Photography technology teaches you how to make photos more three-dimensional and layered

Photography technology teaches you how to make photos more three-dimensional and layered

The content of this article mainly introduces to you the origin of the layered and three-dimensional feeling in photography works.

The world is three-dimensional, but photos are two-dimensional. To express three-dimensional levels on a plane, countless explorations have been made in the development of painting technology for thousands of years. We photographers can also learn the expression techniques of layering and three-dimensionality from painting theory.

To express three-dimensional space, photos need to have a sense of layering and three-dimensionality. And these two terms are different.

The sense of hierarchy refers to the hierarchical relationship between objects, reflected in the near and far. The three-dimensional sense refers to the three-dimensional reality shown by each object itself.

In art and photography, three major planes and five tones can help us create a three-dimensional sense, while the sense of layering mainly comes from occlusion, vertical perspective, linear perspective and the sense of air.

The three major faces and five tones originated from the Western sketch system, which expresses the division of light and dark areas of an object after being exposed to light, and is an important means of expressing a three-dimensional effect.

The three major sides refer to the bright side, the dark side and the gray side.

The bright side is the side of the object that is directly illuminated by light. It is usually the brightest light gray or white in the image. The dark side is the backlit side, so it is generally the darkest part of the object, showing black or dark gray. The gray surface is between the bright surface and the dark surface. It is usually the part illuminated by side light or indirect light. It is generally medium gray in the image.

After an object has three major sides: light, dark and gray, the three-dimensional effect will be greatly improved. Moreover, the stronger the brightness contrast between the bright side and the dark side, the stronger the three-dimensional effect of light.

When we shoot in the early stage, we will find that objects that are completely forward-lit or backlit will have a poor three-dimensional effect.

Objects with side light, side backlight, or side light will have a stronger three-dimensional effect.

Both are hot air balloons. Why does the backlit hot air balloon look very flat, while the side lit hot air balloon is full of three-dimensionality?

Because of the front-lit and back-lit photos, the objects in the picture have only one side and no change in light and dark. In the side-lit photos, the object appears in a combination of bright, gray, and dark surfaces, making the three-dimensional effect more obvious.

Therefore, in order to express the three-dimensional sense of an object, we should try to use side light shooting.

In addition to the early stage, we can also apply the relevant knowledge of the three major aspects in the later stage to strengthen or even create the three-dimensional sense of the object.

For example, the picture below is a ball. Since all areas of the ball have the same brightness, it looks very flat.

If we want to increase its three-dimensionality in the later stage, we only need to use the Burn and Dodge tool to create three major surfaces inside the ball.

You can also use the coloring enhancement in Kaibei Photoshop: texture enhancement, layer enhancement

Use the burn tool to darken the lower left corner of the ball to give the ball a dark side. Use the Dodge Tool to brighten the upper right corner of the ball to give it a shiny surface. Where the light and dark surfaces meet, a natural transition forms a gray surface.

After drawing the three major surfaces in the later stage, the ball finally had a three-dimensional feel.

We can further brighten the upper right corner and darken the lower left corner to increase the contrast between the bright and dark sides, thereby enhancing the three-dimensional sense of light and shadow on the ball.

The photo below is of the famous Kawaguchi Tower in Pakistan, but the three-dimensional effect of the photo is not strong enough now.

So in the later stage, I used texture enhancement and layer enhancement here; to brighten the areas marked with "1" in the picture below, strengthen or even create the bright side of the object, and darken the areas marked with "3" in the picture below. area, and further reduce the brightness of the dark side in the later stage. The area marked by "2" is naturally processed into a gray surface.

With the three major faces with more prominent contrast, whether it is clouds or snow-capped mountains, the three-dimensional effect is greatly enhanced.

The above three major surfaces only consider the single object itself. In many cases, objects will also interact with surrounding objects. Therefore, in addition to the three major surfaces, the object will also have richer light and dark levels, which is the five tones.

Among the five tones, the highlight is the brightest point of the object and the part that directly reflects the light source, similar to the bright surface among the three major surfaces. On some smooth object surfaces, highlights will stand out particularly well. Highlighting the highlights of an object can not only enhance the three-dimensional effect, but also increase the texture of the object.

The bright gray is similar to the gray surface among the three major surfaces, and is the part that receives indirect light.

The backlight of the object is divided into reflection and light and dark dividing lines. Although the reflective area is on the backlight side, it will also have a certain brightness due to the reflected light from other surrounding objects. In post-production, we can reasonably add reflections in dark areas to make objects appear more voluminous.

