Too many people who want to take better pictures make the mistake of focusing on the camera. What about what’s in front of the camera?
No matter what camera you have, if your subject isn’t well-lit, your images simply won’t be good. Also, cameras are expensive, especially ones that have significantly better image quality. For portraits, the difference between a $2,898 A7RII (Amazon) and a $499 Canon SL1 (Amazon) is noticeable, but the difference between those cameras with good lighting is much less, and for many users, it just won’t matter. In other words, if you light well, you can take extremely high quality images with even affordable or beginner DSLRs. In fact, if the lighting is right, one can even take great quality portraits with cell phones. It’s all about the light.
With that in mind, the easiest way to go from good to great quality is to invest in a high-quality light kit. These light kits have different features and advantages, but one thing they all have in common is their ability to improve photographs dramatically. For some, a robust lighting kit can make a huge difference in complex lighting situations with many elements, or for photographers with demanding expectations such as wanting to do less adjustment in post. For others, like vloggers and those with more simple demands, one or two lights, placed well, can make all of the difference. Also, some of these kits include backdrops. It all depends on your needs– but one thing you can be sure of, you can never have too much light.
Here are the top 10 best lighting kits for 2019: