Godox KNOWLED MS60R LED Light Review

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

Strobes served us very well for many years, but they were the jack-of-all-trades when it came to lighting. Their thousands of modifiers that could be swapped in and out were certainly very convenient, but they were far from the optimum solution to most lighting problems. We’re now in a fortunate position where LEDs can be shaped into almost any light we want, from tubes to panels and even powerful spots, and although these many shapes of lights are far from the jack-of-all-trades, they are certainly the masters of their one specific job.

*Click to enlarge - The MS60Rs thrive in small spaces, and here I use two to light the subject in a small room for dramatic effect.*

I mention this here as I find it funny how many multi-million-dollar film sets will still use 50-year-old hot-light Fresnel heads. Why? Because for their specific job, they're the best at what they do, and many cinematographers swear by them and insist on them. When commercial fashion photography took hold in the 50s, photographers used those same beautiful lights for their Hollywood-style portraits we know today. They produce a truly stunning light, and in a time before post-production, they were the absolute best tool for the job. But convenience, speed, and cost took hold as it always does, and that is where the strobes we know today gained popularity.

Convenience is King

I get it. Nobody wants third-degree burns, the models fainting on set from heat exhaustion, and a cumbersome light that is only good at one look. But if you need that specific look, that old light is still the best solution to this day.

This is where we see LEDs gaining a foothold in today’s market. Yes, many lights, like the aforementioned panels and tubes, can only produce one look, but they truly excel at it. With the cost of LEDs coming down all the time, many photographers and cinematographers can now afford multiple tools to do specific jobs rather than one head doing a half-decent job at everything.

The LED Coup

I’ve shot with strobes for over 20 years, don’t get me wrong, I love them, but I simply cannot ignore how good some of these new LEDs are. I’ve used the popular LED tubes, and that’s lighting on easy mode! If you cant take a decent shot using some LED tubes, I've got some bad news for you. It’s the same story with some of the big LED panels. I’ve shot with some beautiful ones, and their light is so buttery smooth, I barely need to retouch the shots. So, LEDs are simply no longer the video light your videographer friend uses at weddings. These are very impressive pieces of kit, and with their brightness increasing all the time, they’re now extremely viable tools for us photographers as well as videographers.

KNOWLED

I was recently contacted by Godox, and we discussed what Godox’s new direction is for lighting. After all, most of you reading this are likely photographers, and we mainly know Godox as a flash manufacturer. So what is KNOWLED? Here is what they said…

Godox Flash Series: Our long-standing and widely recognised line, which you’re likely already very familiar with.
Godox Litemons Series: A lightweight, highly portable LED series aimed at vloggers, creators, and photographers who need a “throw-in-the-bag” lighting solution that's easy to use and always ready.
Godox KNOWLED Series: Our high-end cinematic lighting line, designed for commercial video production, film sets, and broadcast environments—offering more precise control, higher output, and full RGB capabilities.

So yes, Godox is aiming their KNOWLED lineup towards cinematographers, but why should they get all the cool new gear? In reality, this likely means a higher-quality product with tighter quality control. Sure, KNOWLED products will likely have a few additional features that are more dedicated to video shooters, but ultimately, we’ll have access to some very cool and unique products too. And they don’t come any more unique and cool than the MS60R.

Disclaimer: Godox sent me this product for review. They are not paying me for this review and all my opinions are my own.

The MS60R from KNOWLED

This review contains a ton of pictures from me testing this little light, and I’m sure they say everything you need to know about its form factor. Of course, the core of what I want you to understand about this light, is its size and what it’s capable of doing with that tiny size.

The light itself is around the size of a Coke can and doesn't weigh much more, either. But its tiny size is only half the story. The other very impressive aspect of this little light is just how versatile it is. The MS60R is just about the most modular light I've ever used, and when you combine this tiny package with its versatility, you have a very impressive lighting system indeed.

Before we get into the weeds about this light, let me first explain that there are, in fact, four versions of this light. So let’s first establish what they are.

Which S60 is right for you?

The light comes in two core variants: full-colour RGB ones and then the Bi-colour ones that only have access to the Kelvin range. This is pretty easy to understand, and you either need full colour lights or you don’t. Personally, I think if you're not using full RGB LED lights, you’re missing out on 90% of what LEDs can do, but the option for just basic white-light is still there for the normies. From here, we have two more variants, and this is where it gets a little more complicated.

The two colour heads have the ‘R’ at the end of their names and an orange line under that, and the Kelvin lights have the ‘Bi’ at the end of their names with a yellow line underneath.

We then have the two separate groups from which these come. One group has the prefix of ‘MS’ and they have the all black body, and the others have the prefix ‘RS’ with the grey body.

*The MS60R is full RGB (R) and the more comprehensive (MS) model.*

*The RS60R is full RGB (R) and the more stripped back (RS) model.*

*The MS60Bi is Kelvin (Bi) and the more comprehensive (MS) model.*

*The RS60Bi is Kelvin (Bi) and the more stripped back (RS) model.*

What’s the difference?

We know the difference between colour and Bi, but what about the two MS and RS models? What’s the difference? Thankfully, the clever guys over at Essential Photo have compiled a chart detailing the differences, so I’ll include that here.

Link to the full article can be found here

As we can see, there’s actually very little difference between the two models. They both have all the core functionality and features, and the same brightness and light qualities. The main differences are some missing colour modes in the RS, like the Gel Mode and XY Mode. Gel mode is just the ability to select a specific gel number from the LEE and Rosco range, and the XY mode is a specific colour mode. TL;DR You don't need it if you don't know what it is.

To be clear, the RS does not offer fewer colours; there is just some missing functionality when it comes to selecting those colours.

The other core difference is the missing CRMX control from the RS. This is useful if you have 40 lights on set that you're trying to control from a single desk in a lighting booth, but for most photographers, this often isn't needed, and the Godox lighting app offers more than enough control for most.

