Can someone help me explain the problem of running out of photography?

Photography is used up, and the title is too big for a few books. Distribute several chapters on "photography skills"-knowledge of photography lighting.

First, understand the characteristics of light.

Every art form has its own unique expression. The photographer's means of expression is light. Without light, they are as accomplished as sculptors without clay or painters without pigments.

Although in the development of 150 years, photography has always followed painting, literature and other art forms to form its own different schools and styles, especially in the past 50 years, futuristic photography, absurd photography, editing photography, stereo mud photography and so on can all find similarities with sister art in form, but they are still different after all. One of the reasons is that photographers give full play to the unique modeling means of photography-the language of light. Through light, they form their own modeling methods and decide the expression intention of the picture; Through light, it is not only different from other sister arts, but also produces its own artistic style among photographers.

Creative photographers often say that understanding light is the most important part of a photographer's artistic talent. There are many different forms of light itself, and photographers can choose the most suitable form to achieve special purposes. The forms of these lights can be controlled, and they can be used to clearly express the characteristics, concepts and emotions of specific subjects in photos. Before making full use of the great potential of light, photographers must analyze light, understand its various characteristics, and be familiar with its various functions and uses.

American photographer A. Farninger pointed out that for photographers, light has three main attributes: intensity, quality and color. The first is strength. The intensity of light can be from bright to dark, which is suitable for any light source. For example, in cloudless weather, the sunshine at noon is very strong, and in windy and dusty weather, the light is dim. There is no light at night. The intensity of the artificial light source varies with the wattage of the lamp.

Farninger believes that bright light gives people a dazzling, bright and serious feeling, while dim light often shows melancholy, tranquility and implicit feelings. This difference in light intensity will be manifested in three different ways in photos: the brightness of the subject, the contrast range of the subject, and the color restoration of the subject in color photos.

When the illumination intensity is very high, the object appears brighter, more vivid and has greater contrast, and the color appears more vivid than in the light with low illumination intensity. If a photographer is good at grasping and cherishing this different change of the subject, he can better highlight the characteristics of a specific subject with appropriate intensity of light. It is important that this characteristic of lighting should be shown in photos. Some photographers often think that very bright light will make the subject look too dazzling, the strong light part is too bright and the shadow part is too dark, so they artificially reduce this contrast and take relatively low-contrast photos, resulting in a complete lack of typical features under special lighting conditions. For example, the scene of tapping in an open hearth furnace, the hot molten steel is bright and dazzling, so that you can't see anything except black and white.

Farninger believes that at this time, as some people do, using very strong auxiliary light to soften and reduce the contrast will completely destroy the dramatic effect of this scene. When a sensitive photographer encounters this subject, he will completely abandon all the rules and regulations he has learned about using light, and only consider how to show the impression of hot and dazzling molten steel: by emphasizing the characteristics of lighting, strengthening contrast, and using silhouette and halo effect, he will try his best to capture this vivid scene.

The second characteristic of light is its different quality. The light can be direct light emitted by a thermal light source, such as sunlight not blocked by clouds, direct artificial light emitted by spotlights, photographic lamps and flashlights; Or scattered light reflected by the surface of the irradiated object, such as sunlight on foggy or cloudy days, artificial light reflected by the surface of walls, ceilings or other objects that reflect light; Or add scattered light formed by soft light in front of the thermal light source.

Direct light is intense and dazzling, with great contrast, which can cause clear and prominent shadows. The scattered light formed by reflection is soft and the contrast is small, which will cause gray, fuzzy shadows or no shadows at all. Of course, there are countless transitional stages between the two. Practice shows that the shadow caused by direct light can change with the position between the light source and the subject, or between the photographer and the light source. This bright shadow can strengthen or weaken the characteristics of the subject because of its shape, style and the size of the part it occupies. Reflected light can show the shape of the object and reproduce its original appearance naturally, but it has little to do with the relative position of the object and the light source. Therefore, Farninger pointed out that direct light is more difficult to use successfully than scattered light, because improper use will make the result worse. But if used properly, it will make photographers take photos with strong contrast and bright black and white patterns, which is far better than the effect obtained by scattered light.

