Women are often faced with the challenge of finding the perfect way to light their hair. It’s one of those things that can be tricky because it so heavily relies on your face shape, skin tone, and personal preference. We’ll give you some tips for using a hair light in photography and share some examples of different styles that will work best for various people.
The first step is deciding what type of light you want to use- natural or artificial. Natural lighting is always more flattering because it allows your features to stay true to form without being altered by harsh lights or shadows. However, artificial lighting does come with its own set of pros.
Adding a hair light do to your shot
Have you ever wondered how many of your favorite celebrities get that perfect light to shine through their locks? Well, the secret is out. Hair lights are a photographer’s best friend for capturing beautiful images of people with longer hair. It can be used in place of using an on-camera flash or off-camera flash for flattering portraits. I often ask my clients where they should position the hair light in relation to themselves so that it doesn’t look too artificial and unnatural in photos. To answer this question, you have two options:
- You can use a handheld hair light or
- You can attach one to a light stand and position it about 30 degrees from your left side, facing the bulb.
The best way to use a hair light in photography is to position the light so that it’s hitting your subject at an angle. This will create more volume and dimension, which can make faces look slimmer or highlight facial features like cheekbones.
Best practices include using a diffuser or reflector with the hair light if you’re photographing indoors, as this will help prevent hard shadows on your subjects face. The other thing to avoid is positioning the light too close; this could cause hot spots (bright areas) on your subject’s face or body.
Hair light in portrait photography
A hair light is a type of artificial light used in photography to create shiny, healthy-looking hair. It can be used alone or with other lights and make your subject’s features stand out more than they would with only natural lighting. The key to using a hair light is positioning it correctly to not cast any shadows on the face and does not look unnatural. If you’re new to using a hair light, we recommend starting with one light source, such as an LED panel positioned above and behind the model’s head at 45 degrees relative to their face (approximately).
Photography is an art form that can be tricky to master. But, if you know how to work with light, it will help elevate your photos from good to great. One of the easiest ways to do this is by using a hair light in photography. This tutorial will give you all the information you need about what a hair light does and how best to use one for your next shoot!