lighting

Webcam Lighting Setup

November 7, 2014 by Ray Ortega 16 Comments

One of the best ways to make your webcam video look its best is to make sure you have good lighting. Really, any lighting that you put a little effort and budget into, will do wonders. The key is to get adequate amounts of light in front of your face so the audience can easily see you and the camera will look it’s best.

You can accomplish this with any lights you have in the house, office or wherever you are recording from. Often I just use a nice large window (see below) with plenty of daylight coming in. This looks wonderful but can be hard to control. When the clouds pass in front of the sun, your lighting will change dramatically and while I love the look of natural light, the best way to ensure you have consistent, great looking light is by using lights that you can control.

In the image below you’ll see a more advanced lighting setup that I recently used on my live-streamed podcast, Podcasters’ Roundtable. [Read more…] about Webcam Lighting Setup

CFL Light Bulb Buzz – The Dreaded Hiss (Series)

January 25, 2013 by Ray Ortega 6 Comments

This is part one in a series I’m calling “The Dreaded Hiss” which will feature different sounds commonly found inside a podcaster’s studio that can create background noise (often known as hiss) in your podcast’s audio.

The issue of buzzing compact florescent lights (CFLs) used to be a bigger problem then it is now. However, it’s good to be aware of how the lighting in your studio can affect your audio.

In the example below this post, you’ll hear an exaggerated amount of CLF buzzing. This is caused by having a CFL plugged into a dimmer (don’t do this). At full strength most CLFs no longer put off much, if any, buzz… but they can. More traditional florescent lighting is much more prone to buzzing sounds. [Read more…] about CFL Light Bulb Buzz – The Dreaded Hiss (Series)

Mixing Color Temperatures in Your Video Lighting Setup

May 1, 2012 by Ray Ortega Leave a Comment

When shooting video podcasts, light is probably your most important factor.

Digital video needs light and often times, lots of it. You can help a bad video camera look better with a well lit scene or make your high end video camera look professional by knowing some basics about lighting.

In the video below you’ll see a demonstration of how I’m mixing light. I’m using a large window as my “key” (main) light, a small LED light for a “fill” light and I’m illuminating the background with a simple “can” light (a cheap aluminum tin purchased at any hardware store with a household bulb placed inside).

I’m playing around with mixing color temperatures (Kelvins) as well as using an extreme angle. Experimenting is a great way to find your own “look.” [Read more…] about Mixing Color Temperatures in Your Video Lighting Setup