The third property of light proposed by Farninger is color. He pointed out that those color photographers who are committed to color reproduction must make it clear that the color of illumination (its color temperature) should be consistent with the color temperature required by color film. For example, the light in the morning and evening is not suitable for solar film, and the photos taken with this film are yellower or redder than the scenery seen by the eyes. In addition, sunlight in outdoor shadows is usually a little blue.

American photographer Arthur Goldsmith believes that light has two characteristics: objectivity and subjectivity. It is necessary for photographers to take care of both. The so-called objective light refers to a narrow band in the electromagnetic spectrum, which enables us to see and record images. However, Goldsmith pointed out that it is also important to make good use of subjective light as a creative factor in photography while accurately measuring this light for correct exposure. . Subjective light is light that allows us to respond to feelings.

Nowadays, with the gradual precision of photographic equipment, exposure control-the control of objective luminous flux-has become an inherent automatic process. However, light, as a subjective component in photography, has nothing to do with today's complex exposure control system. It mainly involves people and extremely rich subjects, which is very important for any serious photographer.

Goldsmith pointed out that it is not enough for photographers to observe and master the above characteristics and make good use of light, but also to have feelings. Photographic observation refers to in-depth understanding of the exact and true influence of light on the subject. This requires a special visual sensitivity. "How does the sunset near dusk express the texture of sand dunes?" How the light covered by thin clouds in the bright and cloudy sky softens the wrinkles on the face; How does the spotlight attract people's attention? Or, how does the direct flash sweep away the subtle differences in the surrounding light and add its own dull light to the picture ... "In this respect, photographers must coordinate with it. Goldsmith believes that one way to improve your sensitivity to light is to learn the photographer's reaction to light. Some romantic and even plot-oriented photographers like dark colors, such as Eugene Smith. In his photography, he can make shadows strong. However, he pays great attention to details. Even in the darkest part, Smith always tries to keep the details and levels. For Henri Cartier-Bresson, light is a subtle component, which can express cool colors with high-key, silver-gray midtones and soft black. In addition, it is also beneficial to observe the light consumption of contemporary color photographers. In Elliot. In Potter's forest images, the light shining on the trunk and moss-covered rocks is both soft and penetrating. In sharp contrast, Alex Webb used the tropical sun to create a deep and picturesque shadow effect. Rebecca black created fantastic light for her affectionate fantasy works.

In a word, photographers leave images on film with objective light, but the quality of images depends on the subjectivity of light. The camera in the photographer's hand will faithfully record what he clearly sees and deeply feels.

Make full use of natural light

For photographers, although natural light or sunlight is convenient to use, it is a kind of difficult light, especially in color photography. This is because natural light is changeable and unpredictable. It has not only the change of brightness (which can also be measured by an exposure meter), but also the change of color (which is difficult to detect and actually cannot be measured accurately).

Keane Nelson, a British photographer, believes that photographers should discover and study the different changes of light during the day and throughout the year, and understand its full significance. He put forward a method to observe the effect of light change: find a local scene and take it on a sunny day, one every hour. If you shoot from one position, you can see the changing effect of light when the sun moves. You can also shoot around a theme at a certain time of the day, and you will be surprised by the various lighting effects you get. If you want to know how strong the sun is, you can also try to take the sun into the picture, but be careful not to let the strong light hurt your eyes. After 3 pm or before 9 am, you can take a silhouette photo in the sun. You can move the lens away from the sun first, so as to measure the exposure reading; Then, according to this reading method, all the scenes including the sun are photographed. Then, change the aperture and take another picture as it is. After the film is developed, compare the final effect.

Nelson also warned photographers not to underestimate the light quality at different times of the year. "On a cold morning in' 65438+February, if the ground is covered with heavy snow or trees and bushes are covered with gray frost, then the clear and fresh blue tone provides you with a good opportunity to take pictures.

"In June, 5438+ 10 and June, 5438+065438+ 10, the climate turned cold, and trees fell leaves one after another. In wet season, we should pay more attention to the dim effect of light." Autumn is a foggy season, and getting up in the morning is the best time to shoot foggy scenes. If you can get up at dawn, you will find that the morning air has its own unique freshness and silence. At this time, you can successfully record the charming gesture of dawn on the film. "

American photographer A Faninger divides the natural light into three types during the day and summarizes the shooting experience under different types of light. As far as daylight color film is concerned, "white" daylight is "standard daylight". When Tai 1B is more than 20 degrees above the ground, it is a mixture of direct sunlight and blue sky reflected light with slight white clouds. In this light, the color performance is very real when shooting with sunlight color film, correctly exposing and developing, and there is no need to use correction filter.

