

- #Zoom will your next meeting make skin
- #Zoom will your next meeting make pro
- #Zoom will your next meeting make professional
- #Zoom will your next meeting make windows
The camera must expose for the bright window light. During the day the light is much more powerful outdoors than it is indoors. Most webcams are not able to expose properly with large differences between bright and dark. It may look beautiful in real life, but the camera will struggle to create a usable image in this case. Remember the camera sees light differently than the human eye.
#Zoom will your next meeting make windows
One mistake I’m sure you have seen is setting up a call with windows in the background. Make sure the brightest light is used to light your face. Play with this and find the angle that works for you. This will add depth and dimension to your features. One side will be brighter while the other side will be shadowed a bit more. Doing this will allow the light to drape across your face. If you want to step it up a bit and look a little more cinematic try rotating your desk up to a 45º angle. Rotate your desk up to a 45º angle to add depth and dimension.
#Zoom will your next meeting make professional
You will look very professional and great on your call. With your desk set up directly facing the window, the light will be very even across your face. When using natural light through a window you will want to make sure that you set up your desk area so that you are facing the windows, or even better positioned at an angle up to 45º to the window. Shape the Light With a desk facing the window you will have beautiful even light across your face. If the light is still too bright, add another layer of sheer curtains. Simple sheer curtains can take direct, bright sunlight and turn it into a large, soft, and flattering light source. Diffusion allows us to control the light and shape it to meet our needs.
#Zoom will your next meeting make pro
Every pro photographer or cinematographer uses diffusion. In this case, you could add some diffusion to cut and diffuse the light, just like the clouds on an overcast day.

But, most do not have the ability to schedule a virtual meeting based on the position of the sun. You could consider the time of day, and schedule your meeting when the sun is not shining directly through the window. If you are in the northern hemisphere, a North facing window will always have indirect light.īut, even if your window faces the Southern sky, and the sun shines directly through, you are not out of luck.

The result is every blemish on a person’s face will be magnified. In short, if you can see the sun, the light will not be flattering. This means the sun is not shining directly through the window. A large window with indirect sunlight is best. Natural light can be beautiful and is often used by portrait photographers. The sun is the one light source that everyone has access to. Let’s first look at natural light and see how we can use it to our advantage.

This principle of light will come into play when we choose the light source we will use for our meeting. The larger the light source the softer the light. In short, the larger the light source the softer the shadows will be.
#Zoom will your next meeting make skin
Soft light will make your skin look smoother and more pleasing. Hard light will magnify every blemish on your skin. Why is this important? The answer is actually, quite simple. When there are no clouds in the sky, the sunlight is direct and strikes a subject from one direction, creating a very distinct shadow. This is because the sunlight is being diffused by the clouds and causes the light to hit a subject from many points. If the sky is completely overcast, the shadows may be hard to see. Is it cloudy or do you have clear skies? If the sky is clear and the sun is overhead you will see very distinct shadows with well-defined edges. If the shadow line is undefined then it is considered to be soft. If a shadow has a hard crisp line, then it is considered to be hard. The hardness or softness of a light is based on the shadow that is cast by the light source. For most of us, a large soft light will be best. Let’s start our conversation by discussing what is considered good light for a video call. The main factors that we will look at include the environment, the light source, light placement, and the color temperature. These principles will work the same way every time and give you pro results. We are going to talk about lighting principles that apply in the typical virtual meeting. I am often asked, “What is the best light for my Zoom room?” The answer to that question is, “It depends.” It depends on many factors. In the next few minutes, we will take a look at a few important factors of lighting and how they apply to your virtual meeting or Zoom call. Lighting for a virtual meeting or presentation becomes even more important because the human eye and a digital camera do not see light in the same way. The correct lighting can make you appear confident and competent while poor lighting can cause you to appear unprepared or unprofessional. Good lighting is the foundation of good video.
