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• Beginner Photography
Photography Lighting Setups Explained: A • Landscape Photography

Beginner’s Guide • Wildlife Photography

• Portraiture
BY NICHOLAS HESS | 9 COMMENTS
PUBLISHED ON MAY 18, 2023 • Post-Processing
• Advanced Tutorials

Light is everything in photography. It might be a cliché, but without light, there

would be no image! Sometimes, you’re dependent on natural light; other times, Photography Life
you’ll have more control. In this article, I’ll explain a variety of lighting setups –
from modifying natural light, to adding your own lights to a scene. UNFILTERED
Regardless of your subject or composition, the way that light casts upon your
subject can make or break an image. Some genres of photography, like
landscape photography, are usually at the mercy of the environment to yield
good light. Other photographers – like studio, product, and portrait
photographers – must become familiar with modifying the light. It’s simply
unavoidable.

Even as a wildlife photographer, I use a variety of different lighting setups. Any

time that I’m photographing smaller subjects like snakes or frogs (which, for me, Join Our
is all the time) my first thought as a photographer is about light. Natural light can Member Page Today
be manipulated, and artificial light can be cast. Which one suits the photo I’m
taking? Answering that question is the key to taking better photos!
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Table of Contents • Camera Reviews

1. What Is Good Light in Photography? • Lens Reviews

• Other Gear Reviews
2. Modifying Natural Light
• Best Cameras and Lenses
2.1. Diffusers for Natural Light
2.2. Reflectors
PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS
3. Introducing Flashes
3.1. What to Look for in a Flash
3.2. Connecting the Flash to the Camera
3.3. Dual Flash
3.4. Constant Lights? PHOTOGRAPHY LANDSCAPE
4. Example Artificial Lighting Setups BASICS PHOTOGRAPHY
4.1. Firing the Flash Through a Diffuser
4.2. Firing the Flash at an Umbrella / Reflector
4.3. Combining Diffusers and Reflectors
5. Other Lighting Modifiers
5.1. Gels WILDLIFE MACRO
5.2. Snoot PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY

5.3. Other Lighting Modifiers

6. Conclusion

What Is Good Light in Photography? COMPOSITION & BLACK & WHITE

CREATIVITY PHOTOGRAPHY
The best lighting in photography depends on the photo. There is no one size fits
all. Sometimes soft light (gentle shadows and highlights) is desired, sometimes
harsher light is preferred. Sometimes natural light is perfect, sometimes you
need to take control into your own hands. Either way, I strongly believe that you
should make this decision intentionally. Figure out what suits the subject. Don’t NIGHT SKY PORTRAIT
PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY
just use the same lighting setup every time, unless you want all your photos to
look similar.

In terms of specific lighting setups, I’ll be diving into those one-by-one below.
Note that the size of the subject plays a role in the specific equipment you STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
should take along. For example, a small 1-foot diffuser may be fine for macro PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEOS

photography, but portrait photographers will want something larger like an

UNIQUE GIFT IDEAS
umbrella diffuser. However, the basic mechanisms outlined below will apply no
matter what your subject is – just use larger or smaller lighting modifiers
depending on the size of your subject.

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DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 160, 1/250, f/11.0

Modifying Natural Light

In many genres of photography, natural light is usually not quite perfect for the
scene you’re photographing. But sometimes it only requires a little bit of
tweaking to look just right. Photographers use diffusers, reflectors, shaders, and
other modifiers to shape natural light. Modifiers like this are usually inexpensive
and portable, and they don’t require batteries, so they’re extremely convenient.

1. Diffusers for Natural Light

When the sun is out, it casts harsh shadows and often causes bright, specular
highlights to appear on your subject. You could move to the shade, but that may
give a gloomier look than what you intended. That’s where diffusers come in.

A diffuser can soften sunlight, but not so strongly that it blocks all of the sun’s
rays. This way, you retain the “daylight” look, while eliminating the harsh shadows
and specular highlights.

