Tropical light is the best and the most treacherous in the world. In Costa Rica you can have perfect light at seven in the morning and full cloud at ten past. Working with that, rather than against it, is the skill.

The window first

Face a window, with the camera between you and the glass. Not to the side, not with your back to it. With your back to it you become a silhouette, and that single decision ruins more pieces than anything else.

Look for indirect light: an overcast sky or a lit wall, not sun hitting you head on.

The tropical midday sun

Between eleven and two the sun falls almost vertically. It is the worst light for a face: it carves shadows under the eyes, blows out the forehead and forgives nothing.

If you must film at that hour, use a thin white curtain or film under an overhang, with open sky in front of you as a bounce. Never under a tree with moving leaves: the light flickers and the video becomes unusable.

The rainy season, planned

From May to November, mornings are usually clear and afternoons close in. It is so predictable that you can plan a whole week around it.

Film in the morning, edit in the afternoon. Creators who organise this way deliver on time all year; those who improvise ask for extensions every October.

One practical note: an overcast sky is not bad news. It is a giant free diffuser, and it gives the most flattering light there is for beauty pieces.

What to buy when natural light is not enough

An LED panel with adjustable temperature and a diffuser. With a single light at forty five degrees from your face, just above eye level, you are already ahead of ninety per cent of what gets delivered.

Watch the humidity: keep the light and the batteries in an airtight box with silica.

Mistakes that show instantly

The ceiling light on together with window light: two different temperatures and a muddy image. Filming into the light. Filming under greenish fluorescent lighting. And using the phone flash, which flattens everything.

The product's light matters too

When filming detail, turn the product until the light hits it from the side. Side light reveals texture; frontal light erases it. In coffee, cosmetics and food, that difference is half the sale.

How to check it is right

Film ten seconds and watch them on your phone at minimum brightness. If it looks good there, it will look good on any screen.

Where to go next

Good light and good sound are worth more than any expensive camera. Our guide on how to become a UGC creator covers the rest.