Vent: A client in Lisbon said my video calls looked like a hostage situation

I was working from a cheap apartment in Porto last month, and the main window was behind me, making my face a dark shadow on calls. A client, Maria, finally told me it was hard to focus because I looked like I was in a witness protection program. I bought a cheap ring light for 35 euros and now always face a window or use it, even if it means moving my whole setup. Has anyone else had to fix a simple thing that made a big difference to how professional you look online?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.alex23d ago

Totally feel this, that ring light is a game changer. @murray.cora is right about the blurry ghost thing too, my old laptop camera made me look like I was calling from a haunted house. A decent lamp makes you look like a real person again.

murray.cora23d ago

My old webcam made me look like a blurry ghost who just heard bad news. I spent weeks on calls before my own mom texted to ask if I was sick. A fifteen dollar lamp from the hardware store pointed at the wall behind me fixed the whole thing. Why do we put up with looking like basement trolls for so long?

quinn_burns23d ago

Oh man, this is so true. I read an article a while back that basically said our brains are terrible at judging our own video setup because we see ourselves in the preview for two seconds before we get used to it. @murray.cora, the blurry ghost description is perfect. We just adapt to the bad light and fuzzy picture and forget other people have to look at it for an hour. That hardware store lamp trick is brilliant, it's all about bouncing soft light to kill those harsh shadows. It's wild how such a cheap fix makes a bigger difference than a fancy webcam. We probably put up with it because setting up feels like a hassle until someone points out we look like a creature from a cave.