We’ve been looking to expand our services here at Marketing Latinos, and one of the things that we’ve been doing more of are videos. I think the best way to describe our video service is as a “we bring the studio to you” service.

We’ve shot videos in living rooms, sound studios, rehearsal spaces and so on. From shooting in so many different environments, we’ve been compiling a list of things that can ruin an otherwise perfectly good video.

One of the things that can really ruin the quality of a video is the quality and amount of lighting.

Too much light, and people looked bleached out, too little light and you get what amounts to a talking, barely lit head in the dark. What you need is to find a happy medium.

Here are a few basic tips:

• Whenever possible, use natural lighting. One thing to be mindful of when using natural lighting are harsh shadows on people’s faces from the midday sun.
• It’s always best to use a soft light whenever lighting indoors. Put a diffuser in front of the light source to soften it.
• Be aware of the sources of light in the room. On occasion, there may be a bright lamp that casts a shadow on the subject’s face. Other times, it may not be a light, but rather light coming in through the window that creates the shadow. Pay attention to that.
• People’s faces are unique, so you may need to adjust your lighting from one subject to the next to account for difference’s in the contour of people’s faces.
• Reflective surfaces are everywhere.

These are just some very basic guidelines that may help you light your videos better. As always, feel free to contact us for more specific instruction or if you’re in the Austin Metro area to schedule a shoot.