Oh, the ring light. I used one of those once upon a time. When COVID locked us all in our homes like it was after-school in the 1970s all over again, and there were few webcam options for the burgeoning video chat space, ring lighting seemed like the answer to our prayers, a balm for bad lighting that made us all look like zombies.

But God help you if you wore glasses. With the ring light reflecting off the lenses, you’d end up looking like a possessed background character from WALL-E. Not to mention the lighting was direct and harsh.

Photographers know that indirect light is the way to go. You just need the right light, and a few other free tricks.

bounce that light

If your desk faces a white or brightly painted wall, you can bounce the light directly toward the wall and back at your face. It’ll look far better than shining the light straight at you, which makes your facial features look harsh and craggy. Shadows soften, and the light spreads out to light your face more evenly.

That approach works for one of my desks at home. The other desk sits in front of a wide window. Not only can I not bounce the light off a nonexistent wall, but I have to contend with sunlight shining on me straight through the glass.

For that desk, I use a piece of white, glossy poster board or foam-core board as a temporary wall behind my computer’s webcam, and I bounce the light off that. It works like a charm.

The source of my light is Lume Cube’s Mini LED Panel. At $70, it’s affordable and comes with an adjustable brightness level. I use a suction cup mount to stick it to the back of my laptop, so I can pack everything down for transport and set it up again for my next Zoom in just a few seconds.