Table of Contents
1. Choose a Vivid and Concise Background
A good portrait photography work should strive to highlight the model, distinguishing the primary and secondary, in order to achieve a concise and bright artistic effect. The focus of portrait photography is to reflect the appearance and temperament of people. The background should be as simple and vivid as possible. In this way, there is more space to express the main character. So as to avoid the unclear subject and make the characters more vivid.
Highlight the characters with a concise background
To obtain professional results, it is necessary to minimize distracting background factors. A concise and coordinated background can better highlight the characters. The walls of the building are the easiest monochrome background to find. Can avoid the cluttered background distracting the audience’s attention. The gray walls of modern buildings have wider adaptability.
Classical girl in front of the red wall
The red walls of ancient buildings are very suitable for traditional clothing such as cheongsam, expressing the classic and subtle beauty. When shooting such scenes, try to choose the same color of clothing and props, so that the whole picture is integrated. The subtle and introverted expressions and movements can also better express the classical charm.
Tips:
Pay attention to the choice and matching of clothing. When choosing the wall, try to avoid complicated patterns to distract the audience. The gray walls and glass curtains of modern buildings are also good choices. Clothing should be able to form a sharp contrast with the background. Dark clothing should be set against a bright background, and bright clothing should be set against a dark background, so that the model will stand out more.
When shooting in an open area, the trees, pedestrians, and the horizon behind it can easily divide the background, interfere with the line of sight, and make the picture appear cluttered. You can look down, try to shoot from a high place or let the model lie down to shoot, the grass itself is a good background.
Lovers on the grass
The fresh grass is like a big carpet, simple and full of life. Take the grass as the background and take the shot from above, which can effectively avoid the interference of the surrounding environment. A bunch of red roses with small dots creates a romantic and beautiful atmosphere while enriching the colors and layers of the picture.
2. Choose an Infectious Background
When using a wide-angle lens to shoot portraits, the scope of the environment is very large, and it is difficult to highlight the characters with a shallow depth of field. In this case, you need to choose the background more carefully. An effective method is to separate the characters from the picture first, and see if the environment itself is a good scenery or sketch work after removing the characters. If this requirement is met and the characters are arranged in a suitable position, a satisfactory work will usually be obtained.
Girl in the morning light
In the early morning, the warm sunlight pierced through the layers of leaves, emitting strands of light. This in itself is a beautiful landscape photography. Arrange the position of the model according to the rule of thirds, with the eyes closed slightly, and enjoy a good time in the sun.
Use Shallow Depth of Field to Blur the Background
Portrait photography often uses a large aperture around f/2.8. In addition to getting enough light in a dark environment, the most attractive is the shallow depth of field effect of the blurred background. The charming background blur will make the background more concise.
When you want to blur the background, pay attention to the following points:
★Professional photographers usually use large-aperture lenses with a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8 to shoot such effects. 70mm～200mm f/2.8, 24mm～70mmf/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.2, 135mm f/2, these are more common lenses for shooting portraits with shallow depth of field.
★Avoid using the maximum aperture of the lens. The maximum aperture image quality of each lens has been reduced. The aperture value for the best image quality is to reduce the maximum aperture by 1 to 2 stops.
★ Avoid using too large apertures such as f/1.2 and f/1.4. If the aperture is too large, it is easy to focus errors or have clear eyes and blurred nose.
11Close to the subject, keep the model away from the background and use a longer focal length to shoot, it is enough to enhance the blur effect.
Blur the Messy Background
Using shallow depth of field to blur the background can better highlight the feminine lines and facial features. When choosing a background, you should also pay attention to the cleanness and elegance of the picture, emphasizing the warm and romantic style. You can’t choose scenes without principle just because the background is blurred.
Create an Atmosphere with a Blurred Foreground
In addition to shooting shallow depth-of-field portrait effects with blurred background, you can also create a different atmosphere by designing and arranging the scene to make the blur appear before the portrait.
Aesthetic atmosphere with blurred foreground
In this work, photographer has arranged some small branches specially on the left front of the model, and then shot it with an aperture of f/2.8 and a telephoto of 148mm. Since the focus is on the subject portrait behind the leaves, the foreground is out of the depth of field, so it is naturally blurred.