Neon Lighting

Lighting that bathes people and spaces in distinctly colored light rather than white, using color filters (gels), color-changing LEDs or neon signs. Neon light reflects off wet floors and glass, changing the color of surrounding surfaces too. Limiting it to a few colors keeps the image looking orderly.

Lighting positions seen from above. A pink (magenta) light about 70° to the camera’s left and a sky-blue (cyan) light about 70° to the right.

Camera view. The left of the face glows pink and the right glows sky blue, each side a different color.

How it feels

City night
Cyberpunk
Unreal
Dreamy
Eerie

When to use it

A rainy night street, neon reflected in wet asphalt
Clubs and music videos
Future cities and cyberpunk
In front of a shop with its neon sign on

In the movies

Skyfall (2012) · Source: James Bond 007 (YouTube) · Original video

Not to be confused with

Color Temperature: Color temperature is the range within white light, from orange to blue. Neon lighting is distinct color outside that range.
Practical Light: If the neon sign itself is visible in frame, it is also a practical, a light source seen in the scene.
Low-key: Low-key is the name of a tone; neon is the name of a light’s color. Add colored light to a dark background and you are using both.

Prompt

Keyword

neon lighting

Descriptive

Neon lighting. Hot pink and electric blue neon signs cast colored light on the face and reflect on wet pavement.

Try these combinations

Close-up + neon: a cyberpunk night
Close-up, neon lighting in hot pink and electric blue only, rain on the face, a cyberpunk street at night
Wide shot + neon: a rainy night street
Wide shot, neon signs reflecting in puddles, wet pavement, a lone figure with an umbrella