By now I hope that you understand that photography is all about lighting. So if we want to improve the pictures that we take in our home (or office....or anywhere indoor for that matter) we need to understand a few things about it. Starting with color temperature.

Did you know that lights have different colors to them? Color temperature determines the color or warmth of the light. Some tend to be more yellow/orange/red and some tend to be more blue. Color temperature is measured in terms of Kelvin.

So when we use lights that are of a higher Kelvin, or look more blue, we tend to call those photographs, cooler lighting. And when they have a yellow or orange cast to them, meaning we are using a lower Kelvin light, we call those photographs warmer lighting. 

See the chart below if you got confused there.

Most home lighting tends to be warmer because it provides a sense of comfort, while blue lights are used more in industrial settings because it provides a sense of sterilization and cleanliness.

The light that is coming in from your window in the middle of the day is blue light. 

So here’s the trick. Now that you know there are two kinds of light, you should never mix them. What does that mean? Don’t take pictures with one yellow light next to you and one blue light next to you. It will make you have some pretty funky skin colors or your product will start to look green and discolored. 

Now why is it important to keep your lighting the same and not mix it? Well we talked about how it can make your colors look funky….but the hardest thing is that it’s difficult to fix it later on. Because I always want you to take some time to review your images and edit them before you throw them up on your website or social media to represent your professional business. 

If you have all the lighting the same, it’s easy to edit them, because you can just use universal editing, which means editing that effects the entire image, rather than having to do selective editing, which means edited different parts of your picture in different ways. That’s way too much work and you don’t have the time to meticulous correct all of your pictures after the fact when you could have solved the problem by just turning off one hallway light.

You can only know what lighting is best in your home if you practice. As a business owner, look for examples of lighting that you like. Test it out. 

And while we are under stay at home order, or for any time really, I am here to help you. Learn more about my new DIY Stay At Home Branding Session. You will get guidance all about posing, wardrobe, and lighting in order to take some amazing brand pictures of yourself. Plus….you don’t have to worry about the editing because I will do all of it for you. 

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