What is a Light Ring and Should You buy One?

By Silly Heather Your Paint Pal

My new favorite toy
My new favorite toy

A lot of you can relate when I say as a small business owner you wear a lot of hats. In a perfect world I would be able to sit back and let my personal photographer shoot products and my artwork me, send my assistant to get my mid day Starbucks and leave the office at a normal hour. But the life of a small business owner is far from perfect or normal.

Me blogging at 1 am
Me blogging at 1 am

Many times when I am inspired to paint, I don’t have a lot of extra time to sit around and wait on a professional to come and shoot my work. But I am always bummed when I try to take a picture and they are grainy, dark, and don’t capture the true beauty of the designs. Admittedly, I am a terrible photographer with no experience, but I have been reading up on ways to improve my picture taking abilities because its so important to my business. A good shot can be worth a thousand words and can be the reason you book a job. So, I am always looking for ways to simplify and improve the tasks that help me elevate my brand and image.

Recently I have been researching lighting rings. Why? Because I have heard great things about how much they can improve your pictures without a huge investment. I watched a couple Youtube videos on using light rings and they seemed relatively easy, and many of the bloggers were taking pictures with their light rings with just a Iphone. So, it seemed like a winning idea to me. I decided to purchase 2 different light rings to see if the price difference made an actual difference.

So here’s my 2 cents on what, why, and should you… get a light ring.

Let’s start with WHAT is a light ring. Basically a light ring in a light in the shape of a circle that is best used to take close up shots of the face. The light brightens he face in all the right places and creates a glowing reflection in the pupils of the eyes. That little trick and effect makes such a  difference in the overall shot. This is a very valuable tool for painters because most of the time we are trying to capture a perfect close  up shot of the face.

Perfect glow in all the right places
Perfect glow in all the right places

 

What and where to buy? 

I have a love hate relationship with Amazon Prime. Sometimes I say to my self how the heck do they do it, but the truth is I love it when I need it. You can literally buy everything anytime of the day on Amazon. So I purchased 2 different light rings to see if there was a big difference between the 2 for the type of photography I was looking to accomplish.

Neewer Ligt ring
Neewer Light ring
Diva Light ring
Diva Light ring

 

I am no where near a professional when it comes to photography. I will be the first to admit I am terrible and know very little about photography other than I want to be able to capture great images of my work. So I am sure there are significant professional differences between the 2 light rings, but side by side using my Iphone I could not tell. The Neewer ring is about $99 and its very easy to use and includes a stand. I had my model stand a foot an half away and took shots with both my Nikon and my Iphone and both turned out great (by my standards). There was no set up or specials tools needed I simply plugged it in and had the model stand there and took pics. The Diva ring was about $100 more and it is a brighter wattage but for simple pictures that I am looking to take its not really justifiable for me.

I took this shot with my Iphone
I took this shot with my Iphone

So if you are looking to up your picture game with little investment and stress  a light ring is a must have. For a $99 investment you can take really great unique shots that will impress your clients and the social media world. I know it always seems like there is something you need to buy, but dont look at it as a purchase look at it as an investment in your business improvement.

I hope this post helps those that felt hopeless like I did to get a great shot. Sometimes if a door doesn’t open you have to build your own. You cant wait to win the lotto to hire Annie Lebowitz to follow you around shooting your life story, sometimes you have to think outside the box and dare to be great!

 

Happy Painting friends

 

xoxox Your Paint Pal – Heather Green

 

 

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