Why are ring lights so popular?

With the continued rise of social media apps, more people than ever are looking for ways to improve their content. Due to this whole new careers like becoming a Content Creator or Vlogger have become more popular. With this continued growth of popularity, the competition will grow between creators, influencers, and vloggers. In order to compete, individuals will need to improve the quality of their personal photographs and videos. One of the most popular purchases people are making are ring lights. Cheaper than photography lighting, ring lights often arrive with handy tripods that people can easily move and store, and come with all benefits of their expensive predecessors.

What is a Ring Light?

A ring light is a circular light tool often used to enhance ‘selfies’ as well as providing lighting for videos. People often opt to purchase a ring light because the ring shape reflexes in the subject’s eyes. It creates the illusion of brighter eyes as well as enhancing their natural color. Also, ring lights often create flattering highlighted and shadowed areas of an individual’s face and body.

How to Use Ring Lights?

When you are incorporating a ring light into your photography or filming set-up, they are designed to fit around the camera or phone you are taking your picture with or the product you are using to film. You may have different lighting options to input before you can successfully use your ring light. These may control the intensity of the light, the color, or even the temperature of the light (some users prefer warm lighting while others opt for cool, it is all dependant on your personal preference and aesthetic).

Does a Ring Light Make a Difference?

Opting to use a ring light, rather than no additional lighting at all, will make a vast difference to the quality of the photographs and videos that you take. Not only will the images or film be brighter and clearer, but colors and objects will appear crisper and more appealing to the eye. While the original end product will be greatly improved with the addition of a ring light, especially if the image or video was taken in a darker room, but if you need to edit the image or video further, the process will be made easier as the video/photograph is lighter and easier to view.

Why do Vloggers Use Ring Lights?

Many established bloggers and vloggers across various platforms will often use ring lights when capturing their content. In order to grow your audience, the content you are producing has to be the best quality it can be.

Aside from purchasing the best camera or phone that you can with the budget you have, the second best thing is to purchase lighting. This is due to the clearer, brighter and crisper images and videos that can be produced when you are using a ring light. In particular, due to the eye brightening and shadow creating ability of a ring light, they are especially popular with vloggers and creators that produce:

• make-up related content

• videos and photographs that are face-on based.

Online streamers who have small face-cam camera angles in their content also opt to use ring lights. They do not need the more expensive film and photography lighting.

How Far Away Should a Ring Light be?

In order to optimize your ring lights capabilities, you need to place them approximately two feet away from the person/object that you wish to film or photograph.

This will result in a bright and clear photograph or video, where the subject will be neither too bright nor too dark, with a crisp and clear result being produced. Of course, you will need to make the necessary adjustments depending on any awkwardly placed shadows.

Is One Ring Light Enough For a Vlog?

When you have mastered using one ring light, you may wish to further update your set-up by adding additional ring lights. By angling extra ring lights on either side of your original light, the photographs and film you will produce will have more lighting on your side profiles. Purchasing multiple ring lights will also benefit people that only have darker rooms to film and take photographs in. Instead of adding your additional ring lights in front of you, you could place the ring light behind you. This will create the illusion that you are standing out against the background behind you and will add further depth to your photograph or video.

The major reason behind the rise in the popularity of ring lights is mostly due to online content creators. While they are cheaper as well as more compact than their more expensive counterparts do.