Guidance of portrait shooting skills in night scene environment

Generally speaking, it is difficult to take portraits at night. At night, natural light is minimized or disappeared, and people's lighting depends entirely on artificial light. The color temperature of natural artificial light (street lamp, window lamp and shop lamp) is more complicated, and the illumination cannot meet the needs of reasonable exposure of portraits.

Because, often a scene will be illuminated by multiple light sources, and it will be messy if it is not handled well. If users shoot with external photography lights, they will face problems such as heavy equipment and troublesome placement. In the field of portrait photography, artificial lighting and capturing the natural state of models are always a pair of contradictions. While the artificial illumination position is fixed, it also restricts the natural expression of the model from the angle and light ratio. Many random moments and changeable shooting angles that express specific emotions will be forced to sacrifice because of relatively fixed lighting. Therefore, the actual shooting of night portraits in this chapter is done as far as possible without artificial lighting, and the key point involved is to make full use of the existing environmental light.

● Aperture: F 1.4 ● Shutter speed:1100s ● Focus: 35mm ● Sensitivity: 200 ● Exposure compensation: EV-0.7.

Model: Ace

Venue: Aocheng

Shooting time: 18:00-20:00

Practical essentials: Learn how to make full use of ambient light to shoot night portraits in low light, and master the camera settings, shooting ideas and specific skills of night portraits in combination with different scenes.

Selection of shooting time of portrait at night

The best time to shoot portraits at night is when the lights appear at dusk, which changes with the seasons. The shooting time of this group of photos is around September 19:00. The light is on, which means the street lamp is on, but the sky is not completely dark. At this time, the sky will not be dead black, and there will be a faint sky blue. The overall picture will make people feel richer. If it's all dark, you'll feel even less layered. This is also the best time to shoot night scenes.

Camera Settings for Shooting Night Portraits

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority (A) Mode Aperture Size: Set to the maximum aperture value of the lens. The scene light at night is generally in a low illumination state, which requires us to use the maximum aperture as much as possible to ensure the shutter speed. In this theme, the requirements for cameras and lenses have increased a lot. The good performance of large aperture lens in low light is also the biggest motivation for many enthusiasts to spare no effort to upgrade the lens. Sensitivity: Set to 400-800 In order to ensure a safe shutter speed (reciprocal of the focal length of the lens used), the shutter should be improved by setting the sensitivity on the premise that the aperture is opened to the maximum. Because it is exquisite portrait photography, we should try to get higher image quality, so unless it is extreme, the sensitivity should be set between 400-800 as far as possible.

Exposure compensation

When the aperture and sensitivity are set, the main parameter to be adjusted is exposure compensation during shooting. According to different lighting conditions, you can shoot works with different tones. Generally speaking, beginners may think that shooting night scenes needs to increase exposure compensation to get more details. In fact, in more cases, they should follow the exposure principle of "white plus black minus". Because most of the night scenes are in a weak light environment with many dark parts, the camera's metering system will automatically increase the exposure to ensure that the exposure is at the correct gray level, thus making the dark parts of the picture too bright. In fact, at this time, the camera slowed down the shutter speed, greatly increasing the possibility of virtual shooting, and at the same time losing the unique taste of portraits at night. Night images don't mean bright, but reasonable darkness is the unique charm of night images, which we will illustrate with examples in subsequent shooting.

Understand the exposure reasonably and keep the light and shadow atmosphere of the night scene.

Night portraits are characterized by the unique dark effect at night, which can be reasonably expressed through exposure control, rather than brightening the dark parts according to the camera's own judgment.

Shooting instructions

The second one IS a night scene photo with standard parameters set, which was taken by IS Xiaobai (Canon 70-200 is L). The maximum aperture allowed by the lens is 2.8, and the sensitivity is 400, and the exposure compensation has not been adjusted. We can see that the camera reduces the shutter speed to110s in order to get "enough" exposure for the scene with insufficient light, and the brightness of the scene and characters increases, but the characteristics of night light are lost, and the picture floats pale, which is the result of forced exposure. The exposure compensation for the second shot was adjusted to -0.5. As you can see, the color of the film has sunk, and the shutter speed has also increased with the taste of the night scene. This is the general principle of night scene shooting, and the exposure compensation should be reduced.

