Can a ringlight be very useful on cloudy days outside?

Question

I want to to know if a ringlight can be very helpful for a cloudy/overcast weather outdoors for portraits & fashion? Will it help remove some shadowing or help much at all outside for portraits & fashion photos during overcast weather? Or not really? I seem to only be able to find ringlights being used outdoors during dusk/nighttime which doesn’t help me with what I want to know! I’m specifically looking at the Diva Ringlight Nebula.

Answer 1

Ringlights renders a very specific type of illumination. If you unbalance these, the "ring light effect" is gone.

That is why people use it in dark environments.

They are usually not that bright because they are pointed directly at people's eyes and normally for close illumination.

The specific light you mention is a video light so it is continuous light, and it is for close-ups, like for makeup artists. I doubt will help you in a "fashion photo shoot" but you need to look at the specs.

A continuous light makes part of the overall ambient light.

If you want to somehow overpower the ambient light you need to use a flash.

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I am a little worried here because it seems you have not a clear idea of what you want.

Do you want to reduce contrast in a low contrast illumination? Will it help to reduce an already reduced contrast illumination? yes to some degree.

But depends on the aperture speed, distance, weather conditions distance to the background, aperture.

You need to clarify if what you want is to get a specific "style" or you just want to "reduce" shadows.

Answer 2

We generally light a portrait using a main light that is placed high to simulate afternoon sun. When working outdoors in bright sun, shadows are often too harsh, void of detail. To avoid, photographers often prefer cloudy-bright conditions or open shade.

Mitigating shadows under natural conditions is not always possible. Now the photographer brings to bear reflectors or fill lighting. The fill is a subordinate light source, its job is to fill the shadows making them softer. As a rule, the fill light is set about 1 to 2 f-stops weaker than the main light (might be sunlight). Such a lash-up preserves the one light source illusion that enhances the portrait.

A ring light can be used as the fill light. The pitfall is; ring lights are generally tasked for close-up work thus they tend to be somewhat weak. I think most ring lights will be too weak to be of much use in bright sun.