Do you need some last-minute gift ideas? You certainly aren’t the only one. If you are shopping for a photography enthusiast, you’re reading the right article. We’ve peeked in Santa’s sack and gathered a few great ideas from our photographers and editors that certainly won’t disappoint. If you’ve just added several pairs of Christmas socks to your shopping cart, you can cancel your order. 

Permanent lights for photography come in a variety of colors and shapes. Among the more exotic of these lights are LED ring lights. And we were interested in seeing what all you can conjure up with ring lights, so we gave one of them a thorough test run. Naturally we didn’t keep the results just for ourselves. We were surprised to see how much this light could do—the effects it produces are attractive, and it’s easy to work with. But we won’t stick to just theory; we’ll also show you how to work with ring lights in practice.

In this article I’ll be taking an in-depth look at one specific type of permanent photographic light—the Yongnuo YN360 RGB LED light stick. Let’s go through a few examples to see what light sticks are useful for and how they can make your work easier. As you’ll see for yourself, they’re a truly practical and creative bit of gear.