Take a picture of the combination of motion and static with a slow door.

The slow door can make the moving object have a smear effect and keep the protagonist relatively stable. On the one hand, it can increase the chances of real shooting, on the other hand, it can take pictures with moving objects as the background.

Shooting instructions

When shooting with a 35L fixed-focus lens, the maximum aperture is 1.4, which can ensure good details even in low light. Please note that the sensitivity is not increased to 800 to obtain a higher shutter speed. The purpose is to use the slow door to make the car behind the model trail, which forms a dynamic and static contrast with the quiet artistic conception of the model. Pay attention to the blue sky in the distance. This is the shooting opportunity mentioned before. If the sky is completely black at this time, the overall color and tone of the picture will appear depressed. At the same time, pay attention to the light at the shooting scene. There is a street lamp on the right side of the model, which can get more light, so the model's face always faces to the right. It will be difficult to focus when shooting in low light, so be sure to pay attention to prevent out-of-focus, focus on the model's eyes, and then press the shutter after repeated confirmation.

Make full use of ambient light sources at night.

Although the night scene belongs to the weak light environment, you can still find the available artificial light source and make full use of it to make people get the ideal supplementary light.

Shooting instructions

When shooting, I noticed the application of street view vanishing point, and the blur of distant lights highlighted the characteristics of night scene environment. The light above the model comes from street lamps, and the position is also considered in advance.

Shooting instructions

Still use ambient light, the lighting of roadside street lamps is very important. The model's face rushed to the street lamp and tilted slightly upward, so that the face would have a natural brightness higher than the environment, and then stand out from the dark environment. This kind of light will not be abrupt, and it can be well blended with ambient light.

Different framing ranges bring different environmental demands.

And through different framing and composition, as the scene is more and more fully explained, the scene explained by the picture is more and more full.

Shooting instructions

The glass wall of the front hall at one end of the building has sufficient lighting, forming a natural transition of light and shadow on the ground. Let the model get close to the glass window, and the face will get soft light without strong shadow. At the same time, the bright light contrasts well with the dark night scene in the distance, and the colored lights contrast well with the clean and solid glass wall. When shooting, the focus and metering points are on the model's face, which moderately reduces the exposure compensation and retains the relatively mysterious and quiet light atmosphere of the night scene. The four photos use different focal lengths, so you can experience the combination of environment and characters' emotions in different scenes and the rendering of the picture atmosphere.

Shooting instructions

Switch to the other side to shoot, always take the model's face as the metering point and focus on the model's eyes. Because the model's face is in the brightest position, measuring light on the face is actually equivalent to measuring light on the brightness, and the camera will automatically reduce the exposure value of the picture. In order to avoid underexposure of the whole environment, exposure compensation can be appropriately increased to achieve a more harmonious balance between people and the environment. Pay attention to the influence of different framing ranges on the language expression of the picture. Models can walk around the glass window at will to get emotional moments. The model pulls up a little skirt angle and the overall posture is vivid.

Appropriate angle to avoid the interference of chaotic environment.

Elevation photography can effectively avoid the appearance of messy elements in the visual field, and it is a common method to simplify composition in complex environment.

Shooting instructions

The square at night is a mess, and there will be a lot of messy lines and pedestrians entering the picture. When shooting, I noticed that the architectural lights were arranged in a circular line at the top of the building. I shot it at a low angle and used this arc. At the same time, I used an overhead angle to prevent other interference elements from entering the picture.

Shooting skills in low light environment

Shooting in low light environment is the biggest test of the high sensitivity of lens and camera, and using large aperture fixed focus lens is the necessary guarantee for this kind of shooting.

