Light sources
The rear LED next to the camera lenses is a tiny pocket point source — phone torch mode up close.
What it looks like
A single small LED with fast falloff. At the centimetre distances it needs to expose anything, the die subtends a few degrees — so shadow edges are softer than sunlight, while falloff across a small object stays violent. Back it off for crisper edges and you lose stops fast. Bounce or paper-diffuse when you need a softer pocket key. Colour varies by phone; many read cool or greenish.
Macro texture, emergency hard edge on a small subject, paper-diffused fill, and teaching how a tiny source behaves up close.
Cool white LED point next to the lenses; hard specular on nearby metal (specular size follows the die); fast falloff across the subject; shadow edges softer than sun at contact distance.
Enable torch/flashlight mode; aim the rear LED cluster, not the screen. Keep centimetres from the subject unless bouncing.
Bare LED is a speck beyond ~30 cm. Bounce off foam board or diffuse through paper before expecting usable face light.
Using the lit screen thinking it is the flashlight. Fix: rear LED on, screen off or face-down.
Tape a postage-stamp diffusion scrap over the LED for a softer macro key without losing the pocket form factor.
Foam board is the budget flag/bounce — white for fill, black for reflection control on products and faces.
Gels shift the hue of a light source — rims, backgrounds, and mood without repainting the room.
Snoots choke light into a small circle — surgical pools for drama, hair lights, and cross-light kickers.
Flags (cutters, barn doors, black flats) block light — they subtract instead of add.
Every matched setup is already shown above. Browse the library →