The Lighting Kits

The little lights are cool on their own, but their true power really shines when we dig into some of their lighting kits. After all, one of the most impressive aspects of these lights is just how modular they are.

I got my hands on the 2-light kit and here’s what was included…

Yup, that’s a lot of stuff!!! And what’s even more impressive is that all this comes in that little hard case that’s not much bigger than a shoebox!

What’s In The Box

2x MS600R Light Bodies
2x Lens Reflectors
2x Mains Power Adapters
4x Rechargeable Batteries
2x Magnetic Kits
2x SZ-L2 Zoom Lenses
1x SP1 Parabolic Softbox
1x SS11 1'x1' Softbox
2x AD-E2 Stand Brackets
2x 20cm USB-C Charging Cables
2x Mains Power Cables
2x E27 Mount Adapters
1x 1 to 40 Power Cable
1x Carry Case

*Here’s what’s included in the 2-light kit. Note: these items are not to scale with one another.*

*Click to enlarge - This is just one of everything! The two light kit unsurprisingly contains double of all this!*

*The MS60R with both a battery attached as well as the lens modifier.*

*As you can see, the MS60R really is very compact!*

Testing the MS60Rs

Specs, charts, and numbers are fine, but what does all that really translate to? Are the lights actually any good? My 2-light kit arrived mere hours before I was set to shoot, but I wanted to test them out ASAP, so here is a look at my first play with the MS60Rs in a minuscule bathroom set.

Featured Model: izunia.motyl

The Setup

TL;DR/ADHD/Artist Setup Explanation

Block out any available light, like daylight
Place the TL30 tube above the mirror
Place one MS60R underneath that and point back to the camera
Place another MS60R behind you and point up at the white ceiling
Consider using a low contrast filter to generate flare from the MS60R pointing at you

Kit Used

Godox MS60R x2
MS60R Lens reflector attachment
MS60R diffusion dome attachment
TL30-K2 LED tube kit
C-stand + boom
1x regular lightstand
Lens filters

Camera Settings

Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - 24-70mm f2.8
Shutter Speed - 1/125th
Aperture - f2.8
ISO - 125
Kelvin - 5500K
Focal Length - ~50mm

Breaking it Down

With all the BTS and even videos on my YouTube ( I covered this setup on-stream last week), there isn't too much that needs to be explained with this setup, but there are a couple of finer details that the diagrams alone may miss.

*I discussed the importance of saturation in LEDs during a* *recent livestream*

The power of Saturation

LED lights, specifically the RGB ones, have a unique selling point that is extremely important to me: they have instant access to millions of colours. As many of you know, I love shooting with a lot of coloured light, and I've built my career on that very premise. But even I, someone who is known for specialising in coloured light, only had around 30 different coloured gels in my possession. Don’t get me wrong, I loved those colours, but they were undiably fairly limited. Full colour RGB LEDS have instant access to millions of colours, and no, I’m not just simply referring to the basic 360 hues that all RGB lights have, I’m also referring to the saturation value of each of those colours too. The saturation value is a hugely slept-on tool by many photographers, and look, I get it, we all want big, beautiful colours, so why not just peg the saturation to 100% the whole time and reap the rewards? Sure, that is totally fine to do, but I think LEDs open up a lot of nuance that we are so easily able to access now, thanks to customisable variables like saturation. With these easily accessible and customisable tools, playing with some truly unique looks has never been easier.

If you take another glance at the BTS shots above, you should notice a couple of shots of my phone on the floor displaying the Godox Lighting app. Here you can see that all of these lights are using custom saturation values, and it’s with this that I’m able to create a more unique and (dare I use the C-word) ‘cinematic’ look.

Flare-Lights

The LED tube is lighting my model here, and one of the MS60Rs is taking care of the fill light, but the other MS60R isn't even pointed at the model. In fact, the second MS60R is pointed directly at the camera, as its job is purely to create that glow or lens flare you see in the shots. With that light pointed at the camera and a low-contrast filter on the lens, I’m able to achieve that more visually engaging light in-camera that simply wouldn't be possible without that second light being pointed at me.

Using the two MS60Rs in a small space…

The Cinematic Portrait

In the images above, I’m using the two MS60Rs to take a cinematic-style portrait. Both lights are behind the model. The one to camera left is set to 10,000K and has the lens reflector and barndoors attached. To camera right, I have another MS60R with the zoom lens on and that is set to 1800K. With both MS60Rs behind the model, she is actually being lit via reflected light, and that comes from a Godox LiteFlow reflector in front of her that is bouncing back the light.

The Sci-Fi Portrait

This setup is almost identical to the setup above. I have both MS60Rs behind the model, but this time, rather than using the Kelvin range, I’m using the RGB mode of the lights—specifically, the HSI mode. I have a cool blue colour on the light behind the camera left, and again, that has the lens reflector modifier attached, along with the barn doors.

The second light behind the model has now moved to almost straight above and behind her, and this is easily done, given just how lightweight these lights are. I don't need a big, heavy boom, and I didn't even need to weigh the stand down. This light is set to a rich red colour and again, has the zoom lens attached. Like before, with no light on the front of the model, I am bouncing back the light from behind her via a LiteFlow reflector in front.

Featured Model: jaye.hicks

*The fact that you can have two lights, plus tons of modifiers and power attachments all in a case not much bigger than a shoebox, is crazy!*

My thoughts on the MS60R

This review has gone on long enough, and it’s getting very image-heavy, so I’ll start to consolidate some of my thoughts..

Size

This light is very compact, and the only downside is a small and tight onboard control system, but this is to be expected given the light's size. I used the Godox Light app to control the lights whenever I was adjusting them, and it always worked flawlessly and I wouldn't hesitate to use these lights via the app again in the future.