Diffusers can take many forms, and the right one depends on the size of your
subject. For portraiture, a larger popup disk is a good way to go. This may require
a stand (or an assistant) to position correctly when taking an image. For smaller
subjects, a translucent white umbrella can soften the light, and you can
potentially hold it yourself while taking the photo.

Example:

For the following photo, the low-angle sun coming from the left was very nice in
color, but it was a bit too harsh on the snake in this photo. So, I diffused the light
by putting an umbrella-shaped diffuser between the sun and my subject! Here’s
the photo:

DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 500, 1/320, f/6.3

And here’s my lighting setup:

You can imitate the setup above any time that you’re taking pictures at sunset,
simply by putting a sufficiently large diffuser between the sun and your subject. I
highly recommend it for portrait photographers.

2. Reflectors
The second main way to manipulate natural light is by reflecting it. A reflector
can fill in the shadows on your subject, simply by bouncing sunlight from a
different angle.

Reflectors work much like a mirror, although they usually have white (or
sometimes metallic) surfaces, so that you’re reflecting slightly softer light onto
your subject than what a mirror would do. Like the diffusers, using a reflector
may require a stand or an assistant to be positioned correctly.

Not only can a reflector light up a shaded region, but they can add a bit of color if
desired. Some reflectors have a slight golden tinge, for example, which is a
popular look among some portrait photographers.

Example:

For the following photo, the sun was behind a thin cloud, so there wasn’t much in
the way of harsh shadows on my subject. However, the snake was still a bit
darker than what I would have liked, with some dark shadows facing my
direction. I placed a reflector to my right, angled it toward the snake, and filled in
the shadows.

E-M1 + OLYMPUS M.9-18mm F4-5.6 @ 9mm, ISO 1250, 1/500, f/11.0

Here’s an illustration of my lighting setup. Very simple this time!

Introducing Flashes
Sometimes you need a flash when the ambient light just won’t cut it. A bare flash
typically casts awful light on its own, especially if it’s on-camera flash. Thankfully,
there is an endless array of flash modifiers to improve the situation!

1. What to Look for in a Flash

Your camera may have an on-camera flash, but for better control, you need to
invest in a separate flash head as a photographer. There are many options to
consider.

First, make sure that you have a way to control the flash through the camera
automatically using TTL (through the lens) mode, as well as manually. Most
advanced flash heads will have both of these features. Typically, I use manual
flash for my own photography. But the TTL option is very useful for some genres
of photography, such as fast-moving event photography.

The other consideration is that you should be able to fire the flash off-camera.
There are a variety of ways to accomplish this, ranging from a cable to a radio
trigger. For studio and portrait photography, a radio trigger is helpful so that your
flash can be placed far away from the camera, and you don’t need to worry about
cables between them.

I recommend a Godox TT685N II as a good flash for beginners. This flash has
TTL, a quick refresh rate, and remote triggering options (so long as you also get
a flash trigger like this one). More advanced flash photography may require more
complex flashes, but this is everything you need to get started.

NIKON Z 6 + NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 S @ 35mm, ISO 160, 1/50, f/6.3 © Libor Vaicenbacher

2. Connecting the Flash to the Camera

The flash can be used either mounted directly onto the camera using the
hotshoe, or used off camera. Sometimes it is convenient and preferable to shoot
with the flash mounted to the camera, but you’ll open up a lot of room for
creativity by using the flash externally.

If you’re on a tight budget, you can find cheap fully-manual flashes on eBay and
then connect them to your camera via a simple flash cable. The total cost can
easily stay under $50. But using a wireless trigger is definitely more convenient if
you’re shooting a more complex scene.

In any case, I absolutely recommend taking the flash off the camera to play with
shadows and allow complete control of the lighting.

3. Dual Flash
You can fire two flashes at once to add even more dimension to your artificial
light. For example, positioning one flash directly toward your subject, and one for
backlighting, can create a dramatic, outlined look. There are many variations to
explore.

