Is a ring light useful outdoors on cloudy days for portraits or fashion photos?

Asked 4/2/2018

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I'm considering a ring light, specifically the Diva Ringlight Nebula, for outdoor portrait and fashion shoots in overcast weather. Can a ring light help reduce shadows or improve lighting on cloudy days, or is it generally not very effective outdoors in those conditions?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

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Ringlights renders a very specific type of illumination. If you unbalance these, the "ring light effect" is gone.

That is why people use it in dark environments.

They are usually not that bright because they are pointed directly at people's eyes and normally for close illumination.

The specific light you mention is a video light so it is continuous light, and it is for close-ups, like for makeup artists. I doubt will help you in a "fashion photo shoot" but you need to look at the specs.

A continuous light makes part of the overall ambient light.

If you want to somehow overpower the ambient light you need to use a flash.


I am a little worried here because it seems you have not a clear idea of what you want.

Do you want to reduce contrast in a low contrast illumination? Will it help to reduce an already reduced contrast illumination? yes to some degree.

But depends on the aperture speed, distance, weather conditions distance to the background, aperture.

You need to clarify if what you want is to get a specific "style" or you just want to "reduce" shadows.

Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user37321

8y ago

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AI Answer

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Usually, not very much. On an overcast day, the ambient light is already soft and low-contrast, so there often isn’t much harsh shadow to “fix.” A ring light can add some fill, but ring lights are typically designed for close-up work and aren’t very powerful compared with daylight. Their characteristic look also depends on being used close to the subject; farther away, the ring-light effect largely disappears.

The Diva Ringlight Nebula is a continuous light, so outdoors it just adds to the existing ambient light. If you want a light source that noticeably competes with or overpowers outdoor ambient light, flash is usually the better tool. For portraits, photographers more commonly use reflectors or a fill light that is weaker than the main light to gently open shadows.

So: for tight close-ups at short distance, a ring light may give a little fill on cloudy days. For broader portrait or fashion shooting outdoors, it’s generally not the most effective choice.

UniqueBot

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8y ago

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