Another kind of near-white daytime light is the light when the sun is completely covered by uniform low-altitude fog. However, even in a cloudy sky, a slight change in the flawless air will affect the color balance and make it blue. Therefore, it is best to use 8 1 color balance filter, ultraviolet filter or sky mirror to correct.

Blue Daylight When there are no clouds in the sky, the shadow is always blue, because the light that illuminates the shadow is blue skylight at this time, and the color of the photo taken must be blue. Similarly, on cloudy days, especially when the sun is covered by thick clouds and the sky is mostly blue, or when the sky is evenly covered by high-altitude mist, the photos taken will also be blue. In this case, if you want to correct the hue, you can use a color balance filter with an appropriate density.

Shortly after sunrise and at sunset, the sun appears yellow or red. This is because the dense fog and dust layer in the atmosphere scatter light, and only longer red and yellow light waves can penetrate, which makes the light in the morning and evening have a unique color. The color of the scene photographed in this light is warmer than that photographed in white light. In order to avoid this phenomenon, it is best to take pictures two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset. This phenomenon can also be avoided by using a blue balance filter with an appropriate density.

Farninger believes that as long as a photographer learns to observe colors from the perspective of photography, he will appreciate the inherent beauty of natural light in different situations and find that the photos taken in the morning and evening have a unique atmosphere and aesthetic feeling.

Through the sunshine of thin clouds, any photographer knows that the best shooting time in a day is before 10 in the morning and after 2 pm. If there are thin clouds in the sky at this time, the shooting effect will be better. Because the sunshine under the thin cloud is soft, and the main body still has obvious shadows, but it is not very dazzling.

The sunlight coming through the thin clouds is like a huge diffuse soft mirror, which can make the dark part of the photo play a gradual role. This kind of light is quite strong, which is a texture that can produce and highlight the shadow part of the subject, or as a modeling light for portrait photography. But you can't create such a shadow, that is, you can't bury any details in the main body. But if you use color film, the photos taken in this light are not as bright as those taken in direct light.

The light in the morning is thin and foggy, which often indicates sunny days. There are often excellent lighting conditions at this time. When shooting in this light condition, the color temperature will keep getting warmer, and the subject will become a pleasant warm tone after being irradiated by golden sunlight.

Sunny mornings provide photographers with an opportunity to shoot in bright light but low sunlight angle, so that they can take photos of Gao Fancha and saturated colors. At this moment, how to correctly grasp the exposure is a major issue. Generally speaking, photometry is not based on the strong light or shadow, but on the subject and the points to be highlighted. It is usually best to measure the average light between bright light and shaded parts. Noon light is generally not suitable for outdoor photography at noon, especially in summer. If you shoot a light-colored subject in the hot sun at noon, the hot sun will drown all levels of the subject. In addition, when shooting at noon, the sun is at the highest point, so the shadow of the subject is very short and almost absent.

People used to think that the afternoon light was the best at sunset. In fact, this is an old concept, because there are many good shooting opportunities before sunset. After noon, the sun sets slowly. At this time, there are many opportunities to shoot various themes from the side, so that the photos taken will have a three-dimensional effect.

When the sun has dropped to a very low level, you can also take a photo of the backlight. The subject is almost a silhouette, and the background is the correctly exposed sky. If you want to overexpose the background part, but the subject is exposed correctly, you can increase the aperture by two steps.

For some photographers after dark, when the sun disappears on the horizon and the last afterglow of the sunset disappears, it is the best time to shoot. At this time, the sky is dark blue and the lights on the street are beautiful. But the shooting must be fast, because the scene lasts for a short time. When shooting, it is best to balance the color temperature with daylight film, which can not only capture the natural color of the sky, but also reflect the warm color of tungsten lamp in buildings and streets.

