Table of Contents
Portrait Photography Skills
④ Studio lighting techniques
- Choose the right light distance
First of all, the size of the lamp distance directly affects the light intensity of the subject. The received light intensity of the subject changes according to the reciprocal of the square of the lamp distance, and the light intensity varies greatly with the lamp distance. In addition, the size of the light distance will also affect the contrast between light and dark of the subject. When the lamp distance is small and the area of the light source is smaller than the subject, the light source can be regarded as a point light source, and the contrast of the subject is relatively large. Conversely, when the lamp distance is large, the light source can be regarded as a surface light source, and the contrast of the subject is small.
- Use as few lamps as possible
In lighting, it is not that the more lamps are used, the better. Too many lamps and lanterns are used, which not only makes the lighting arrangement appear complicated, but also brings chaotic projections. The elimination of these projections is often difficult. Therefore, in the lighting, it is necessary to use as few lamps as possible, and when necessary, a reflector can be used to fill the light.
- Multi-purpose reflector
It is recommended to use more reflectors in lighting. In addition to it is unlikely to produce disgusting projections, it also lies in the fact that various reflectors can provide reflected light with different light properties, and it is easy to control the effect.
The reflector can not only illuminate the main light, but also illuminate the dark part of the subject. It can even be cut according to the needs of lighting and the shape of the subject to fill some parts of the subject. So as to control the light domain extremely well.
In advertising photography, there is often a phenomenon that the number of reflectors used is more than the number of lamps. For an advertising photographer, whether the reflectors can be used flexibly and effectively is a sign of whether their lighting is mature.
- Proper light ratio control
The light ratio control in lighting involves the contrast of the subject itself and the contrast between the subject, companion and background in the picture. It also determines the tone of the entire picture and the texture and detail of the subject.
The light ratio control in lighting is generally based on the principle of truly representing the inherent surface brightness, texture and color of the subject itself. If you want to show its elegance and cleanliness to the white subject, the subject should be treated with a high profile. The black subject should show its depth and dignity, and the subject should be treated as a low-key. Of course, under the premise of not violating the advertising creativity, photographers can also creatively control the light ratio according to their own personality and habits, in order to obtain new ideas in lighting.
(2) Choose the shooting angle
The basic method of choosing the shooting angle to modify the subject is to make full use of the perspective phenomenon. Generally, the blind spots and perspective habits of the eyes are used to highlight the parts that you want to beautify, and to transfer the defects you want to cover to places that you can’t see.
For example, using a lens with a longer focal length to shoot 3/4 side of the subject can shape the wider face to be thinner, and you can also place the insufficient part on the 1/4 side that is out of sight. superior.
Not only that, choosing different shooting angles can also make the advantages of the subject more obvious. For example, when shooting women, choosing the front side or the side can well highlight the beautiful body curves of women, and the effect is much better than that of frontal shooting.
Compared with the lighting method, the application range of selecting the shooting angle is wider. Of course, it has great flexibility in application, and it is even more difficult to master. Therefore, the choice and determination of the shooting angle should be studied.
The choice of shooting angle includes the choice of shooting direction and shooting height. The choice of shooting angle is very important in portrait photography. A slight change in the shooting angle will have a significant impact on the image and posture of the subject.
The selection of the shooting direction refers to the change of the front, back, left, and right positions of the camera in the horizontal position with the subject as the center. Sometimes you can ask the subject to change the direction to get the shooting effect in different directions. There are mainly the following options for shooting direction in portrait photography:
front Photo
Taking pictures of people in a frontal direction can well represent the frontal characteristics of the subject. All parts of the person’s face are in equal symmetrical positions, giving people a sense of quiet, solemn, and solemnity.
Front side view
This shooting direction is the most commonly used in portrait photography, because this shooting direction can not only show the front structure and side structure of the subject, but also can well show the ridgeline of the combination of these two surfaces, making the subject The image, contour and three-dimensional effect of the camera are fully expressed. The characters shot in this direction are not in the same position in all parts of the picture. Therefore, the image in the picture appears lively and full of changes. The whole picture has momentum and obvious directionality.
Side view
When shooting, the camera is facing the side of the subject to shoot to show the profile image and line structure of the subject. Since shooting in this direction can fully express the profile of the subject, this shooting direction is often used when shooting silhouette photos. At the same time, side-side shooting has strong momentum and directionality, so when shooting people moving forward at high speed, side-side shooting is often used.
Back photo
In portrait photography, it is rare to shoot from the direction behind the subject, and it is only used in some special circumstances. Backside shooting can show the characteristics of the subject’s backside and guide the viewer’s vision to develop in depth. When choosing the back direction to shoot a person, we must pay attention to the characteristics of the subject’s back.