The dividing line between light and dark is the transition area from light to dark. It is usually a black strip-shaped area, which appears as the darkest place in the object.

In addition to the objects themselves, Five Tones also adds projections. Shadows are shadows cast on other objects after the object itself blocks light.

Projection actually uses other objects in the picture to interpret the three-dimensional sense of the object itself, making the object appear more stable and real.

Under strong light, if an object has no projection on the nearby ground or wall, it will appear particularly floating and fake.

In the photo below of the Giant's Causeway in the UK, you will feel that the stones in the foreground are very three-dimensional, far more three-dimensional than the previous three samples. This is because these stones also have more delicate carvings in 5 tones.

The area where the "1" of the stone is located is the highlight part of the stone. The wet stone has excellent reflective properties, so even if the highlight part is greatly brightened in the later stage, it still looks more natural. The part marked "2" is the bright gray part of the stone because it is not exposed to direct light.

The "3" and "4" in the picture mark the dark side of the stone that does not receive light.

What really enhances the three-dimensional effect of the stone in the picture above is reflection and projection. Area "5" on the stone has some slight reflections because it is close to the bright surface of the stone next to it. Further strengthening and highlighting the reflection can make the three-dimensional effect of the stone more prominent.

The "6" and "7" marks are the projection of the stone on the stone next to it. The existence of the projection greatly enhances the three-dimensional sense.

Understanding the three major aspects and five tones, the photographer will have the key to enhance the three-dimensional sense of the photo.

Three-dimensionality is the reflection of the three-dimensional properties of the object itself. The sense of hierarchy is more complex. It needs to express their front and rear distance through the relationship between objects, thereby expressing the three-dimensional attributes between objects.

Assume that the simplified example picture below is a photo I took. If I told you that the green peak on the right is actually farther away, you would probably find it baffling.

This is a typical photo that lacks layering. If we don’t take some measures in the early composition, we are likely to take this kind of flat photo.

So what methods can be used to express the sense of space?

The first method is very simple and is called "occlusion". That is, using one object to cover another object. In this way, the reader will understand that the object that is blocked, with incomplete outline and overall shape, must be further back.

For example, in the above situation, I can walk a few kilometers to the left. At this time, the red mountains block the green mountains. In this way, in the photos I took, the hierarchical relationship between the mountains is very obvious.

In telephoto photography, since the linear perspective effect that will be discussed later is not obvious, occlusion becomes a key method to express the depth of space.

The above telephoto photo of snowy mountains is a very typical example of expressing spatial relationships through "layers of occlusion". The rocks marked 1 blocked the clouds and fog at 2 places, and the clouds and fog blocked the snow-capped mountains at 3 places, and the snow-capped mountains blocked the blue sky behind them. Rocks, clouds, snow-capped mountains, and blue sky are progressively layered and blocked from each other, and the relationship between them is very clear.

In addition to occlusion, in classical paintings, painters also often use vertical perspective to express a sense of hierarchy.

The so-called vertical perspective means placing the close objects at the lower part of the picture and the far objects at the high parts of the picture. In photography, it is very simple to achieve the vertical perspective effect. You only need to go up to a high place and raise the camera position.

For example, in the previous situation, I can climb to the mountain or fly a drone. The picture captured in this way, with the red mountain at the bottom and the green mountain at the top, will also allow readers to understand the before and after of the two mountains. order.

For example, in the picture below of the church in Santorini and the island in the distance, vertical perspective is used. The vertical distribution of scenery brought about by the higher camera position increases the sense of space.

Of course, since both occlusion and vertical perspective can express the sense of space, if we combine the two, the three-dimensional order of the photo will be more clear.

For example, in the picture below, blue ice, black glaciers, mist, distant mountains and sky are arranged vertically from bottom to top, and are blocked layer by layer. Although it is a flat image, we can also perspective and block it vertically. In the relationship, the three-dimensional sense of space of the scene can be seen.

Both occlusion and vertical perspective can be achieved by changing the camera position in the early stage. The photographer may wish to think more when composing the picture.

For example, if we want to shoot a forest and the hill behind it, if we shoot on the ground, the low camera position will cause the objects to block each other, which reflects a certain relationship between the front and back, but the sense of depth is insufficient.

If we go to the top of the mountain, and the forest and the mountain are photographed one above the other, the depth relationship will be established, but the sense of space is still a little bit worse for the completely separated scenery.

