How to use live light to shoot night scene portraits

Introduction: Many photography tutorials will mention the shooting of night scene portraits, but they will undoubtedly point out that a flash should be used when shooting, the shutter speed needs to be longer, and a tripod is needed. But for those who are accustomed to using ambient light, I would say that a lens with a large enough aperture of 1.8 or above is enough. I recommend 501.4 and 501.8, which are entry-level, simple and easy to use. Let’s take a look!

Of course, when shooting in the dark night, you need to have a pair of keen eyes, always observe the direction and color of the surrounding light source, and the camera’s shutter ISO color temperature should also be adjusted at any time.

I have never liked using flash ~ I feel that the flash light may destroy the quietness of the night and make it difficult for the subjects to relax (for first time guests) and it is troublesome. I would rather have a realistic story shot at night Feeling stronger.

Tips on shooting:

1. For night scene portraits, the main light sources are street lights, window lights in large shopping malls, and the headlights of passing vehicles. If you use these well, it is enough. . So if you look closely at my photos, I see that the places where the model’s face is facing are all places with light sources (forward lighting), or side lighting is also commonly used, but some of them are shot with brighter background street lights to create a backlighting effect. Generally, the ISO for night scenes is 1000-4000, and 6400 is used in some scenes. Don’t worry about the heavier noise. I use Canon 5D2 and Sigma 501.4. Although there is noise, it has a retro feel. A little noise will not affect the effect. If you think the noise is ugly, you can reduce the noise in Lightroom. ?

2. Before shooting, you need to be familiar with the lighting of the location where you want to shoot, and decide whether the color tone you want to shoot is more yellow or blue. This is the adjustment of color temperature. The lights on the streets at night are more complicated. Some of the lights are yellowish, and some are white and bluish fluorescent lights, so the color tone of your photo is basically determined in the early stage, and you can simply adjust it in the later stage. The whiter colors in the photos I took are the effect of fluorescent lights, while the warmer colors are the effect of dim street lights.

3. I use M mode and spot metering. One of the more challenging things about shooting at night is that you have to adjust your camera parameters at any time because the light and shade changes greatly. The aperture can generally be larger. Many people like the spot effect of a large aperture at night. I usually set it at 1.8 (the Sigma will lose focus when it is set to the maximum), so I can try out the beautiful wide aperture with a small spittoon.

4. Focusing. It may be difficult to focus at night in a dark environment, so you must be patient. You can focus on the girl’s face first, then press the shutter halfway and then compose the picture.

5. Regarding clothing, because my shooting style may be more life-oriented, I generally don’t have high requirements for clothes. Generally, the clothes are mainly plain colors, preferably white series.

Especially at night, the clothing is also an automatic reflector and is not very depressing. However, if you want to create a depressing mood or other atmosphere, you can try other colors.

6. Regarding the later stage, my later stage is generally relatively simple.

The tools exported from Lightroom (RAW) to Photoshop, including the Stamp tool, Liquify, Color Balance, Natural Saturation, Contrast, and Selectable Colors, will all be slightly adjusted without making any major changes. Try to keep the original image as close as possible. Basically make it more perfect.