The video business has one issue in common with still photography in that one of the most important subjects is frequently the most neglected.
Professional videographer, Bill Pryor, says, "Ninety percent of great video is great lighting, and yet the online lighting forums are frequently the least utilized."
You could easily make the same case in professional photography, particularly these days when photographers and videographers are frequently using the same cameras.
Lighting is, unfortunately, one of the less interesting topics in photography. Most people want to focus on cameras because technology is sexy. They'll agonize over the difference between a 14-megapixel camera and a 16-megapixel camera, a difference which is essentially meaningless. Yet, when it comes to lighting, it's almost an afterthought.
Hobbyists agonize over cameras, while professionals agonize over lighting. That's because pros know you can take great pictures with almost any decent camera, but what makes the difference between a good shot and a great one is lighting.
Some specialities in photography attract people because they're addicted to lighting. Food photography is one example. It's a chicken and egg discussion about whether people fixated with lighting are drawn to food photography or sucked into it, but that's where they tend to end up. Their studios look like the lab of some evil genius in a comic book, full of every type of clamp, mirror, scrim, shade and flexible arm you can imagine. Their food sets could have been designed by Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man.
At a basic level the passion for great photography is really a passion for great lighting. The true hard-core photographers are the ones who hike back to their cars in the dark because the light is just so perfect at a time after they should leave to get back to the trail head while there's still daylight.
Master portrait photographers are masters at lighting the human face. While it may not look like they're doing much, it's because they've spent years learning just where to put their lights, the power settings and positioning the camera. To them Rembrandt lighting with a 1:3 ratio between the key and fill is automatic.
If you don't know the difference between Rembrandt and Butterfly lighting or understand key to fill lighting ratios, then it's time to pick up some books and start reading, or take a class in photography.
It's important because light is to photographers what paint and canvas were to Picasso. It's how you express your photographic vision. Anyone can push a button on a camera set to automatic and get a decent picture, but not everyone can light a portrait in a way that makes their subject come alive.
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