Under the premise that the shooting direction remains the same, changing the shooting height will change the perspective relationship of the captured picture. In portrait photography, due to changes in height, the following shooting angles often appear.
Elevation shooting
Using a low angle to shoot the person upside down can show the tall image of the subject while also purifying the background. A full-body photo of a person from the back can show the subject’s slender legs. It is not advisable to take a frontal angle for people with a large face, so as not to expose their shortcomings too much.
Horizontal shot
Refers to the height of the eyeglasses when the subject is upright. The perspective relationship of each part of the scene in the picture taken from the head-up shooting angle is in line with the psychology of normal people’s visual observation, and the composition is stable without special changes.
Overview shooting
When shooting close-up shots of people, if you use a high degree of tilt, it is easy to form large and small deformations. When shooting young girls, using this angle to shoot is easy to form a beautiful “melon seed face” effect. For women with wider and fatter faces, you can choose this height for shooting. But for those who are thinner and have a bald face with a big face, this angle is not suitable for shooting. When shooting full-body photos, generally do not use this angle of shooting.
It should also be pointed out here that in portrait photography, choosing different shooting angles will produce different compositional artistic effects in the shots of people. The choice of shooting height should be determined according to the specific situation of the subject and his own creative artistic concept.
Makeup
The use of makeup techniques to conceal the defects of the subject is also a very common basic technique in portrait photography. Such as removing wrinkles on the hands and face, changing the reflection of the face and cheekbones to help change the shape of the face, etc. But when you make up, you must remember to be modest, otherwise the effect of make-up is too heavy and it looks too false.
Makeup is just one of the styling techniques, there are two taboos: messy and excessive. And the ultimate goal of makeup styling should be to make the audience invisible in the final photo that the subject is shaped by makeup styling.
Posture processing and expression capture
Handling of posture
In portrait photography, you often encounter the problem of posing the subject. In fact, the postures and gestures of the characters are expressive and expressive. Therefore, the character’s posture and the handling of hands and feet are an important part of portraying the character’s character and forming the visual beauty of the picture.
The expression of the posture is mainly expressed by the posture of the head and the posture of the body. The orientation of the face and the tilt of the face are all different. Generally, facing the right face is more in line with people’s visual habits, and facing the left can increase the mystery.
The body posture generally does not take the frontal straight line, because taking the frontal straight line will appear serious and dull. The body is expressed in a curved line, and the face half side facing the camera is more expressive. There should be a certain difference in the orientation of the face and body, so that it will appear natural and full of change.
Of course, as the most expressive human body in the world, it is difficult to apply any fixed style. Especially modern portrait photography pays more attention to simplicity and nature. Here is a brief introduction to the general principles of posture and gesture arrangement in portrait photography.
- Models should be relaxed and casual
The Creator has created the most harmonious and perfect body for mankind, so we often see a lot of well-proportioned girls, no matter how they move, they are beautiful. Because human joints and lines almost contain the rhythm of art. Relaxation and randomness can make the body’s own beauty be fully utilized. On the contrary, pretending to be a posture and being confused about what to do will destroy the innate beauty of people. Generally speaking, no matter what the posture, as long as the subject feels relaxed and comfortable, others will look more natural, and will not feel rigid and rigid. Therefore, the arrangement of posture and gestures in portrait photography must first make the subject feel natural and relaxed.
- The model’s posture and gestures should be consistent with emotions
The hands, feet and body posture are the same as the face and eyes, which are important parts of expressing emotions. Therefore, the hands, feet and body posture should be used to portray the character of the character. If the hands, feet, and body posture are inconsistent with the character’s expression and personality due to pretentious posture or rigidity, they will look uncomfortable. If the hands, feet and body posture can be integrated into the overall emotional expression and character portrayal of the character, and make it an inseparable part of the image expression, then the handling of the hands, feet and posture will be successful.
- The author should often study and imitate successful portrait works
There is no shortage of classic and famous portrait photography works at home and abroad. The postures and gestures of the characters in these works can be said to be varied and natural and harmonious, and they are worthy of our imitation and reference. It should be said that learning the arrangement of postures and gestures in portrait photography should start with imitating famous classics, find out the rules from them, and practice for a long time, and finally achieve the ability to independently design and create photographic portraits with personal style.
Professional photographers have also summarized some of the more commonly used postures for us. You can see that various postures including lying, sitting, lying, squatting, standing, etc. are summarized. Among them, there are 8 choices for the hug posture. Of course, postures including headaches, toothaches, and backaches are also summarized here.
(To Be Continued)