The photos taken in direct sunlight on foggy days give people a bright and clear feeling. However, photos taken in foggy conditions can produce completely different effects. It gives people an unpredictable and dreamy feeling, just like a car driver driving in foggy weather. In the photos taken at this time, the level and light and shadow of the subject have been erased. Far fog can soften the background of landscape photos, but at the same time, it can make the foreground of photos more eye-catching and separate the objects in the foreground from the background obviously. In this case, the gray-white particles in the picture will be obviously coarsened. But if you don't want the above phenomenon, you can use a slow film and a tripod.

Cloudy and gloomy weather What photographers hate most is cloudy and gloomy weather, because the photos taken in this weather lack shadows and contrast, the lighting effect is not good, the depth of field is generally shallow, and the subject is very dull. If the sky doesn't change much, you can use contrast filters to improve the shooting effect of black and white photos. Color photos can be taken with a gradient filter. Exposure can directly refer to the reading of the exposure meter, because the light is very flat and there is no need to use auxiliary light. If you want to contrast the shooting effect by strong light and shadow, don't shoot in cloudy and cloudy conditions. Generally, photographers always think that strong sunlight is one of the most difficult rays to deal with when shooting. Because shooting in direct sunlight will make the picture look very dazzling, so that the bright shadow part and the strong light part will have obvious boundaries like spotlight lighting. Therefore, the contrast of the photos taken is very large, the range of tones is very narrow, and there are no other tones under the shadow and strong light. They also warned photographers not to shoot portraits in direct sunlight, because such light would obviously expose facial defects; And make the subjects unable to open their eyes, thus causing skin wrinkling and other phenomena.

However, Keith Wilson, a British photographer, told people that under strong sunlight, wonderful photos can also be taken by using blue sky, high-hanging sun, reflective surface and vivid colors. In the strong sunlight, the first problem you encounter is the big contrast. The central button metering system of many cameras will fail because of obvious contrast. In this case, it is difficult to measure the average reading that meets both the strong light part and the shadow part. This phenomenon will be more serious if you take pictures at the water's edge, on the beach or even on the road with strong reflective surface. Exposure based on average photometric readings usually leads to underexposed or overexposed photos.

Wilson pointed out: "If the camera has a spot metering device and a device that can measure both strong light and shadow, you can gain more control, so that the subject can be exposed correctly in strong light. Remember, you must use exposure meter to measure the light of the subject and determine the exposure time accordingly. If your single-lens reflex camera only has central focus metering, you can put the camera close to the subject for metering to eliminate the influence of background light. "

When choosing the background, Wilson pointed out: "If you are shooting ordinary street scenes, landscapes or buildings, you should carefully observe the surfaces and colors in strong sunlight. Although the white wall is highly reflective, if it is in the shadow, it looks gloomy, and the photos taken will be dull. The general rule that should be followed when dealing with buildings is never to photograph the surface of buildings or objects in the shadows, but to wait for the sun to shine on the surface of objects. At this time, the colors are saturated and the contrast is full and rich. You can also try to find a low point of view and bring part of the blue sky to the top of the picture. One of the most important issues to consider when taking photos under strong light is to choose the appropriate background. Clear blue sky can create a beautiful background for any theme. Squat down when shooting until you see the sky behind the subject. Such a low angle often leads to unusual photos. Shooting like this, the portrait looks very moving. In addition, you can also try shooting with a camera with a low viewpoint, a high viewpoint or a tilt. "

Wilson believes: "The advantage of photography under strong light lies in the color that this light brings to natural and industrial landscapes. Because contrast comes with color, the most expressive photos are not those with color spots, but those with several contrasting colors in vivid form. "

Photography with natural light; Sometimes the shadow part that can't be illuminated by light will destroy the overall aesthetic feeling of the subject. At this point, a simple solution is to take a small white reflector and put it outside the camera's shooting range when shooting; Reflect light at the subject. This allows unrestricted control of natural light.

