by Christien Methot | July 2020
As a lighting designer for over 30 years, I have come to appreciate the intangible qualities of light. It is always the most powerful unseen force in any space. What I know for sure is this: what light touches it effects dramatically. Lighting is important.
Think of your colleague on a video call.
We are all working from home now and for the foreseeable future. Lighting now, more than ever, is important to everyone who has an online visual presence. Video conference calls, one on one collaborative meetings or creating content on YouTube all require visibility to communicate feeling. If you want to be heard and really understood you need to be seen clearly.
In the right light you are more professional, more credible, and if the set up is just right you may even look a few years younger.
It is not often in life that we are given so much control of our physical appearance, why waste it. If you were at the office huddled around the water cooler you would have heavy daylight hitting you from one side and some sort of glary fluorescent from overhead making green shadows under your eyes.
Now you are the director of your environment. If you take care of how you look, it really makes a difference.
News casters know the value of lighting and have their favorite lighting designers to make them look great. Same is true for film stars and rock stars.
It used to be that you needed a truck full of heavy, expensive extremely hot lights to make it happen. All that has changed as LEDs continue to shrink and become more effective. We can have lights on our desk within a few feet of our screen that highlight our best features.
There are some basic options to put yourself in the best light. You can face your window and have daylight shining evenly on your face. Adjust your existing room lighting to balance the amount of light on your face and in the space behind you. Or you can invest in a set of portable lights that work in any space at any time of day.
When we began our shelter in place, my wife, who is a personal trainer, needed a lighting solution. When she moved from in person demos to a small screen the need for a clear visual became very important for communication. She came to me for the solution. CameraReady lighting was born of a need and answers a call.
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