Lighting for Video: Hard and Soft Light

When lighting your video, understanding the difference between hard and soft light can help improve the look of your video dramatically. It is also important to understand how to make light hard vs. soft, and know when to use which. We cover the basics here.

Full disclosure: The Aputure COB lights, Light Dome, and fresnel lens in this video were provided to me free of charge from Aputure. They have not paid me to make this video.

If you’d like to learn how to record and post process your sound, be sure to have a look at my sound for video courses at http://school.learnlightandsound.com 

Visit us at https://learnlightandsound.com for more updates on how to improve your lighting and sound for video. Also be sure to subscribe to get new episodes every week!

Gear used or mentioned in this episode:

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Aputure Light Storm COB 120d LED Light (Key light for the talking head shots)

Amazon: https://geni.us/V0RKH9

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2k9gokp

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Aputure Light Dome Soft Box for COB 120 Lights (to soften the key light for the talking head shot)

Amazon: https://geni.us/AgAm7n

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2jeuFbg

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Aputure Fresnel Lens Add-on

Amazon: https://geni.us/Y5NFTUA

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2jDybi7

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Barn Doors for Cutting the Light

Amazon: https://geni.us/dyOE

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Aputure Light Storm LS1s LED Panel Light (for backdrop)

Amazon: https://geni.us/6hlQgi

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2k9kVDa

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Panasonic GH4 m4/3 Camera

Amazon: https://geni.us/flf5

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2k9edgO

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Olympus 45mm f/1.8 Lens

Amazon: https://geni.us/agqL

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2jJDVEw

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Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens

Amazon: https://geni.us/AwCkIB

B&H: https://bhpho.to/2k9dmg2

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Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Ethics statement: Some of the links above are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or other affiliate links.