Features

This will most likely depend on your personal needs, but essentially, unless you really need the CMRX control, the cheaper RS60R version will serve you very well. Both the MS and RS have tons of colour control, and most importantly, you get access to millions of colours no matter what model you choose. Yes, there are all the flickering candles and police light effects if you need them, but for the most part, you’ll likely only be using the Kelvin and RGB ranges.

Modifiers

I think you’ve gotten the idea by now: This light comes with a lot of modifiers, from softboxes to grids to spot attachments… and I’m only talking about the ones that come in the kit. And even though this kit comes with scores of lighting options, there's still plenty of modifiers available for this light that I’ve not even played with yet. Are they all God-tier modifiers? No. This light is tiny, and as such, it produces light from a very tiny space. This little unit's light will never be super-soft, just because you put a softbox on it. In the livestream cut, you can see me testing the softbox, and although it spreads the light around a little more, and the shadow transitions are a little smoother, this little light is not going to produce big, beautiful soft light…. and that’s okay.

So, although the softbox won’t dramatically change the density of light, I do think this light can produce soft light with the help of its environment. For example, you could plug the E27 adapter into a room's table lamp, and it could become a beautiful soft light off the ceiling. With that in mind, the collapsible diffusion dome (which I didn't get to test) could do a fantastic job of doing this indirectly.

Before we move on, I will just wrap up some of my personal thoughts on the other modifiers in this kit. The little core Lens Reflector attachment is awesome. I’m not sure what black-magic they’ve cooked up with the magnifiers and lenses in that thing, but it’s most likely what I’ll use most of the time. The other incredible modifier is the Zoom Lens. That’s the one that has a big, beautiful piece of glass on the front that you can focus from a wide spread of light to a tight spot. The light that thing produces (remember, it's coming from that tiny COB) is gorgeous. With a buttery smooth shadow transition from light to dark and a very large area in the middle of the clean, non-hot-spotted light, this modifier is an absolute must-have if you own this light.

*The Zoom Lens attachment produces a beautiful light and it’s a must-own modifier in my mind, if you own this little light.*

The other modifiers do what they are supposed to, and the little diffusion dome does a good job of taking the edge off, but the stack of grids didn’t blow me away. One of those grids throws a square on the wall, not a spot. That’s kinda cool and I could see uses for that…. but the barn doors would also work. There’s also this odd tilt-shift grid that puts the spot off to one side. I may be missing something here, but I think I would move the light to where I want it to shine, rather than using a grid to do it. But again, you may as well have it. The other grids are all varying sizes of spots. Again, nice to have, but I could never see myself using those grids over the Zoom Lens. TL;DR: If you have the Zoom Lens and Lens Reflector attachments along with barn doors, that’ll cover most things. But again, they take up no space and weigh next to nothing, so no harm in having them.

One final, important point about the MS60 and RS60 modifiers is that they use a unique mount. Godox themselves state that “The mount is unique to the series and differs from the AD mount, the S30/S60Bi’s mount, or standard Godox mount.”

I don’t have a ton of non-S-fit modifiers myself, but if you're already heavily invested in another line of Godox lights and modifiers, this may well be important to you.

Brightness

This is the big one that all photographers run into at full speed and then come to a dead stop: power. LEDs are nowhere near as bright as flash. If you’re going into these LED reviews looking for comparable powers, you need to spend tens of thousands to get there. As much as I despise the Godox nomenclature of their products, they aren’t hiding anything and as the MS60R suggests, this indeed is a 60w LED light.

Many photographers won't have made it past the title of this review, as that paltry 60w output is seemingly laughable to us photographers. I get it, I was there once myself, and I ignored LEDS for many years for that very reason. But what I was failing to understand was that these watt values are simply not comparable to the watts on our strobes. One core reason for this is how LEDS distribute light. Take large panels, for example. They can be insanely bright up close, but due to their distribution of brightness across a large surface area, that power drops off dramatically as you move only slightly away from them. Little LED lights like this COB light have a skewed power distribution too, as this little LED throws light way down-range, far more than it has any business doing for its 60-watt power.

In the previous section, I spoke about modifiers, and you may have noticed how some modifiers, like the softbox, understandably took a stop of light away from the unit with it attached. This is pretty normal, but with the Lens Reflector attachment, it does the opposite, as this does a remarkable job of channelling the power of this light so that you gain three stops of brightness on whatever you’re aiming it at. To be clear, you may hear others stating that this “increases the power”, but that is defying the laws of physics; all this modifier is doing is focusing that power into a specific point, which is what most photographers want anyway.

So, incase you missed it, this little 60w LED, set back at around 2.5m away, is getting an exposure value of 1/60th, ISO 100 at f8! …F8!

I don’t know about you, but most of my studio portraits aren’t lit from as far back as 2.5m away, either. This is not to be underestimated just because it has the number 60 in the name.

Kelvin… concerns?

It’s worth noting here that the RGB lights, the lights with the ‘R’ at the end of their names, have a broader Kelvin range than the specific Kelvin ‘Bi’ lights. The ‘Bi’ light range is 2800K to 6500K, and the ‘R’ light Kelvin range covers a staggering 1800K all the way up to 10,000K.

One of two things is happening here. Firstly, the full-colour RGB light has additional Kelvin bulbs compared to the ‘Bi’ light, or, and this is the more likely answer, the RGB light is dipping into the RGB LEDS to access the extremes of the Kelvin range. I doubt this is the first time a manufacturer has done this, and I’m frankly surprised I’ve not seen it before. Do I think the extreme ends of the 1800K and 10,000K colour values are bang-on in terms of colour control? No, I doubt it. But for my work, that’s totally fine. Plus, you’re not losing anything by them including this in the RGB version. If you were concerned about it, you should just stick to the 2800K - 6500K range on the RGB light, and you’ll be totally fine.

I actually think this is a pretty cool feature, and I wish more RGB lights did this, but Godox should probably state somewhere that it's dipping into the RGB LEDS to achieve it. That said, I could be way out of line on this and be totally wrong. Maybe the colour heads do have a wider Kelvin range, or maybe the colour control on them is so high that the lower and higher Kelvin values are bang-on. The colours certainly seemed fairly clean to me when I shot with both 1800K and 10,000 K in one of those shoots you saw above.