Shooting instructions

This group of photos was taken in front of a fashionable home store. The light of various decorative lights is very soft, forming a comfortable transition between light and shade. Keep the model's face as close to the lamp as possible to get enough light. At this time, we should pay special attention to the principles mentioned above. Because most scenes are in the dark, the camera's automatic metering system often exposes the whole scene to brighter light, thus losing the mysterious dark effect. Therefore, in the shooting process, exposure compensation of -0.3 is adopted to ensure enough dark areas. The second photo, enlarged, contains the whole scene and gets enough details and information. The bright part on the left side contrasts with the dark part on the right side, so that the audience's eyes naturally turn to the bright part. At the same time, the cool color of green on the right side and the warm color of orange on the left side also form a good contrast, making the picture more changeable.

Make full use of and schedule every element in the scene.

In shooting, we should fully observe the various elements of the shooting scene, consider the relationship between them, and creatively use them to make each element support the theme and composition of the picture.

Shooting instructions

In the first photo, the door held by the model was closed. Let the model open it and you can see all kinds of photos and ornaments posted on doors and windows, so as to get more details of the scene. The second photo was taken in the porch position, mainly focusing on the decoration and details at the bottom. This is the active cooperation between the pose of the model and the scene. For some low scenes, you can try shooting at a low angle. In order to maintain the poor light effect of the environment and reduce exposure compensation, we should pay attention to the shutter speed when shooting. If you feel that you can't guarantee the stability of shooting, increase the sensitivity step by step.

The photo below is a dense composition work with many elements in the picture. This kind of picture is a little difficult to process, and the key is to achieve the effect of mixing without chaos. Due to the weak light at night, the pictures are basically illuminated by the lights in the store, and the whole picture presents a unified yellowish tone. Although there are many objects in the picture, there are no strong jumping out or conflicting colors, and the overall feeling is very harmonious. The electric car on the left and the blackboard on the right are symmetrical with the model as the balance point, and the relationship between the elements is well balanced.

In this photo, the quiet state of the model determines the tone of the quiet atmosphere of the picture. The details of various items in the window behind it give viewers more browsing space, and the rabbit in the lower right corner adds interest and plot to the picture.

Shooting instructions

This photo was taken under another window. If the picture is rich in details, it will increase tolerance. The clothes worn by the model are mainly light colors in a large area, so although the various elements in the window are very complicated, the picture does not appear messy, which is the unity of opposites produced by density contrast.

Application of "Focus Trap" in Dynamic Shooting

Accurate accumulation in dynamic shooting has always been a difficulty in shooting. Real dynamic capture depends not only on rich experience but also on luck. This is especially true when shooting in low light at night. At this time, the application of "focus trap" will greatly improve the hit rate. The two photos in this example are dynamic shots, which are typical shots of "grasping middle swing" and "grasping middle swing". In the case of large aperture, it is difficult to achieve such a work if it is captured by real motion. The shooting method is to give the model a general moving range, which is an action interval determined when the model is in the best position in the composition. The scope can't be very large, just one step back and forth. First, let the model go to the shooting position, half press the shutter to focus on her face or eyes, then keep the half press state and keep the seat still, thus locking the focus. At this time, let the model take a step back and then move forward dynamically. When her face reaches the position where she locked the focus before, she can get a clear focus by pressing the shutter. This is the so-called "focus trap" In the process of moving forward, you can fully mobilize the model's emotions, let her enter a relaxed state, try a few times more, and you can get a relaxed and natural instant effect.

Shooting instructions

Because there are bright lights in front of the shop where the model is located, it illuminates her body and makes her stand out in the dark background. The darkness behind increases the depth of the photo space, and also renders a quiet environment and a slightly mysterious atmosphere. Various colors of goods in the window are the reason to take pictures from this angle. The picture is rich in color and structure, and it will not be monotonous and interesting. The model walked by with her head down, which increased the sense of movement, and the casual expression made the picture more vivid.