How to use natural light in indoor photography? Photographer Philip Thomas thinks: "A room facing south with sufficient light is the first choice. At the same time, it is best to choose a room with a large window, and the window facing southwest is better. Because at night, the afterglow of the warm sunset poured into the room, creating a better opportunity for shooting. When shooting, it is best to dim the indoor light, because it is much easier to increase the light than to reduce it. If there is strong light everywhere in the room, you can't take pictures according to your own wishes. "

With regard to the use of natural light from windows, Greg alcock, a British photographer, suggested that outstanding painters should always pay attention to the use of light from the north in their works. He thinks this kind of light is special, probably because it is very stable. As long as the weather remains the same, this light does not change much during the day and its quality remains the same. British photographer Mike Pierce feels the same way. He pointed out: "Using the light from the north window to shoot portraits indoors can produce satisfactory results. It will produce a very soft and uniform light, which is difficult to simulate with artificial light. In fact, most outstanding artists have been using this light until they are old. If your house has a window facing north, you have a good light source for taking portraits. If equipped with a tripod, that is the best, even if using is0400/27. Film, shutter speed can still be set to slow. If you use color slides or color negative, you may wish to add a Leiden 8 1B filter or other corresponding filters in front of the camera lens, which will eliminate the possible blue phenomenon. " If you can't use the light from the north, if you can make the window produce diffuse light, then any window will do. Therefore, the window glass should use landscape oil-proof paper or single-layer cotton paper, and if it is necessary to add color to the work, colored paper can be used.

How to control indoor natural light, Thomas also suggested using a reflector to guide natural light from the window to where it is needed. The mirror can be moved closer or farther, and the angle can be adjusted to obtain the appropriate amount of light. It is also possible to use objects with different masses as reflectors to obtain light with different masses. The most commonly used is white cardboard. White cardboard can reflect soft and just right light. Cardboard can be cut into large or small sizes. The light reflected by silver foil is stronger than that reflected by white cardboard. In order to save materials, silver foil can be hung on one side of the cardboard. Board dual purpose. Two cheap mirrors can reflect strong light, which can be used as eye lights (bright spots on people's eyes) and can also illuminate dark corners. Golden objects can also be used as reflectors. When shooting portraits, gold will increase the charm of the subject's skin color and make the subject look radiant. In addition, black cardboard is sometimes used. When the indoor light is too strong, which is inconsistent with the light and contrast required by the envisaged work, black cardboard can be used to absorb some light. Thomas believes that having one or two such blackboards at hand may sometimes "revive" those works that may have failed.

3. Experience in using on-site lighting

Using the experience of spotlight, spotlight is the best foundation of creative photography. Because relatively dim living light is more vivid than ordinary light and can increase the effect of photographic images, many professional photographers are willing to use living light when taking pictures. Henri cartier bresson, a famous French photographer, used his Lycra camera to exert the magic of spotlight and became popular.

"The method of only using the spotlight and not disturbing the shooting scene as much as possible comes from my respect and love for the form, light and reality faced by the lens." Bresson wrote the preface and most of the contents in his book The Decisive Immediate Problem.

In the latter paragraph, his belief is particularly expounded: "In my opinion, photography is to realize the meaning of an event in a fraction of a second at the same time and find an accurate structural form to properly express this event.

"I think that through life practice, while we know ourselves, we also know the world around us that affects us and is influenced by us. We must establish a balance between these two worlds, that is, between our inner world and the outer world. Because of their constant interaction, the two worlds finally formed a world. This is the world we want to show. However, this only involves the content of the photo. For me, content and form cannot be separated. When I say form, I mean the compact structure produced by the interaction of appearance, lines and contrast between light and shade. It is in this structure that our thoughts and feelings can be deepened and expressed concretely. In photography, visual structure can only come from well-trained intuition. "

When answering the question "Should I change the scene lights when it is too dark to take pictures", Bresson said, "In the past, when I accepted a task of taking portraits, I sometimes had to put a floodlight on the ceiling in the opposite corner of the room to enhance the scene light. However, with the present film and developer, I hardly need to strengthen the living light. Of course, there are still some situations where the light is too dim to shoot, but as far as my shooting ideas are concerned, I would rather give up this photo than use a flash as dim as the sun, which destroys the atmosphere and realism of the scene. "

Alison trapp Moore, a British photographer, pointed out: "Only when you start to look at the scenes and activities happening indoors, outdoors and at night from the perspective of living light, will you feel that living light provides a broad world for truly creative photographers."

The main problems encountered in live light photography are often low illumination and excessive contrast. The greater the contrast, the greater the influence of the lines and shapes of the object on the image effect. Therefore, trapp Moore believes that the subject matter taken by live light photography itself must be extremely vivid and powerful. At this time, as long as the camera is carefully operated, the photographer can overcome the above problems and create successful works.