Power

For my work, I really can’t justify using a purely battery-powered light. I can't be on-set worrying about when a light will die because the makeup artist is taking too long. If I’m getting a new light, it has to be able to run off mains power, and thankfully, the little MS60Rs have tons of power options. Supposedly, their little batteries will run at full power for an hour (remember, you get four batteries in the two-light kit) and that battery power gets significantly longer if you bring those lights down to 80% power in my experience. Just be sure not to do what I did and charge them via a USB adapter…. as it took over 12 hours to fully charge one battery that way. For everybody else with more than 2 brain cells to rub together, you're supposed to plug the battery into the power unit at the back of the light via the included USB-C cable, and that should fully charge in around 2 hours.

Fan Noise

During the livestream, when I was testing these, I was asked about the fan noise of the lights. I’m not a videographer, so this isn't a huge concern for me, but it’s a valid question. Oddly, these lights seem to work differently from any other LED light I’ve used. From the moment you turn these on, the fan starts up. It’s not loud, but it would be noticeable if it were close to a mic. What’s odd is that the fan noise doesn't increase from there. I was running these lights at 100% for a while, and the fan never got any louder. It seems like a decent compromise. The fan is always on, but it never gets loud.

Closing Comments on the MS60R

Look, I don’t even think my own mum has made it all the way through this article! I’m never reviewing a ‘kit’ ever again. There’s just too much to cover all at once!!! But if you’re still here and you remember your younger self reading at the start of this review about how strobes are the jack-of-all-trades when it comes to lighting and how many LEDS are now very good at just one look, well, the MS60Rs somehow position themselves somewhere in the middle.

All four of the different MS/RS/R/Bi lights are part of an incredibly modular system. They can utilise very hard light modifiers like spotlights and more diffused softboxes, but they can also use any number of grids, snoots, barndoors, zoom lenses, and many more modifiers in between. This is not to mention how modular the back of the light is, too. With batteries, screw-fit bulb attachments, and, of course, direct power cable attachments, the light is extremely versatile.

So yes, the MS60R and its family of lights can use all of these tools, but this little light’s true power really comes to life when you need to use all of that light in tight spaces, just like that tiny bathroom you saw me shoot in above.

If you’re a photographer who travels a lot and or shoots on location a lot, these small and very versatile lights would serve you unbelievably well. If you’re a photographer who photographs models and shoots portraits in smaller spaces like hotels and Airbnbs, these would be perfect. If you’re a photographer who shoots corporate headshots in tiny offices, you guessed it, these lights would be ideal. And of course, the major selling point to all of this is that all this versatility and power comes in a package not much bigger than a shoebox!

Yes, these little lights are very versatile in the type of lighting they can produce, but there is no question that they are the masters at achieving it all in very tiny spaces.

Bottom line: If you’re a photographer who needs many creative lighting options, travels frequently, shoots in smaller locations, or doesn’t enjoy carrying around a lot of heavy kit, I strongly recommend you check out these little powerhouses.

As always, thank you for reading. Hopefully, you learnt something new today. If you did, be sure to check out the rest of my articles, as with over a decade’s worth of -Technique Tuesdays- to work through, I’m sure you’ll find something else of interest. Plus, sign up to my mailing list to be sure not to miss next weeks article.

Products Used

Note: These are not affiliate links; I do not earn anything from you using these links. Essential Photo sent me the lights, so I’m including links to them here. Sadly, I don’t have a code to offer you, but these prices are correct as of May 2025.

KNOWLED MS60R

Full RGB - Single Light - No Kit

Essential Photo Website Link

KNOWLED MS60Bi

Kelvin Only - Single Light - No Kit

Essential Photo Website Link

KNOWLED MS60R - Twin Kit

Full RGB - Two Lights - Full Kit

Essential Photo Website Link

KNOWLED RS60R - Twin Kit

Full RGB - Two Lights - Full Kit

Essential Photo Website Link

Additional Products Used

SZ150R 150W

Full RGB Head

Essential Photo Website Link

TL30-K2 RGB Tubes

2x 30cm RGB LED Tubes + Kit

Essential Photo Website Link

KNOWLED LiteFlow25

25 cm x 25 cm Reflector Kit

Essential Photo Website Link

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

JHP Livestreams…

I livestream every other Tuesday night via YouTube and there I answer your questions, critique your shots, take community images into Photoshop to work on them and discuss all manner of lighting tips and techniques. I look forward to seeing you and your work there real soon. Jake Hicks Photography - YouTube

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Using 'Eye-Lights' in Portraiture

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

The idea of including ‘eye-lights’ in cinema has existed for nearly as long as cinema itself, but for some reason, this technique is rarely used in photography.

*Catchlights are the little sparkle of highlight in the subjects’ eye*

Eye-Lights not Catchlights

Let’s first clarify a couple of things in case we’re not sure exactly what I mean by ‘eye-lights’. First off, I don’t mean catchlights. Yes, these are the bright, specular highlights in the subject's eyes caused by seeing the direct reflection of a light source in the fluid of an eyeball, but these aren’t eye-lights.

I’m sure most of us are very familiar with catchlights, as they are fairly unanimously seen as a fundamental rule of good portrait lighting. Nearly every well-lit portrait we see contains catchlights in the subject's eyes, and for good reason. Cathlights are reflections of the light; as we know, good lighting is all about displaying shape, and highlights greatly contribute to that.

Why Catchlights are Important

But including catchlights is more than simply abiding by the laws of good lighting. Failing to include catchlights in an eye will often leave the subject looking lifeless. Of course, we can exploit this to our advantage, and many cinematographers purposely avoid catchlights or even remove them in post-production to signify a dead or dying person.

