Lighting Tips for Better Video Calls

We live in a new era, one where video calls have become the norm. So, how do you bring the same level of professionalism to your video calls that you used to bring to the conference room? If you're not sure where to start, these tips should help. (example photos below!)

First let me say that I have a background in photography, so I think about lighting differently than someone would who doesn't have that kind of knowledge. Almost from day one I began obsessing over the lighting and other details of my video call setup with the following parameters guiding me:

• I wanted whatever I did to be pretty affordable. (yes, I could spend a ton of money, but I didn't want to, nor did I feel it necessary to achieve good results)
• I wanted my solutions to be self-contained on my desk. (my desk is in the living room of my home, so I didn't want work spilling over into the living space more than necessary)
• I wanted it to look good - not perfect, but good.

The very first thing you need to understand about video calls is that even though you are using a laptop to perform the function, it is acting as (and essentially is) a camera. And the main thing you should know about cameras is that the more light they have available, the better quality images they can capture or record. So, the first thing you should try to do is just add more light to your office space. Natural light is best - if you can move your desk either in front of a window or near one, that will really add a lot of nice light to your features and help the video camera pick up more detail. Light is key, so add light!

Not all light is created equal though. Light has different color tones (temperatures) to it. There is whiter light, and yellower light, and even greenish light with fluorescents. Other than natural light, try to stick with the whitest or lightest/neutral toned light that you can. Avoid heavy yellow and green (incandescent and fluorescent) if possible. If you are buying new lights, buy LEDs as they often have modes you can change the color tone with, as well as the ability to brighten or dim to the proper level. Think "clean light."

Here is a photo of me early on, using only window light and not having much thought put into the angle of my video camera, or my background:

You also don't want DIRECT light - or light shining directly on you. In the case of natural light from a window, that is fine as long as it's not too strong. But for any type of artificial light that you're using, don't point it directly at your face. You want indirect lighting - so think of bouncing it off of something else onto you as a secondary subject. You can do this a couple of easy ways: pointing the light up at the ceiling and letting it bounce back down; or off a wall; or you can set up "reflectors" nearby that will do this too if no wall or ceiling is available or at the proper angle. A piece of white poster board in the right place will reflect a lot of light. And you also want to think in 45 degree angles in order to avoid harsh shadows. Don't point the light at the wall or ceiling so that it comes directly back at you, lighting half your face and shading the other half - put it a foot or so away and angle it (think of playing billiards and angling your shot) so that it comes back at you somewhat from the front.

I'm no sketch artist, so here is a poorly drawn and not-to-scale diagram of my lighting setup at my desk:

I have two LED lights, one on each side of the desk, each pointed away from me at a white poster board reflector (these are attached to the side of my larger monitor). Then I have a small LED ring light affixed atop the monitor that points a bit down at me and from slightly off to the left (not straight on). All of these allow me to control color temp and brightness levels so that I can dial it in the way I want it. There is a room light up and to my left that is pretty yellow, so I try to use all of these on their whitest settings to compensate for that. I don't have much window light available to me here, so I have to manufacture most of it. The lights I purchased were about $25 each, so this is a less-than-$100 setup.

A few other quick tips:

• Mind what you have in the background, and do what you can to clean up, style, and organize it the way you want it to look. For all intents and purposes, that IS your office for now, so treat it as such. (I ended up rotating my desk slightly, moving a bookshelf over, and rearranging the books, and added a plant - all free and all made it much nicer than it was before)
• If you have a laptop stand that you can use to adjust the angle, use that when you have video calls to elevate the camera to eye level (see below for example). If you don't have one, they are typically about $20 and you could add that in to this package of things to buy and still be right around $100. It might be personal preference, but I think it makes for a nicer experience - looking eye to eye, face to face, like in a real conversation, as opposed to an unnatural angle.
• Turn the camera app, or Zoom, or something on while you change and try things. Watch what difference it makes, then try something else, look at it, try again - until you get it looking good. Keep the camera on and keep an eye on how it looks on there, because that's what the people you're conferencing with will see and only worry about what's on screen.

OK, here's a bit of the progression I went through. First, the laptop down on the desk and with no extra lighting - just room lighting.

In this one the lighting stays the same, but the laptop stand brings the camera up closer to eye level. See the difference?

In this next photo, I turned on the side lights which are reflected indirectly on some poster board.

Getting nicer now. There is more color and texture seen in the sweater and the face is lighter and less shadowy - it's more even from each side. In the last one, below, I turn on the ring light which is my highlight light - it floods the scene with extra light to really reduce shadows and allow the camera to capture extra detail. The front ring light really allows me to control the light tone - things are finally not so orange - and this shows the power you have when you are in control of the lighting, and not just subject to it.

The other thing I like about having this much light (and light directly towards me) is that it really cuts down on the purple reflection in my glasses. This stems from my anti blue light coating and I've had a lot of people talk about my "purple eyes." It's still there, but less so - I think it's important to be able to see someone's eyes in a conversation and you can see mine more clearly now.

I'm not saying this is "studio quality" lighting, or anything amazing. But I'm happy with it and feel that anyone who has to video conference with me will find it pleasing to the eye and hopefully not find any visual distractions while we talk. And it is all self-contained on my desktop, cost less than $100, and works well.

I just know there are a lot of people probably still trying to figure this out, or who are wanting to improve the quality of their video calls. (I still see a ton of people who don't give any consideration to their background, composition, or lighting - don't be that person!) I hope I've shared something that is helpful to you as you continue to strive for just the right level of professionalism with your video calls.

I am not affiliated with this guy at all, but saw his website today and it has a lot of additional good tips as well, so check this out too:

Feel free to share other tips in the comments, or reach out if you have any questions. If I can be of help, I'd be happy to!