SLR Practical Course-Portrait Lighting Skills

lighting skills in portrait photography

light texture

uncontrollable natural light has always been a difficult problem. Even if the weather is beautiful, the intensity of light is still difficult to control. Let's first understand the characteristics of light with different textures-

▎ hard light

The utilization rate of hard light in portrait shooting is not high, because it is difficult to control the contrast between light and dark and the light ratio. We usually control the light ratio to about 1:2 when shooting soft female portraits, but it is difficult to achieve it when using hard light. If we want to solve this problem, we can use a reflector to supplement the light and weaken the contrast between light and shade of portrait faces by reflecting the light.

However, if you want to emphasize the emotion of the picture through hard light, hard light still has its merits. At this time, we only need to pay attention to how to strengthen the modeling effect through the environment. When shooting with hard light, it is very important to control the exposure. During exposure, you can overexpose for half a level to increase the contrast of the picture. Or underexposed half a level to lower the tone and express different emotions.

▎ Soft light

Soft light is the opposite of hard light, and a broad light source can soften shadows, reduce contrast and soften the texture of the subject. Therefore, it is often used when shooting women. It can make skin look whiter, more transparent and smoother. The whole scene will also be brighter, reducing the intensity of shadows. Soft light is more suitable for shooting the middle shot and those smaller compositions than the middle shot, which can better highlight the texture of the characters.

There are many ways to get soft light-

1. A white sheet can turn direct light into soft light. Pale colors, such as white umbrellas, can be used as light softening equipment.

2. Backlight can also be used as a light source of soft light. Few subjects are illuminated only by backlight. If a person stands in front of a bright window, the wall he faces will reflect some light and fall on him. If a person is outdoors, even if the background is bright sunshine, there will be light from the sky on the front. You can use a reflector to reflect the backlight back to the subject to increase its exposure.

3. Choose days with thick clouds, such as cloudy days and foggy weather. At this time, the light source will be wide and not concentrated, and the water vapor in the sky will be like a giant soft box, softening the sunlight.

Friendly reminder: When shooting in soft light, the exposure can be increased by half or one step, which will make the model's skin whiter and more transparent.

the choice of light level

▎ sunlighting

sunlighting is a form of light projecting to the front of a character. Uniform intensity and good exposure control. This kind of light allows most of the figures to get enough light, without forming a strong contrast between light and shade. It is more suitable for shooting small scenes such as close-ups and close-ups, and can show the facial details or characteristics of people in detail.

Disadvantages: the light is flat, and the key points cannot be highlighted.

tip: you should not overexpose when shooting in the light, and generally you can get the ideal effect by using average metering.

▎ Backlight

Backlight refers to the light form of the light source behind the figure, which is easy to outline the figure. It is beneficial to the convex shape. Backlight is more suitable for scenes above the middle scene, such as panorama or distant view. This kind of scenery can not only reflect the shape of the model, but also explain the environment to a certain extent and enrich the layering of the picture.

Tip:

When shooting the silhouette effect, the metering point can be selected at the edge of the model's body, where the light is the brightest part of the whole picture. In addition, the lower the projection angle of light, the more obvious the silhouette effect. So the time can be chosen at sunset or early morning. However, the use of backlight is not always a silhouette effect, and details can be preserved by controlling exposure. At this time, the metering point can be selected in the hair illuminated by light or the face of the person. This backlight effect is more common in photo portraits.

▎ Side light

Side light refers to the light source projecting from the side, which can strengthen the texture of the subject. If used properly, it can more strongly reflect the character and emotion of the characters. Side light can shoot many different scenes. The atmosphere created by the big scene is stronger; The small scene makes the model look thinner.

Disadvantages: It may make a person's face half glowing and half in the shadow, which will lead to a "yin and yang face".

tip: if you want to photograph a pet's furry hair, you can knock off the light source from the side, which will make the texture of the hair more obvious.

side backlight is derived from backlight. It illuminates people's hair from the side and rear, making it show some emotions in the backlight, and it will not hide the front details of the model. When shooting with side backlight, if the metering point is in the illuminated part of the face, the exposure needs to be overexposed for about one step to ensure that the facial details of the model are not suppressed by darkness.

you can choose a scene below the middle scene, such as a close-up or close-up. It will be more full and vivid to express it with side backlight.

The front side light is the light that evolved from the side light and shaped the model. Shooting with front light can make the model turn to the direction of light source and enhance the three-dimensional sense of her face. Use soft light to make the transition of light more natural. Pay attention to choose the transition area of the face light and dark to measure light, so as to keep more layers of the model's face.

▎ Top light

Top light is generally not used for portrait shooting, but it's also good if we can make reasonable use of the feeling that this light falls from above.

Disadvantages: The direct illumination of the top light on the human face will protrude the forehead and cheekbones of the mannequin, and the effect will be a little scary and uncomfortable.

tip: when encountering the top light, it is much better to let people lie on the ground and shoot than to stand. If it is necessary to show the feeling of light on the characters, it is necessary to overexpose them, so as to reflect the sense of light through the enhancement of brightness. If you shoot at noon, the effect will be more obvious if you use a light-transmitting white barrier to soften the light.