The left-hand image doesn’t have catchlights in the subject's eyes, but they are clearly visible in the right-hand image. I think it should be pretty obvious just how dramatic a difference this makes in the subject's eyes and overall look.

So yes, including catchlights in our subjects' eyes is crucial to ensuring they look their best as they will literally look ‘bright-eyed’ and very much alive.

Now that we’ve cemented down what catchlights are, understanding what eye-lights are will be much easier.

Eye-Lights in Cinema

Eye-lights are often used in cinema to create those catchlights in the subject’s eyes. At first, this may seem odd because if the subject is lit correctly, the eyes should show the catchlights, right? This is typically true for us photographers as our job is to light our subject and only the subject, but that's not always the case in cinema. Many film sets will be about lighitng the scene and surroundings that allow the subject to exist in it believably, without them looking ‘stuck on’ or ‘over-lit’. When lighting in this way, the subject’s eyes are sometimes left in darkness. Think strong top lights or even dramatic side lights. This will light the subject to dictate the mood and drama of a scene, but the eyes may not be receiving the light to create catchlights.

Taxi Driver (1976)

The very red scene above shows the character in only red, and although the red catchlight is visible in the eyes of Robert De Niro, it’s incredibly dim. So, although we can see the tiny and dim red catchlights, we predominantly see the far brighter white ones. It’s these eye-lights that are creating the catchlights, but more importantly, that’s all they are doing, as there is no white light on our subject’s face. Those eye-lights only create catchlights in the eye and nothing more.

*Without the eye-light from below, the eyes lose a lot of impact.*

Havoc (2025)

A more recent movie, but the same eye-light technique is being used here, although for different reasons.

You’ll often see the eye-light technique being used when this subject is heavily lit from the side. The extreme edge light is a popular and dramatic lighting look, but it can leave the front of a subject looking very dark. Can you imagine how dark and lost the subject would look without the eye-light here?

The cinematographer has simply placed a light source very low and likely close to the camera here. When Tom Hardy looks down, we see the strong edge and top light, and although those lights do not reach his eyes when he's looking down, the eye-light below will cast catchlights.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

There were many huge washes of colour in Blade Runner 2049, and although many of the scenes were flooded with colour, the subject's eyes still benefited from a clean catchlight to really stand out. In the above image, we see Ryan Gosling with his back to the main light, and although his left eye is clearly hidden from the light behind him, that eye still has a glimmer of catchlight present in that darkness.

Hellboy (2019)

Another example of very strong edge lighting on our subject with almost no light on the front of the face at all, but still, if you look closely, you’ll see a catchlight in both eyes. Once again, imagine how utterly lost in darkness the face on camera-right would be without that glimmer of a catchlight, thanks to an eye-light.

There is a need for eye-lights in a shot for many reasons. Sometimes dramatic side lights leave little light on the front of the face, sometimes the scene is washed in a specific colour, and the eyes simply don’t pick up the source and sometimes strong directional light from above limits any actual light from reaching the eyes. In these instances, using a supplementary eye-light can help add dimension, depth and more importantly, life back into the subject.

Eye-Lights in Portraiture

As I mentioned above, this technique won’t be needed for many of your portrait lighting setups, as for the most part, you’ll be lighting your subject ‘properly’ with an appropriately placed key-light. But for more dramatic lighting setups where you’re trying to tell a story with lighting and not simply trying to illuminate your subject, this little technique could be useful.

The premise is super-simple: place a light directly in front of your subject and move it until the catchlight appears in the subject’s eyes. This is easily done if the subject is looking away from the camera, and remember, nearly every film you’ve ever seen has the subject looking away from the camera, so it's easy to place an eye-light where you need it. But if the subject is looking straight at the camera, as with many of our portraits, we need to be a little smart with it.

The easiest solution is to place the light directly on the camera. That way, no matter where you are, if the subject is looking at you, the eye-light will be present in the form of catchlights in the subject’s eyes.

I’m sure you can think of a variety of ways to achieve this, but for me, the easiest way to attach a light to your camera, is via the hot-shoe.

As you can see in the images above, my light is attached to the camera's hot-shoe via a ball-joint. This is so I can mount the light at a 90-degree angle, which keeps it very close to the lens axis. Plus, this right angle also allows the light to be slightly above the lens when I’m shooting in portrait orientation, which in turn helps keep the catchlight above the lens in the subjects’ eyes.

Why Use an LED Light?

If you’re unfamiliar with this light, it’s a small LED light called a NEO 3 Pro from Rotolight. It’s very lightweight and comfortable to have attached to the camera, even with a battery in place, as you can see in the shot above. But why use this LED light over a speedlight?

I prefer this LED light over a speedlight for two reasons, and that’s simply, size and power.

Size

Firstly, size. This LED light is about 6 inches across. That means it will appear as a far larger catchlight in the subject's eyes compared to the smaller surface area of a speedlight’s flash window.

*The illuminated area of the LED light is far larger than the flash and this will result in a far larger cathlight in the subjects eyes.*

In the image above, you can clearly see how much bigger the actual illuminated area of the LED light is compared to the speedlight. Remember, a catchlight is a specular highlight in the eye, which is simply a direct reflection of a light, so it’s this reflection size we need to be thinking about, not its brightness.

Power

Secondly, power. Remember that a cathlight is a direct reflection of a light in the subject's eyes; that's all this light is typically doing, and it's often not lighting the subject in any meaningful way. Think about those cinematic examples I gave you above. They showed the eye-light doing almost nothing to illuminate the subjects; they were just there to show up as a catchlight in the eye, nothing more. With this very minimal output in mind, even a speedlight can be too powerful and, as such, may ruin the lighting on the subject by doing more than just appearing as a cathlight. Even set to their lowest powers, speedlights are often fairly powerful, and remember, our speedlight is mounted to our camera, so they will often be very close to our subjects too.