The aperture of the lens is very important for live light photography. Therefore, trapp Moore thinks: "High-speed lens (referring to large aperture lens) has definite advantages. High-quality F 1.4 or better F 1.2 lens can get fresh effect even with full aperture. " However, photographer Pierce said: "You don't have to have a large aperture lens to shoot live light photography. Ordinary lenses of F 1.8 or F2 can make you take good photos. " "In most cases, good photos can be taken with a standard lens, a wide-angle lens or a telephoto lens (90mm- 135mm)." But because the maximum aperture of most telephoto lenses is F3.5 or F4, the speed is too slow when the light is dark.

Fast film is the first condition for the success of live light photography. The general calibration speed is ISO 400/27. Movies can often be forcibly developed to IS0 1600/33/33. Even iso 3200/36. . The coarsened particles produced by photosensitive water washing can better contrast the environmental atmosphere of the scene light. New1501000/31. Or a higher color film, it also greatly increases the chances of shooting in dark conditions.

Trapp Moore pointed out: "If you still want to achieve accurate color reproduction, the color balance of the film used will achieve the best effect as long as it matches the type of light that illuminates the subject. Therefore, when taking pictures at dusk, you can use sunshine-balanced film to get real results. If you shoot markets and cinemas in the middle of the night, or take ordinary photos with artificial light, you should use Kodak Aiketakrom 160, tungsten filament light balance. Usually the calibration speed is 150 160/23. If the speed of film is increased, it can be forced to develop to is0320/26. , and will not bring adverse effects to image particles. It must be remembered that forced development will affect the whole film, so all the pictures should be shot quickly. "

However, to obtain accurate colors, it is not always possible to choose a film type suitable for each lighting environment. In fact, some photographers like to use the wrong film to achieve unconventional effects. Here, another way to get accurate color is to add a compensation filter in front of the camera lens.

Trapp Moore believes that the biggest difficulty in spotlight photography is to estimate the exposure correctly. He pointed out that in many cases, the automatic control system on a single-lens reflex camera will indicate insufficient light. In fact, there is not enough light to record the whole tone range of the subject, not that it is impossible to record the strong light and intermediate tone above the dim light. If you measure the light near the subject, the reading under strong light is likely to show Li on the exposure stage. If you can't get close to the subject, you can measure the reading on the back of your hand, and then calculate the exposure time according to the reading. If you think this method is unreliable, you can take more photos with different exposure times, which is the best way to ensure at least one successful photo under uncertain lighting conditions. If the exposure time is longer than 1/60 seconds, it is necessary to keep the camera stable when shooting to avoid image blur and jitter. At this time, it is best to use a tripod or find a suitable bracket nearby. Photographer Pierce believes that fixing the camera on a tripod has another advantage, that is, it can extend the exposure time to remove some fast-moving objects in the picture. If someone walks in front of the camera, try to narrow the aperture and make a long exposure. In this way, unless someone stands still in front of the camera, it will not be recorded on the film. In this case, the longer the exposure time, the better the effect. For a really long exposure, if someone stands in front of the camera and stops for a few seconds, you might as well cover the camera lens and wait for someone to walk away before continuing the exposure. If you deliberately want to take this kind of photography in a crowded place, you can consider taking a long exposure with a slower film.

F. Henler, an American photographer, often likes to pursue natural light effects in his works, so he almost always shoots with spotlights. He pointed out: "Using live light doesn't mean taking every object you see into the picture. The effect of photos doesn't need everything. For example, if you sit with some interesting people, it may be the facial expressions of people that are interesting, not the table and the surrounding environment. By using the spotlight at that time, you can emphasize the face and darken everything else. Don't worry about the pure black part of the work. If these pure black parts are useful, they are also necessary. "

What people usually call "spotlight photography" first refers to indoor photography. Henle believes that the use of spotlights can actually make indoor shooting easier, not more difficult: "One reason is that you won't affect the subject because of too many devices. Too much light will produce a purely artificial environmental effect, which is often revealed in works. "

Henle pointed out: "Spotlight shooting technology is a magic weapon, which enables you to shoot a proper mental state. As far as practical technology is concerned, the most important thing is to know your tools and master your shooting timing. You must act quickly, even if you decide the exposure time. The total brightness of the light can quickly determine a basic exposure time, and then shoot immediately.