Since most of us are working from home and doing more video calls, this is a good time to think about better lighting.
No one wants to look like they’re in a dimly lit bunker in Idaho (even if you happen to be in a dimly lit bunker in Idaho)!
The idea is that you want to be lit from the front. (If you work directly in front of a window, you can ignore this post!)
For the rest of us that have no natural lighting or have lighting from the back or from the side, you need to get some front lighting. Ideally you want something with an 1) easy-to-access switch, 2) something that’s AC powered (vs. rechargeable), and 3) something that provides diffuse light so you’re not blinded.
I use this LEPOWER clip on light that I bought off of Amazon at work and it does the trick (see attached photo). It has two color tones (a bright white and a soft white) and two brightness settings, clamps on the back of my standing desk and costs <$20:
(tip: I stuck the switch to my desk with some double-sided tape to prevent it from constantly falling off the back of the desk*)
And in my home office where I’m now working from all the time, I have a fancier pair of tripod mounted Neewer lights that stand off of the floor to the left and right of my desk (see photo):
I also got a foot pedal switch for them… because I’m too lazy to go behind the lights and turn them each off manually.
There are lots of other options… just search on Amazon. “Ring lights” tend to be nice and diffuse, so that’s a good category of options to look at.
*It probably happened once, but I’m a diligent procrastinator, always looking to solve problems that don’t really exist.