Yes, you could use ND gels to limit speedlights' power output, but I just find an LED far simpler and easier to use, especially given that the surface area of the LED produces noticeably larger catchlights as well.

Examples

Below is a shoot from a little while ago in which I used this NEO 3 PRO LED light on my hot-shoe to create eye-lights in the models eyes. I used this technique here not because of the dramatic light from behind or heavy colour washes, but because the light on the front of the model was extremely flat, and that flat light simply wasn’t very visible in the eyes via a catchlight.

Pay close attention to the catchlights in the images below, as they are all created using that eye-light technique.

Click on any of the images to fit them to the screen.

Featured Model: Irina Ludosanu

Taking a closer look

I’ve just gone back into the raw files of this shoot to see if I had any before-and-after images of the eye-light being used and I was able to dig out a couple of early images. Hopefully, this shows a little of what I was trying to achieve with the eye-light.

Please note that these are unretouched raws.

*Click to enlarge - Image on the left has no eye-light on the camera, whereas the image on the right does.*

It should be clear to see the difference and even though all of the cinematic examples I showed above were of fairly dark and often backlit images, even images with a clear light in front of the subject can lack a meaningful catchlight….. especailly if you’re limited for space and are clearly standing in front of it!

As always, thank you for reading. Hopefully, you learnt something new today. If you did, be sure to check out the rest of my articles. With over a decade’s worth of -Technique Tuesdays- to work through, I’m sure you’ll find something else of interest.

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

JHP Livestreams…

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Using Umbrellas? Please Stop Doing This

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

Typically, education and imparting knowledge is about showing you the right way to do something rather than scolding you for doing it the supposed ‘wrong’ way.

But I’ve just seen a thread where ‘photographers’ are sharing how they prematurely ‘weather’ their brand-new £8,000 Leicas with electric sanders! Some of you simply can’t be trusted to make the right decision!

Rant aside, I’ve been meaning to put together a few of these umbrella tips for a while now and, as my somewhat exasperated title suggests, it’s going to be just as important to tell you what not to do as it is to point out what you should be doing.

This image is shot using only umbrellas - Umbrellas are excellent modifiers and offer a lot of light control in the right hands - but we need to be aware of and avoid several aspects of umbrellas to get the best out of them.

Please Stop: Having the umbrella too far out.

This is a simple one to fix, but failing to watch out for it will result in not only losing a lot of power and light but also a lot of control of the light.

If the umbrella isn't close enough to the light, then not all of the light will go into the umbrella to be bounced back. Some of that light will be lost out past the edges, and not only will this reduce the light output bouncing back, but you will also have uncontrolled light being pumped out into the studio.

The Fix

Simply walk to the edge of the umbrella and look back at the reflector dish. If you can see the bulb of your light, that means light can escape from the umbrella.

If that’s the case, push the umbrella rod further into the holder until you can no longer see the bulb from the edge.

Note: If you’re using a strobe, be sure that it’s the flash tube you can’t see. Remember that the modelling bulb is not what will spread the light in the final image.

Please Stop: Having the umbrella too close.

This issue is less troublesome than having the umbrella too far away and spreading the light everywhere, but having the umbrella too close to the light is still easily fixed and will result in far better-looking results.

When you’re setting up your particular shot, you’ve likely/hopefully given some thought to the size of the modifiers you’d like to use and, in this case, the size of your umbrella. If you’ve opted for a large umbrella on set, that’s because you wanted a more significant spread of light or at least a softer light on the subject. Sadly, by placing your umbrella too close to your light, you’ll get neither of these things as you've now turned your big soft light into a small hard light.

*You can see in the image above that the light is so close to the umbrella that it has no time to spread and use the full size of the umbrella.*

In the image above, you can see that the light is only falling onto a small section in the middle of the umbrella. It doesn’t matter how big your umbrella is if you only use a small section of it. It’s this small section of the umbrella that is bouncing light back, and as we know, the smaller the light, the harder the light looks.

The Fix

Hopefully, this won't be revolutionary to many of you, but yes, to fix this, we simply pull the umbrella further away from the light so that the light can better fill the umbrella size you’ve chosen.

*Even pulling the umbrella back a few inches can make a huge difference to the resulting light.*

I know I’m being cheeky here, and for many of you, this may seem obvious, but I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen the light far too close to the umbrella—I even saw it in a recent lighting product video! It’s easy to do but also easy to avoid.

It’s a simple thing to keep an eye on, but look at how dramatically different the image above looks compared to the original, where the umbrella was too close to the light. I probably only moved the umbrella 6 inches away, but now that light is completely filling the umbrella compared to a very small spot in the middle.

Please Stop: Placing the umbrella to the side.

This mistake is a little more nuanced, so I’ll allow it. Thankfully though, although many make this simple error when placing their umbrella, once you’ve seen the difference by making this small adjustment, you won’t make that mistake again…. will you?!

The mistake is to assume that just because your modifier, the umbrella, is above the subject, it is casting flattering light from above. Sadly, although the top of the modifier is indeed above the subject, most of the light is still coming from below the subject, and this is what can catch some people out.

*Most of the light is clearly coming up from below the subject even though the modifier is technically above the subject.*

As we can see in the image above, the top of the umbrella is indeed above the subject, but too much light is coming up from below, resulting in that ugly under-light.

The Fix

The trick here is simple. Like many aspects of lighting, the key is not to look at where or what your light is doing but at what it is doing to the subject. It doesn’t matter how accurately you've positioned your light; if the light looks bad on the subject, you have to change it.

*By making a simple adjustment we can significantly improve the quality of light on our subject.*

Simply raise the height of the light and angle the umbrella down, and that will very quickly fix the issue. As you can see from the image above, just moving that light up a few inches and adjusting the angle can make a huge difference, and you can see just how much more flattering that light is on the subject as a result.

Please Stop: USING SHOOT-THROUGH UMBRELLAS!

