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If you’ve ever had the chance to visit a television or movie set, you’ll have noticed the amount of lighting equipment they have. A set designer has taken the time to create the perfect set, and the correct lighting ensures TV audiences can see every single detail of the set and the people on it. You don’t need to invest in the same kit used by the professionals, but you do need to ensure you have a couple of extra lights in your room so that your face and body are well lit. Darkness is unflattering. You’ve spent time thinking about what clothes you’re going to wear and how you’re going to do your hair, so you must use lighting to ensure that viewers can see you in all your glory. Darkness also means dullness, and a dark set can destroy the atmosphere of a video or hurt a viewer’s eyes as they squint at the screen trying to make out what’s going on. Both of these will put the viewer off from subscribing to your channel.

The type of lighting you need depends on how close you will be to the screen. Beauty vloggers tend to do a lot of close-ups, so they need to use just one light source. This tends to be a ring light. A ring light is a hollow circle of light, within which your camera sits. Ring lights project light exactly where you need them: since beauty vloggers tend to be looking at the camera when they’re talking, the light around the camera illuminates their face perfectly. You can always tell when a vlogger has used a ring light as there is a ring reflection in the irises of their eyes. Have a look at your favourite beauty vloggers and see if you can spot it. Established vloggers Vivianna Does Makeup (youtube. com/ viviannadoesmakeup) and Lily Pebbles (youtube.com/WhatIHeartToday) have both made videos where they talk about using a ring light. Lily Pebbles says: ‘One of the main things I like about the ring light is how small and easy to move around it is. As well as being small, the light it gives is very flattering and you get that diva light circle in your eyes (if you want it). I now use this all the time instead of a softbox or another lamp.’

Ring lights can vary in price, but you don’t need top-of-the-range gear at the start of your vlogging career. All you need is a ring light that specifies it’s set to 5500K or 6500K. This means the ring mimics natural light as opposed to giving off a yellowish or beige tinge like a lightbulb or a lamp. Bright white lights are much more flattering than darker yellow bulbs. Look on Amazon or eBay for a good deal and you should be able to get a decent-quality one for less than £100.

If you are going to be some distance away from the camera or moving around, then you’ll need more lighting to illuminate different parts of your set. These lights should be set up in a way known to the filmmaking trade as ‘three -point lighting’. This sounds very technical, but is a fancy way of reminding you to place your lights in a triangular shape around the set. You want a light off to each side and one in front of you. However, the triangle should be angled so the tip is not directly in front of you. Your three lights need to be placed as follows.

First light: In front of you to light your face but slightly to the right side.

Second light: Directly to the left side of you but slightly in front.

Third light: Directly to the right side of you but slightly behind you.

The light in front of you will reflect in your eyes and the light behind you will give depth to the video. The other side light should help to fill in and eliminate shadows.

It’s vital to use the same type of light for each of the three points, e.g. three desk lamps or three specialised photography lights. This is because different gear emits different coloured lights – some are warm, some cool and some fluorescent. You will get some odd effects if you mix warm lighting with cool lighting.

In addition, you might want to consider using a softbox, which is a device used to diffuse light by bouncing it from a light surface (usually white or silver fabric). The diffuse light given from a softbox is very flattering and helps to eliminate shadows.

It doesn’t matter what you use – lamps, softboxes or LED lights – as long as the three lights are the same. Use what’s available in your house or what you can borrow from another vlogger to keep costs down at the start. You can upgrade once money is coming in from advertising and other sources.

If you want to check that you’re applying three-point lighting in the best possible way, you could do a little experiment. Start by filming a short video with no additional lighting. Then film with one of your lights on, two of your lights on and then switch on all three. You should notice the quality of the video is best when all three lights are on and that it’s a big improvement on no lighting at all, even if you’re just using three adjustable desk lamps.