Neon Light Portraits: Creative Setups, Camera Tips, And iPhone Tricks
Neon light portraits combine urban grit with glowing aesthetics to produce portraits illuminated by neon or LED signs. This visual style has grown from niche interest to a widely adored trend on social media with its surreal, cinematic vibe.
In this guide, we cover everything from beginner home setups to advanced editing techniques to enable you to master your own neon sign portraits. Whether you’re using a DSLR or iPhone, learn where to source neon signs and how to photograph them successfully
Key Takeaways
- Neon light portraits are vibrant, cinematic images that can be created using neon signs or colored LEDs as the primary light source, soaring in popularity on Instagram.
- With a few tools and techniques, you can capture a neon light portrait at home using low ambient light, vibrant colors, and reflective surfaces.
- Fast prime lenses and manual camera settings plus some good editing can ensure glow, vibrancy, and realism.
- We supply high-quality custom neon signs that you can tailor to your needs and incorporate into portrait photography for a stunning effect.
Table of contents
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Neon Light Portraits
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How To Get Neon Light Portraits At Home?
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Best Tips For Neon Portrait Photography
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What Camera Settings Work Best For Neon Light Photography?
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What Are The Best Lenses For Neon Photography?
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How Can You Take Neon Light Portraits With An iPhone?
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What Are The Best Ways To Edit Neon Light Portraits?
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How Can You Create Neon Effects Specifically On iPhone?
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What Photography Hacks Help Improve Neon Portraits?
Neon Light Portraits
Neon light portraits are stylized images that utilize neon signs or LED lights as the main light source for illuminating the subject. These portraits feature high contrast, saturated colors, and urban or modern backdrops.
The neon sign portrait style blends ambiance with attitude, and it is popular across:
- Social media
- Fashion shoots
- Creative editorials
The glow of neon offers something traditional lighting setups don’t - emotion through color. A red light may suggest intensity or romance, while cool blue hues and greens evoke a sense of calm or mystery. With their cinematic feel, neon light portraits have become a storytelling tool, whether taken under an actual neon sign or an LED strip.
Work with us to create custom vintage neon signs or focus on other styles to get the look you want for your photographs.
How To Get Neon Light Portraits At Home?
Creating neon light portraits at home doesn’t take a professional studio. You will need to dim all ambient lights in your space to control how your neon source interacts with your subject. From here, consider the following tips:
- Lighting: Affordable tools like LED light strips, RGB ring lights, or even actual neon sign portraits ordered online can provide the signature glow.
- Angles: Place the light source in different positions to explore dramatic shadows or soft facial highlights.
- Props: Colored sunglasses, mirrors, or translucent fabric can all be used to manipulate and reflect the light creatively.
If you are on a budget, you can put colored gels over household lamps to mimic neon tones. For a vibrant neon sign portrait, keep the background uncluttered so the subject and lighting remain the focus.
Light placement behind glass or near shiny glass can multiply its effect, so learn how to hang a neon light on different surfaces for the right combination of light, shadow, and storytelling.
What Is Neon Portrait Photography?
Neon portrait photography is a modern style where neon or LED lighting is used to create dynamic, high-contrast images with bold color palettes. Standard portrait photography often prioritizes natural or diffused light, but a neon light portrait deliberately harnesses the glow of artificial light to heighten visual drama.
The aesthetic may feel new, but it has historical influences from film noir and retro-futuristic art, often used to build open content creation studios. Neon lights symbolize things like:
- Mood
- Rebellion
- Emotion
This genre differentiates itself with expressive use of color and shadow to tell stories beyond the face itself. For example a soft pink neon sign portrait may suggest romance, while a sharp green glow implies intensity or unease.
Looking to add a face to a custom neon light design?
Create neon light portraits with our custom neon signs with pictures. Less is more with these designs, but our team is on hand to help you optimize for the best outcome.
Best Tips For Neon Portrait Photography
Being successful in neon light portrait photography depends on mastering light, focus, and mood. Look at the following tips to get the best results:
- Shoot in RAW to capture the full color range - this is vital when dealing with saturated neon tones.
- Adjust white balance to avoid unnatural skin tones.
- Use fast prime lenses (like 50mm f/1.8) to boost sharpness and low-light performance.
- Focus on the subject’s eyes - they should anchor your neon sign portrait.
- Frame with leading lines created by neon shapes or signs to guide the viewer’s gaze.
- Incorporate reflective surfaces like windows or mirrors to double the glow effect.
If you want a standout look, work with us to create custom neon flex signs for one-of-a-kind backdrops. These signs help turn ordinary shots into personalized neon sign portraits, and you can create from an array of sizes, colors, fonts, and customization options.
What Camera Settings Work Best For Neon Light Photography?
Mastering your camera settings is essential to achieve the vibrant glow and mood of neon light portraits. The first step is to lower your ISO to around 100-400 to reduce noise - you may need to raise it slightly in dimmer settings.
From here, do the following:
- Aperture: This should be wide - f/1.4 to f/2.8 - to let in more light and create dreamy background bokeh.
- Shutter speed: This depends on movement. For still subjects, 1/100 sec or slower works, but faster settings are needed for handheld shots.
- White balance: Adjust manually to retain the true colors of the neon - auto settings might wash out the glow.
If you want a softer neon sign portrait, underexpose slightly to avoid blow highlights. For more vivid tones, shoot in RAW to provide more editing flexibility later.
With these settings, you will be able to bring out electric blue aesthetic ideas and other colors with sharpness, depth, and emotion in your neon sign portraits.
Add any design element you want to a neon sign
Whether it’s a portrait, a logo, or anything else, we can bring your design to life in custom aesthetic neon signs. Choose from a range of size and color options.
