more light you can bring on to your face the better, this camera doesn´t work well in low-light conditions. A ring light would be a good idea in order to focus on brightening your face more than anything else.

How look good on webcam? As I´ve already mentioned there are a few steps you have to take in order to look good on webcam. Read that first part if you need to.