There is a common misconception that slapping on an additional flash will

eliminate shadows and equate to soft light, but really this is not the case. You still
need to soften the flashes with a diffuser or reflector, or you’ll just be shining two
harsh flashes at your subject instead of one! It might eliminate shadows, but
you’ll still get harsh reflections and catchlights on your subject.

50mm, ISO 200, 1/20, f/4.0 © Nasim Mansurov

4. Constant Lights?
I highly discourage the use of any constant artificial light source for still
photography. The idea is attractive to beginner photographers because it seems
easier to get the settings right and plan out what the shot will look like.

The major downside of any constant light is that they are usually nowhere near
bright enough, and they don’t freeze motion like a flash does. They may be good
for video, but usually not for still photography!

Example Artificial Lighting Setups

1. Firing the Flash Through a Diffuser
Diffusers eliminate the harsh shadows and highlights that a naked flash casts.
Diffusers for flash work similarly to those for natural light, although some are built
to conveniently attach in front of the flash. My diffuser is the most important light
modifier for my photography! Simply adding a diffuser on top of a flash can do
wonders.

There are some simple principles that should be followed when using a diffuser
in combination with flash. You can read about them in much more depth in my
all-about-diffusers article. But in short, the larger your diffuser is – and the closer
it is to your subject – the softer the light will be. I prefer the diffuser to be several
times the size of my subject.

Example:

For macro photography, I often shoot with on-camera flash combined with a
large, circular diffuser wrapped around my camera lens. This gives exceptionally
soft light that you can hardly recognize as artificial! It’s what I used for this photo:

DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 400, 1/250, f/4.0

And here’s an illustration of my very simple flash/diffuser lighting setup for the
photo above:

Firing the Flash at an Umbrella / Reflector

No surprise, reflectors can also be used in flash photography! A simple yet
effective method is to shoot a flash straight into an umbrella, which is pointed at
your subject. This disperses the light and makes it nice and soft.

You can also use makeshift reflectors such as walls, ceilings, and any outdoor
structures like buildings or large boulders. If you don’t have a diffuser with you,
this is the best way to soften the light from your flash. Note that you’ll need to
bump up the flash power based on how reflective your reflector is!

Example:

For the following photo, I loved the subject, but the sunlight on this lizard was too
harsh. I couldn’t remedy the problem simply by putting a diffuser above the
subject and relying on natural light, because then the lizard would have been too
dark compared to the landscape in the background! Instead, I fired an on-camera
flash upward toward a reflector held above the subject.

DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.9-18mm F4-5.6 @ 13mm, ISO 160, 1/250, f/5.6

Here’s an illustration of my lighting setup for the above photo:

This is also a great setup for indoor event photography, so long as the ceiling is
white and relatively low. You can point your on-camera flash upwards at the
ceiling, and it acts like a huge reflector! It leads to much better light than what
you’d normally get with on-camera flash.

3. Combining Diffusers and Reflectors

To take full control of the light, you can use diffusers and reflectors together. For
example, you can fire a flash through a diffuser onto your subject, while placing a
diffuser below the subject to fill in the rest of the shadows. There is limitless
room for creativity available here!

Example:

For the photo below, I wanted soft light on the snake, but it was difficult because
the snake was in some deep shadows. My solution was to put my flash off-
camera and shine it through a diffuser, while holding a reflector under the snake
to brighten up the shadows beneath its body. Here’s the photo:

DC-G9 @ ISO 160, 1/100, f/1.0

And here’s the lighting setup that I used:

This is definitely a more complex lighting setup and works best in a studio
environment, where you have full control over the light and subject. But it’s also
possible outdoors, especially if you have an assistant helping!

Other Lighting Modifiers

The setups that I’ve discussed so far are the most common and important ways
to modify light in photography. However, there are several other ways to get
creative with lighting equipment.

1. Gels
Gels are colored films that can be placed in front of a light source (usually a
flash) to alter the color of the light. You can get very creative using gels to make
surreal-looking images in any color you like.