The best shooting position may be halfway up the mountain, which is neither high nor low. It not only captures the obstruction, but also reflects the vertical perspective. The layering of the forest and hills is upgraded to a higher level.

In photography, the lower or the higher the camera position is not the better. The right composition and the use of a variety of spatial expression techniques to enhance the sense of hierarchy tested the photographer's early skills.

Let’s carefully compare and observe the pictures below. Maybe you will be able to understand the subtle effects of occlusion and vertical perspective in photography and painting.

In Western art after the Renaissance, linear perspective was widely used in paintings, which directly led to foreign photographers liking to use wide-angle compositions and highlighting linear perspective to express space when shooting. level.

Linear perspective, in short, means "big near and small far". Originally parallel lines will continue to converge as they extend to the distance until they merge into a small point at the vanishing point.

In photography, we often use three methods: converging lines, repeated reduction and exaggeration of the foreground. We use lenses (especially wide-angle lenses) to highlight the front, middle and back background levels under linear perspective.

5.1 Converging Lines

The shooting of converging lines is to use linear objects that extend and converge into the distance in the scene to highlight the sense of space.

For example, in the picture below taken in broad daylight, although the three-dimensional effect of light and shadow is not strong, the path that continues to converge into the distance brings a sense of depth to the photo.

Roads, rivers, bridges, etc. are all natural converging lines. Incorporating them in the early composition can not only create leading lines, but also greatly improve the layering of the photo.

5.2 Repeated reduction

One of the manifestations of linear perspective is that the near and far are small. Therefore, if we compose the picture, especially when shooting the foreground at a wide angle, if we can find some repeating objects. Then these repeated objects will continue to shrink from near to far in the picture, which can express the sense of space.

For example, in the picture below, I took in a large bush when composing the picture. These branches and leaves, which were originally about the same size, are getting smaller and smaller in the picture, so that the readers can feel the branches and leaves that are constantly extending into the distance. three-dimensional space.

In the picture below, the actual distance between the front and rear background is only about ten meters, but under the influence of wide angle. The repeated square torii gates continue to get smaller. In this way, I used the repeated reduction method, combined with the mutual blocking of the torii gates and the converging line effect of the paths, to well reflect the sense of space in the photo.

As long as you are good at discovering it, there are many repetitive objects in nature and life scenes. By using it in the foreground, the sense of space will naturally emerge.

5.3 Exaggerate the foreground

In photography, photographers often use low-angle, close-up shooting methods, using linear perspective of near and far to exaggerate the size of foreground objects, thus Let the audience understand the relationship between objects.

For example, in the picture below, the foreground reef taken from a low angle is actually larger than the person in the upper right corner of the picture. This misaligned size relationship allows readers to immediately understand their front and back spatial order.

The key to exaggerating the foreground is to find the originally relatively small objects and make them appear larger or about the same size as the originally larger objects in the background through perspective. The sense of perspective space can be reflected through the dislocated relationship between picture expression and human cognition.

If the building in your photo is large and the car is small, which is in line with human cognition, then it will be difficult for people to see the distance between them.

Only when objects of widely varying sizes, such as tents, snow-capped mountains, and the Milky Way, show similar or even opposite size ratios in the picture, as shown in the picture below, can people recognize their spatial order.

6. The sense of air

In paintings, painters often use something called the sense of air to express levels. For example, objects near you will be drawn clearer, brighter, and sharper, while objects far away will be drawn hazy, elegant, and blurry.

In the early stage of shooting, we can use natural particles in the air (such as fog in the morning, water vapor in the mountains at noon, haze in the city, etc.) to naturally create a sense of air.

In the later stage, we often reduce the sharpness, classic softening, Gaussian blur or even add clouds and fog to the distant scenery in the later stage to create a sense of air, thereby increasing the layered three-dimensional expression of the photo. .

In order to create a full sense of space in a photo, we often combine the techniques of three major planes, five tones, occlusion, vertical perspective, linear perspective, and air sense.

In the photos below, can you tell what methods were used? Everyone is welcome to leave a message for discussion.

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Ps. The Kaibei retouching tool used in this article is a commercial professional software and productivity tool. It is suitable for practitioners in the commercial portrait photography industry. It can improve efficiency through batch operations, simplify operations, and reduce retouching time. It is not necessary for everyone. If you have time, you can complete the corresponding operations and effects through PS and other underlying software.