This will likely ruffle a few feathers, and I promise you, I’m not simply just rage-baiting you for engagement here, but using shoot-through umbrellas is borderline unforgivable in today's photography.

Sure, if you’re shooting pet passport photos in the stairwell of a shopping mall carpark in Sterling Heights, Detroit, go wild, use your shoot-through umbrellas all you want. For everybody else though, you have no excuse!

There are a couple of reasons why shoot-through umbrellas are bad, but ultimately, it comes down to a lack of light control.

1% of lighting is about the actual light itself. Any fool can turn a light on, but the other 99% of lighting comes from controlling that light and shoot-throughs do very little of that. Here’s why.

If you’re unfamiliar with shoot-through umbrellas, you’ve come to the end of the article; you don’t need to see the lighting heresy I’m about to display, so thank you so much for reading.

This modifier is pointed directly at me…. *look at how much light is being pumped back into to the studio behind it!!!!*

For everyone else, let the depravity begin.

The Fix - BURN THEM ALL

As the name implies, you fire the light through the umbrella, so unlike all other umbrellas, you actually point the light directly at the subject rather than away from them and into the reflective umbrella. One of the umbrella’s greatest strengths is the fact that it eliminates hot-spots by getting you to point the light away from the subject. Their bounced and reflected light is actually very even and flattering, especially for such an affordable modifier, and that is mostly due to their ability to eliminate hot-spots. Shoot-throughs don’t care about hot-spots, and like softboxes, they love a good bright centre unhindered by the beauty of bounced light. But at least softboxes actually control the light!

The other and more significant issue with shoot-through umbrellas, is their utter disregard for controlling the light. As I said, at least softboxes are enclosed modifiers that control the light in a uniform direction: forward. Shoot-through umbrellas, on the other hand, have a completely open back, and as such, a vast amount of light never actually makes it through the shoot-through part; instead, it simply bounces back out the back and then proceeds to bounce around the studio in no discernible manner.

*Shoot-through umbrellas have almost no light control!* ***The light literally goes everywhere!***

In the above image, you’ll see just how much light is being passed through the shoot-through umbrella and just how much light is bouncing back into the studio. This bounced light is completely uncontrolled and will very quickly ruin shadow density and shadow transitions. It will also bounce off other areas in the space and include that surrounding bounced colour onto whatever it ultimately hits.

*On the other hand, regular umbrellas do a great job of controlling the light in one direction.*

Above, we see what a normal umbrella does to the light. All of that light is caught and then bounced back out in a very controllable manner. Look at how the other side of the modifier is completely dark. No spilt light is bouncing around the studio.

Lastly. I promise…

You likely didn’t notice this above, as the image was covered in red arrows, but thanks to the shoot-through fabric, there are two very distinct colours present in this shot. As the light is passed through the umbrella surface, it has warmed the light slightly compared to the bounced light, which is noticeably colder by comparison.

*All light will be coloured slightly by whatever it passes through - its just we never typically allow those colours to mix!*

This isn’t a huge deal-breaker or anything, but it’s simply another reason (if you really needed another) why these shoot-through umbrellas are truly awful modifiers.

Closing Comments

Sure, I took some artistic license with this article to add a little dramatic posturing about why I think people are making some silly mistakes when using umbrellas…

But I want to make this last point abundantly clear: I think umbrellas are excellent modifiers.

I haven't used a softbox for many, many years, yet I’ll use at least one if not multiple, umbrellas on nearly every single shoot I do. Umbrellas truly control the light, even when used close to the subject, and they do so without the nasty hot-spotting that softboxes produce.

I have huge umbrellas, small umbrellas, white umbrellas and silver umbrellas. They are extremely versatile, weigh almost nothing, take up almost no space, and take mere seconds to set up. When I bought my first studio lighting kits all those years ago, I immediately threw the included umbrellas in the attic and forgot about them. I instead opted to get a small platoon of softboxes in every size imaginable; after all, the cheap and crappy umbrellas cant be any good, right?

Many years later, I dug around in the attic to retrieve those old umbrellas, and I still use them to this day. Just because a modifier is cheap doesn’t mean it can't be good; you just have to know how to use it properly.

As always, thank you for reading, and if you learnt nothing else today, please burn every shoot-through umbrella you come across! You’re doing the lighting-gods’ work!

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

JHP Livestreams…

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Lighting Setup: Top Light for Low Ceiling Studios

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

Working in a big, fully-kitted studio is easy mode! If you can’t get a decent shot in a fully light-controlled space, surrounded by all the lighting gear you could possibly want at your fingertips, it’s time to take up black-and-white photography! Sadly, this perfect shooting setup happens far less often than any of us would like.

For most of us mere mortals, photography is more about problem solving than measuring lighting ratios and more about making do with the kit you have at hand over being concerned with fluctuations in colour consistency. I’m sure we all pray for the day when the biggest problem on set is when the Kelvin on one light is varying by +/- 50. But until that day comes, we’ll concern ourselves with trying to make three lights do five lights worth of work and deal with that dreaded low ceiling on location!!!

Now, before you all rush to comments to say how I, a professional photographer who probably has more lights than brain cells, can moan about these problems, let me just stop you right there and say that some problems, like low ceilings, never disappear! It doesn't matter how long you do this job, but some issues never change, and the low ceiling problem on location is one of them.

*Having a high ceiling in a studio or on location makes life a lot easier, but sadly we can’t always rely on it.*

I’m sure you’ve all seen the lighting setups with a big soft light suspended well above the subject to create this gorgeous top light, but today I want to show how I deal with trying to get a large top light above my subject…. without having the room to place a big top light above my subject.

The Setup

As always, let’s first look at the setup and then I’ll break down exactly what’s going on.

