A ring light is a circular lighting tool that evenly illuminates the subject of a close-up photograph. Ring lights are popular in portrait photography. In addition to overall studio lighting, a professional photographer or videographer may use a ring light to ensure their subject's face is evenly lit with a pleasing, soft light. The Ring light is a simple lighting tool that is commonly used for beauty shots, portraits, and macro photography. It features a number of small bulbs forming a circle or just one circular fluorescent bulb. When used in photography, it creates an attractive catch light on a subject’s eyes. At the same time, it emits even, diffused lighting that helps eliminate shadows. You can position this light in front of the subject, with the camera situated in the middle of the ring. Smaller ring lights can also be mounted on the camera lens for macro photography. What is a ring light used for? Often times photography and videography applications are top uses for a ring light. You can utilize it for portraiture, macro photography and other applications that involve close-up work with only one subject, such as in fashion or food photography. It also serves as an economical lighting tool for indoor filming and vlogging. LED ring lights are made up of warm white bulbs that mimic daylight in an indoor setting and bring out the subject’s natural skin tone. They come in different sizes, sometimes with dimmable lights, and are compatible with any type of camera. You’ll know that a model is facing a ring light by the appearance of circular catch lights (or eye lights) in the subject’s eyes. These spectacular highlights instantly make the portrait more attractive and engaging, as they instantly draw the viewer’s attention to the subject’s eyes. If it’s the only light present, you’ll also notice a shadow “halo” around your subject. For macro photography, these lights offer a slightly more front-focused lighting compared to a lightbox. Simultaneously, it distributes light around a small subject well enough to hide shadows and bring out more detail. You can also use it as your fill light in a studio shoot where you may already have other light sources. This ensures that you have just enough soft lighting to directly brighten your subject for a more three-dimensional look. While ring lights are great for photos, they also make good lighting for videos. If you’ve ever wondered why a particular subject looks noticeably better under constant lighting, they’re probably using a ring light. They’re arguably the best lighting for YouTube videos, especially for vloggers and product reviewers. Virtually every serious makeup artist on YouTube uses one for makeup tutorials. It instantly enhances facial features and helps show the true colors of the skin as well as their products. How to Use A Ring Light   Once your subject is ready, simply place the ring light in front of your camera. Whether you’re using a camera phone or a more professional camera — like the Fujifilm X100V, Leica Q2, or Nikon D780 — make sure you position the lens right in the center of it so you get even lighting on your subject every time. Use a clip or even tripods to hold your camera and ring light in place. Photographers use ring lights for other types of creative lighting setups that don’t necessarily require you to shoot through it. If you’re using constant light, you can easily adjust the power and your distance from the subject. This will get you your desired effect before clicking your shutter. If you’re using a flash ring light, you can do several test shots to determine the changes that you need to make. Think: distance and light strength. Finally, start shooting through your ring light and enjoy perfect, evenly distributed lighting with every shot!