Learn moreWhat Are The Best Lenses For Neon Photography?
When it comes to neon light portraits, lens choice can dramatically impact the quality and mood of shots. Fast prime lenses like 35mm f/1.4 or 50mm f/1.8 are ideal, enabling ample light intake and dreamy bokeh in low-light scenes.
The wide aperture also enables you to isolate your subject from backgrounds like custom fabric banners, emphasizing facial details while keeping the neon glow soft and immersive.
- 35mm lens: This gives a natural field of view, great for full-body neon sign portraits.
- 50mm lens: This is perfect for tighter headshots with enhanced depth.
- 85mm lenses: For street-style neon sign portrait work, these lenses provide beautiful compression and sharpness without distortion.
Always seek out lenses with good low-light performance and excellent sharpness at wide apertures. With the right lens, you can enhance color contrast and enjoy creative flexibility.
How Can You Take Neon Light Portraits With An iPhone?
It is possible to take stunning neon light portraits with an iPhone using a few smart techniques. Here are the steps you can take to do it:
- Activate Night Mode to increase exposure time so more light from neon signs reaches the sensor.
- Apps like Halide allow you to access manual controls, where you can adjust the ISO, shutter speed, and focus to optimize detail in low-light scenes.
- Mount your phone on a tripod for a steadier shot.
- Use Portrait Mode to add background blur, helping simulate the depth you would achieve with a DSLR.
You might be able to achieve more vibrance in your neon sign portraits with external clip-on lenses for wider or macro effects. Position your subject close to the neon source for better illumination and avoid using flash as it flattens the glow.
Props like latex balloons can help enhance the framing of your photographs.
Create signs in the perfect orientation for portraits
Our custom vertical neon signs are ideal for creating portrait neon lights. Our expert craftsmen will transform your design into a vibrant, shimmering neon sign.
What Are The Best Ways To Edit Neon Light Portraits?
Editing is essential to bring out the vibrance and mood in your neon light portraits with no sacrifice in realism. Adobe Lightroom is a great tool to adjust exposure, contrast, and color balance. Use the HSL panel to enhance the neon hues, boosting saturation while keeping skin tones neutral.
Next, use Photoshop and do the following:
- Layer glows and refine edges to give your neon sign portrait a polished, cinematic quality.
- Use the dodge and burn tools to emphasize light falloff and facial highlights.
If you are editing on a mobile device, apps like Snapseed and VSCO allow you to adjust tones and clarity effectively. If colors feel dull, increase vibrancy, not saturation, to avoid unnatural effects. Sharpen the image slightly to retain detail in the eyes and textures.
When you create neon sign light ideas for portrait photography, editing is an essential step.
How Can You Create Neon Effects Specifically On iPhone?
Creating neon effects directly on your iPhone is simpler than ever with the advanced apps and settings at your fingertips. Here are the tips that will help you get it done, capturing the same neon effects seen in classic films:
- Night Mode: Capture your neon light portraits in this mode to brighten shadows and keep the neon glow rich.
- Editing apps: Use tools like Lightroom Mobile, Afterlight, or PicsArt for selective editing, brightening just the neon sign area or softening skin tones while keeping colors vivid.
- Advanced editing: Lensa or Prisma can help to add glowing overlays and motion blur.
Want to mimic a neon sign portrait without actual neon? Overlay glowing text or digital neon graphics with apps like Canva or Over. Control white balance to prevent the image from looking too warm or cold. The sharpening tool could help you to keep details crisp without adding noise.
Want to combine text and an image in your portrait neon light design?
With our service, you can create custom neon name signs that incorporate a portrait for the perfect look. Work with our design team to make sure your goal is achievable.
Get startedWhat Photography Hacks Help Improve Neon Portraits?
Improving your neon light portraits doesn’t always take expensive gear. A little creativity and resourcefulness could be all you need:
- Reflective surfaces: CDs, sunglasses, or mirrors can all scatter the neon glow for more dynamic shots.
- Subject positioning: Have your subject pose near a custom cursive neon sign and use a piece of colored plastic or transparent folder to cast interesting shadows and hues.
- Light diffusers: Make DIY diffusers from baking parchment or tissue paper to soften harsh light and give your neon sign portrait a smoother look.
- Textured materials: Shoot through materials like lace or glass for added depth.
- Angles: Low angles make neon signage appear more dramatic. Or you could align it directly behind your subject for a radiant halo effect.
These hacks are low-cost solutions to elevate your neon sign portraits and add personality to every frame.
Why Do Your Neon Portraits Look Off And How Can You Fix Them?
Sometimes, neon light portraits come out looking flat, washed-out, or overly contrasted. The most common issues include poor lighting angles, blown highlights, and lack of facial detail.
Fix these issues by adjusting your subject’s position to catch the neon light at a more flattering angle - side lighting often works best. Control exposure by manually lowering brightness in-camera or post-editing - there has long been mixed associations between photo-editing and body concerns among females, so restrict these corrections to lighting-based issues where possible.
Try:
- Apps that allow shadow recovery and highlight reduction.
- Adjusting sharpness for your neon sign portraits to correct blurred eyes.
- Correcting white balance or using HSL editing if colors appear unnatural.
- Ensuring your composition is strong, with no busy backgrounds and good framing.
With some simple adjustments, your neon sign portrait can transform into a stunning, emotive image.
Frequently Asked Questions About Neon Light Portraits
What Are Neon Light Portraits?
Neon light portraits are creative photographs that use neon signs or LED lighting to illuminate the subject. It is important to highlight color, contrast, and mood for this photography style.
How Do You Shoot Neon-Themed Portraits At Home?
Set up LED or neon-style lights around your room, control ambient lighting, and use props or reflective materials. A smartphone or camera with manual settings helps capture the glow.
