And like probably most of you, I suffered from bad lighting and unflattering camera angles at first, but as a filmmaker I knew this wouldn’t fly. I mean right now my entire job is remote directing where I’m on zoom all day. It’s how we connect with friends and for some of us even how we work. It has seven brightness settings and five color modes that Bowman says can more or less “solve pretty much every lighting problem you might have.” (While the product description doesn’t list the CRI of the lamp’s LED bulb, his experience with it suggests that, by fiddling with the brightness and the color modes, you can find a glow that mimics natural light.) Bowman adds that unlike some desk lamps, this one’s head and base are adjustable, “making it highly customizable” and even easier to position at the most flattering angle.Nowadays it feels like we spend our whole life on zoom. “My Zoom background resembled an actual room, and my colleagues could see that I was in fact attending the meeting,” he wrote of how the lamp improved his space’s lighting. Strategist tech writer Jordan Bowman called it a “ makeshift ring light” (another tool that the experts recommend below) that instantly illuminates his otherwise backlit face on Zoom calls from his home office. ![]() If you don’t already have a lamp for your desk, consider this one from TaoTronics that comes with a built-in LED light. These (highly-rated) daylight LED bulbs from Philips, which are comparable to 60-watt light bulbs, have a high enough CRI to do the trick according to the brand, every Philips LED light has a CRI of at least 80. ![]() As Tan explains, “You want your light to have a CRI as high as possible, because the higher it is, the closer it is to natural light.” A CRI that’s as close to 100 is best, as natural light has a CRI rating of 100. When it comes to choosing LED bulbs (and other lighting on this list), both Tan and Dorrien-Smith recommend looking at the products’ CRI, or color-rendering index, which Dorrien-Smith says is basically a measure of color accuracy. Van Winkle agrees: “It’s about getting an even light directly on the face - not from an up angle and not from a down angle.” Tan says this setup will make the light a bit softer, too, and spread it out evenly across your face for a more flattering look. “The light from the lamp will bounce off the wall, creating a larger source” than if the lamp were pointed directly at your face. “If you use LED bulbs, you can point the desk lamp towards the wall in front of you,” says Tan. The first is to try installing LED bulbs in your desk lamp. If you can’t sit close to a window, or there isn’t enough sunlight streaming through it, your best bet is to re-create this scenario, which you can do a couple of ways. “Lighting is everything,” as NBC News producer Hannah Van Winkle reminds us - so what can you do if you never had much natural light in your home office to begin with? Below, Van Winkle, Dorrien-Smith, Tan, and two other experts share the best ways to light a home office - or whatever makeshift spot you’ve cobbled together - when natural light may be lacking. As filmmaker David Tan explains, “The general guiding principle is that, for the most flattering light, you want your light source to be bigger and softer.” Cinematographer Will Dorrien-Smith agrees, noting the best place to sit is facing a window, “so that your whole face is lit, with a simple background with depth behind you.” (Never sit with a window behind you, though, because you don’t want to be backlit.) ![]() To look your best on Zoom, you’ll want to seek out natural light, which, according to the filmmakers, videographers, and television producers we spoke to, is always going to be the best way to illuminate yourself on a video call. ![]() So it’s safe to say that video calls aren’t going anywhere. Even though offices are opening up again, many people will continue to work from home for the foreseeable future.
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