*Nanlite FC-500C + Projection Attachment on floor-stand*

*Angle Projection Attachment straight up to the silver reflector above model*

*I suspended the large silver reflector above the model with the use a C-stand and a couple of booms*

*The spot of red light should only be striking the silver reflector above*

*Using the Nanlite app to adjust the power and colour of the light was required due to it being so low to the floor and making it hard to see the screen*

TL;DR/ADHD/Artist Setup Explanation

Set up white background behind model
Suspend large silver reflector above model with C-stand and boom
Place projection attachment on floor in front of model
Angle Projection Attachment straight up at reflector above model
Position large umbrella behind you
Assign gels or hue values to lights accordingly

Kit Used

Nanlite FC-500C
Nanlite Projection Attachment
Nanlite FC-120C
Large Umbrella
Large Silver Reflector
C-Stand and boom

Camera Settings

Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - 24-70mm f2.8
Shutter Speed - 1/125th
Aperture - f2.8
ISO - 160
Kelvin - 4700K
Focal Length - ~50mm

The Results

Click to enlarge any of the shots below.

Featured Model: Esmeralda_gb

Breaking it Down

This is only a two-light setup, so most of this is fairly straightforward to many of you now that you’ve seen the lighting diagram. However, I do want to elaborate on a couple of aspects that may not be immediately obvious.

The core idea being employed here is the bounced light acting as a top light. This is kind of odd in principle, as the top light is actually at the model's feet, and in these shots, I’m shooting directly over that light to achieve the look. Had we had smoke or haze in this shot for example, all we’d see is that big red beam of light shining up from the bottom of frame.

*I used a C-stand and a couple of brooms to suspend the silver reflector above*

Top-Light on the Floor

That red light is positioned on a floor stand and pointed straight up into that silver reflector above the model. The reflector is up as high as it will go, which in this situation, is only around 240cm. I’m using one of those large pop-out silver reflectors, and I’m sure you have a bunch of them as we all have at least one 5-in-1 reflector tucked behind the studio door somewhere. I’m supporting it up against the ceiling with a C-stand and a couple of booms mounted in a cross with a knuckle (see picture).

With this reflector in place, we want to ensure that the spotlight below only strikes the reflector and does not light the model on its way up first. If you’re catching the model with light from below, move the light slightly further away and angle it back onto the reflector.

Failing to keep the light off of the model before it reaches the reflector will completely ruin the effect.

The White Background

The next consideration is the background's position in relation to the model. In the shots I’ve shown you here, you can see that I’m allowing some of the red light to spill onto the bottom of the background behind her. You can choose not to do this and to avoid the red spill entirely. To do this, just move the background further away.

This red-to-blue gradient behind is personal preference, but I liked the extra colour separation at the bottom of the image, so I actually brought in a white sheet behind the model to allow more red light to bounce up the white background.

The Projection Attachement

This is a serious piece of kit from Nanlite, and although I love this modifier and use it a lot, not everyone will have access to it. This modifier's core job here is to accurately keep a small pool of light directly above the model on that silver reflector. There are other modifiers that can do this, and grids/honeycombs, snoots, and even barn doors on a light will achieve a similar controlled pool of light up there. As long as you can keep the light only on that silver reflector above and not strike the model before it reaches there, you should be fine. Even Cinefoil wrapped around a light and reflector dish will work in a pinch.

The Blue Light

This is an easy one to set up, and although I used a large umbrella here, a very large softbox will also work. The only advice you need, is to keep the power low, as this is technically our fill light.

Alternative Points to Consider - The Art Lens

Some of you may have noticed a couple of very, seemingly ‘blurred’ images from this set, and I wanted to clarify how I achieved them. As many of you know, I love to play around with a bunch of ‘art’ lenses where I can, and these shots were the result of one such lens, the Lensbaby Edge 35 and the Edge 80. I’ll provide links to all products used at the end.

These lenses are obviously not required for the setup, but with more abstract shots like these that utilise a lot of very heavy colour, doubling down on the creative nature of the final image can be worth playing around with.

Thanks so much for reading guys, if you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. Catch you in the next one.

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

Products Used

NOTE: None of these are affiliate links!!!

Nanlite FC-500C

Full colour RGB LED 500w head.

Nanlite FC-500C Website Link

Nanlite Projection Attachment

S-fit lifting modifier that utilises masks and gobos to control a very focused beam of light.

Nanlite Projection Attachment

Lensbaby Edge Lens

Art lens that creates a very thin slice of focus - available in both 35mm and 80mm.

Lensbaby Edge 80 Opitc Website Link

Large 5 in 1 Reflector

This one here is 120cm by 80cm and should be big enough for this setup, although I think the one I used was slightly larger than this.

Large 5 in 1 Reflector Website Link

JHP Livestreams…

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Camera Shake Podcast - Episode 241 - February 2025

Donate & Support

I've always wanted my photography education on here to be free, so although there is no paywall to any of my -Technique Tuesdays-, any and all support is greatly appreciated. ❤️

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.

||

PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||

I recently had the privilege of being invited back onto the Camera Shake Podcast. The last time I was on the show, the world was different, not just in terms of how many times we used to wash our hands compared to today, but because back then, I was still shooting exclusively with strobes and coloured gels.

Fast-forward to today, and I now almost exclusively shoot with LEDs. In this interview, we dig into some of the major differences LEDs have presented to those of us who have been used to working with flash for so many years.

I’ve done a great deal of podcasts during my career, but this is certainly among one of the best interviews I’ve had as I felt like so many of the questions were very relevant to the modern world of photography. We discussed tethering and why I hate it. I spoke on how light meters have their place today, but they can get you into trouble if you don’t already know what you’re doing. My pre-production process for shoots and how I use 3D lighting software to prep. How do you deal with pro-models, non-pro-models, and even clients when shooting? How to manage their expectations on set while you’re shooting, and how to pivot and adapt to the shoot as it unfolds.

We cover a ton of ideas in this one, so head over to the Camera Shake Podcast YouTube channel and take a look.

JHP Livestreams…

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online!

||

All of my more advanced lighting classes are now available online! ||

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY ONLINE WORKSHOPS