Low-light portrait photography skills

Lead: How to shoot a good-looking portrait in low light? Learn from me!

Low light portrait photography skills 1. Looking for light.

The light distribution is uneven in low light environment, so portrait shooting needs to express facial expressions and expressions well. Therefore, it is more appropriate to choose the front light or side light, so that the face of the person can have relatively sufficient light, and the model is required to use the posture of leaning, supporting and supporting as much as possible when shooting to keep the body stable. If conditions permit, you can also fill the face with a reflector to make the portrait effect more prominent.

Second, balance light and shade.

The problem is not that the light in the whole photo is dark, but that some places in a scene are bright and some places are dark. The light and shade can't be controlled by the camera, so it is necessary to train and identify the evenly distributed positions of light sources at the beginning, so that the photos taken will be full and rich.

Third, use a lens with a large aperture.

? Big? Large aperture, such as f/ 1.2 or f/2. The larger the aperture, the greater the amount of light entering. In addition, in the case of shallow depth of field and insufficient light, it is really difficult to take clear photos. In that case, it's best to use f/ 1.2 or f/2 lens. When the aperture of most lenses is adjusted to f/2.8, images with good visual effect and sufficient depth of field can be taken.

Note: The aperture of most zoom lenses can be adjusted to f/2.8 in wide-angle shooting and f/4.5 in long-distance shooting, which is not suitable for shooting in limited light. In order to make up for the lack of brightness, you can use a flash or reflector to supplement some brightness for shooting.

Fourth, consider using a fixed-focus lens.

A fixed-focus lens is a lens with a fixed focal length, such as 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/ 1.8, 85mm f/ 1.2, etc. This kind of lens often has a large aperture, so it still has a good shooting effect in the case of insufficient light.

Fifth, increase sensitivity.

A camera that can increase sensitivity can definitely double the photographer's work efficiency. Today, many cameras can adjust the sensitivity to 3200, and the imaging effect is very good. High sensitivity is prone to some noise, but it doesn't matter, good photos always have some noise.

Note: If the brightness of the photos taken at the high IS0 setting is improved in the later period, the noise in the dark part will be obviously displayed, which will affect the image quality and should be properly applied.

Six, manual focus

When shooting portraits or body art, we usually point the central focus at the model's eyes, and then re-compose the composition by half pressing the shutter. In the dark environment, sometimes the subject's light is too dark and the contrast is too weak to focus and focus accurately. At this time, you need to use manual focusing or use a lens with full-time manual function to make manual adjustment at any time.

Seven, accurate measurement

In low light environment, the camera can be set to spot metering. Approaching the model, let the uniform area of the face of the person fill the viewfinder, half press the shutter, and measure a group of aperture and shutter combinations. Then set the shooting mode to manual mode (M), and set the parameters according to the previously measured aperture and shutter value to ensure the accurate exposure of the person's face.

Note: You may ask why not use a tripod? Tripod is very practical when shooting city night scenes, but real life is fleeting and won't stop for your convenience, so using tripod will delay your time.

Eight, fall in love with the vague background

Low-light portraits are usually shot with large aperture and shallow depth of field. Except for the characters (even if the characters can't ensure the overall clarity, the principle is to ensure that the face or eyes are clear), the others are vague and dark, which can highlight the theme of the characters. The distant lights are only dotted with hazy backgrounds, which is why almost all photographers like low-light portraits to varying degrees!

? ? ? Lead: Double exposure is a trick that every photographer is willing to try. The photos taken are hazy and artistic, so how to take double exposure with a film machine? Today, I will teach you some skills. Let's learn them quickly!

How does the film machine shoot double exposure effect? Because of taking pictures, we know people all over the world, and everyone's photos can reflect their uniqueness. Through re-exposure, we can communicate with each other and create surprises beyond national boundaries!

Holga 120N x Sigrid, re-exposed.

Repeated exposure is a very common technology in LOMO, not only because many LOMO cameras are intimately equipped with a repeated exposure button, which is extremely convenient to use; Some cameras can inadvertently repeat exposure indefinitely as long as they "forget" the film, which makes repeated exposure a very important feature in the LOMO image world!

There are two ways to repeat exposure. In addition to single-frame repeated exposure, you can also use the assistance of the film picker to hand over the film to another person or even shoot it with another machine. In the staggered pictures of different time and space, you can often play unexpected surprises! The most important thing is that the image obtained by repeated exposure is unique and precious!

LC-A+ Kodak EB3 x Twiggy, positive and negative exposure.

Which LOMO cameras can be re-exposed?

LC-A

You can "fool" the camera into repeated exposure by holding down the rewind key and the scroll when passing the film, but you have to bear the risk of film jumping and camera damage.

LC-A+

There is a re-exposure button, which can be re-exposed indefinitely with a click!

Moon butterfly

Because the film-passing button is not linked with the shutter, you can repeat the exposure several times as long as it does not pass the film.

Horga

Just like Diana's sister, as long as she doesn't pass the film, she can repeat the exposure indefinitely.

Smena 8M

There is a shutter reset button. Press it to start the shutter again and repeat the exposure.

LC-A+Fuji RDP3 x Twiggy+Sigrid

The re-exposure image created by the two together also has the effect of jumping, which is a perfect match.

Smena 8M x Virginia

The visual effect similar to image superposition is very interesting.

The repeated exposure and fantastic color atmosphere of Holga 120N x Sigrid are the characteristics of Holga.

Under the triple exposure, it is very rare that the character's posture can echo the background windmill.

Diana+x Virginia

Richard of LC-A x Twiggy Company

This is the result of Twiggy exchanging negatives with a foreign net friend. Both of them just photographed the red round object, forming a very psychedelic artistic conception.

Repeated exposure has secret skills

1. When shooting with LC-A, you can increase the exposure value of the negative film, reduce the light input and repeat the exposure, thus ensuring the ideal image quality after two exposures. For example, if ISO 100 negative is repeatedly exposed twice, as long as ASA is adjusted to 200, the light input can be halved; Repeat exposure three times, and so on.

2. When the same frame is to be repeatedly exposed, it is best to shoot the darker theme first, and then shoot the bright theme, so as to obtain a more balanced exposure and highlight the theme shot twice. This principle can be applied to models such as Holga, which cannot adjust the light input.

3. The tolerance of negative film is relatively high. Even if you forget to adjust the amount of light or follow the principle of dark first and then bright, you can still get a satisfactory image as long as you don't keep shooting under a strong light source.

Horga 120N x Virginia

Holga 120N x Virginia, like double exposure technology.

Diana F+ x sigrid

The overlapping of models makes the meaning of action more ambiguous and fascinating.

Smena 8 m x Virginia

Running the grid and re-exposure produce a fantastic effect on the original soft tone of the picture.

Horga 120N x Sigrid