Fun Freetime: Ring Lights and Photography

 My husband does a lot of photography - sports and portrait photography. While I don't know nearly as much about photography as he does, one thing I do know is this - proper lighting is key to getting a great shot, whether it's a formal portrait or something that makes more artistic use of lighting.

One type of light that seems to be growing in popularity is a ring light. A ring light is a little different from a standard flash in that it comes in the shape of a ring (I know, surprising, right?). By having a circle, it can take advantage of the mathematical fact that all points are equidistant from the circle (I'm a math teacher in my day job, and I rarely have the chance to work that in to posts). This means that lighting can be evenly dispersed around a specific point, and can work to eliminate shadows. 

Ring lights are also often designed specifically for close-up portrait shots, and may have softer lighting than ambient light or lights that aren't designed for photography, providing the best lighting coloring for portraits.

Ring lighting can help macro shots as well, with an even light over the whole object being photographed. Even staged or still life photographs can have a nice professional look to them with proper lighting, and ring lighting adds a distinct look to shots.

One ring light that's a good value is the TONOR ring light available on Amazon. It's a 12-inch ring light that can be used for selfies or portraits, and has a Bluetooth remote shutter and a tripod stand, making it suitable for many different purposes.

(On a side note, one of my co-workers uses a ring light not for photography, but for his remote teaching set-up. It helps avoid odd shadows from other parts of the room and, quite honestly, does make him look better and more professional while he's teaching than many of the rest of us.)

The product is also available on the TONOR website, where you can register it to get a warranty.

Ring lights like the TONOR light are especially fun for photographers who are interested in trying out different modes - there are 10 different brightness settings and three different modes (cold, warm, natural) to provide different looks to your photographs.

Have you tried ring lights before? What do you think?