Various still life photography techniques

Lead: It is difficult to handle all kinds of goods with the same technology and method. Every commodity has its own characteristics. To shoot well, we must carefully study the shape, texture and use of goods, determine the shooting equipment according to the creative requirements of advertisements, give the best lighting and composition, and carry out strict technical control in the shooting process, so as to achieve perfect results.

Various types of still photography techniques: light absorption, reflection and transparent objects.

If objects are classified according to the nature of their action on light, all objects can be divided into three categories, namely light-absorbing objects, light-reflecting objects and light-transmitting objects. In advertising photography, it is the most basic and important to master the shooting skills of these three kinds of objects.

1. Absorbing object

Light absorbing objects are the most common objects, such as wood products, textiles, fiber products and most plastic products. The biggest feature of a light-absorbing object is that it will form a complete light and dark level under the projection of light, in which the brightest highlight part shows the color of the light source; The bright part indicates the influence of the color of the object itself and the color of the light source on it; The boundary between the bright part and the dark part can best express the surface texture and texture of the object; The dark part shows little.

In advertising photography, the light distribution of light-absorbing objects is more flexible and diverse. Objects with rough surfaces, such as rough pottery products, generally use side light to show their surface texture. Objects with smooth surfaces, such as some plastic products and painted objects, are generally shiny and will reflect a small amount of directional light, so it is best to use a large-area light source for lighting. Pay attention to the shape of the light source when lighting, because the highlights of such objects can reflect the shape of the light source.

2. Reflective objects

Reflective articles mainly include silverware, electroplated products and enamel products. Its biggest feature is that it has a strong reflection on light, and generally there will be no soft transition between light and shade.

The light distribution of reflective objects generally adopts scattered large-area light sources. The key to light distribution is to grasp the shape and illumination position of the light source, and the highlights of reflective objects will reflect the shape of the light source like mirrors. Because reflective objects are easy to lack rich light and dark level changes, some gray or dark black reflective plates or light-absorbing plates can be placed next to such objects to reflect these color blocks, so as to increase the heavy feeling of the objects and improve the performance effect.

For reflective objects with particularly complex shapes and volumes, complex measures need to be taken when lighting. What is the most commonly used? Surrounding Fabry light? . ? Surrounding Fabry light? It means that the subject is surrounded by a bright shed except the opening of the camera lens, and then the light is distributed outside the bright shed. ? Surrounding Fabry light? The lamp shed used can be made of white paper or white fabric and fixed with transparent brackets, such as plexiglass rods or nylon ropes. Use? Surrounding Fabry light? The design and layout of the light shed are varied, but it should be clear that the reflective object will reflect everything around it without reservation like a mirror, and the subtle defects of the light shed will be displayed on the photographed object.

3. Transparent objects

Transparent objects mainly refer to various glass products and some plastic utensils. Its biggest feature is that it can let light penetrate its interior.

When shooting transparent objects, it is not difficult to show the transparency of the objects. No matter whether the background is deep or shallow, it will always pass through. However, for the expression of the brightness of transparent objects, it is necessary to use reflection to produce strong? Highlights? Reflecting light, the shape of transparent objects uses the refraction of light to achieve the desired effect. If transparent objects are illuminated as usual, such as 45? Side light, the shooting effect is not good, at this time, most of the light will pass through the object, only a small part will be reflected, no matter what background and color are used, transparent objects can only be faintly visible. The best way to express transparent objects is: in front of a bright background, objects appear as black lines; Or in front of a dark background, objects appear as bright lines.

? Bright background with black line? The light distribution mainly uses the refraction effect of the light illuminating the background of the object. Transparent objects are placed far enough in front of a light background, and the background is illuminated by the circular light of the spotlight. If the light beam can't illuminate the object, the light reflected from the background passes through the transparent object and forms a black outline at the edge of the object by refraction, and the width of the line is proportional to the thickness of the transparent object. Different effects can be obtained by changing the intensity and diameter of the beam. The stronger the beam intensity, the smaller the diameter and the stronger the picture contrast. The contrast of the picture is only determined by the intensity and diameter of the spotlight, which is very beneficial to the control when shooting.

? Dark lines in the background are bright? The light distribution method mainly uses the reflection phenomenon of light on the surface of transparent objects. The subject is placed far away from the dark background, and two scattering light sources are placed behind the subject, and the object is illuminated by side backlights on both sides, so that the edge of the object generates continuous reflection. ? Dark lines in the background are bright? Our lighting is especially beneficial to beautify thick transparent objects, but this lighting technology is not easy to master technically and needs constant debugging to achieve the expected results. In addition, when using this kind of lighting, transparent objects must be thoroughly cleaned, and any dust or stains will be rudely exposed.

When shooting transparent objects, we should also pay attention to exposure control and use? Bright background with black line? In this method, the bright background is measured by an exposure meter, and then the exposure is increased by 1 level according to the measured luminosity value, so that not only the bright background can be guaranteed, but also the contour line of the object can be guaranteed to be black. Use? Dark lines in the background are bright? Method, determining exposure is complicated. At this time, 18% standard gray board can be measured. With this exposure luminosity value, the bright part will be overexposed to form a white line, while the dark part can be kept at an appropriate level.

food

Food is the most indispensable consumer goods in human life, and it is also the most common shooting subject of advertising photography. But experienced photographers admit that food is one of the most difficult things to photograph. Many foods or dishes will change color and texture after being left indoors at room temperature for a period of time. Therefore, photographers must make careful preparations before shooting, and finish shooting in the shortest time after food or dishes are cooked and served, so as to maintain their original color, fragrance and taste.

illuminate

The direct hard light is less used in the lighting of shooting food, but the soft light with certain directionality is used. The softness of soft light depends on the surface condition of food. If the surface of food is rough, soft light and slightly hard light should generally be used. If the surface of food is smooth, it is necessary to use extremely soft light, so as to best show the texture of food. When lighting, we should pay attention to whether the brightness of the light is uniform, and make appropriate light supplement for the dark parts to avoid excessive contrast between light and dark. When it is necessary to outline the shape of the subject with side light, the side light should not be too strong, and a honeycomb should be installed in front of the floodlight to control the light field and not interfere with the main light.

Choose tableware

Food is usually filled with tableware. When choosing tableware, we should pay attention to whether the shape, pattern and color of tableware are in harmony with food. Remember that food is the main thing, tableware is the guest, and you must not pretend to be the master.

3. Clever use of substitutes

Some foods or dishes will change their initial state as soon as they are served. In this regard, experienced photographers will look for some realistic substitutes, such as using some artificial materials to simulate the shape and texture of food or dishes to make some fake foods to restore the best state of food. A typical example is taking pictures of ice cubes. No matter how fast you take pictures, the melting speed of ice under the light is far beyond your imagination. Therefore, photographers usually choose fake ice cubes made of plexiglass when taking food pictures with ice cubes. This kind of ice is not only realistic, but also won't melt no matter how long it takes. In addition, when shooting ice cream, using mashed potatoes instead of ice cream for dyeing can also avoid the fear that the real thing will melt soon.

4. Other skills and experience

When shooting fruit, it will be more vivid if the fruit is soaked in the pigment solution. If most fruits are oiled and polished with a dry cloth, their texture will be more attractive.

When shooting beer, spraying water mist on the outside of the wine glass or bottle will make the beer look like it has just been frozen. If you put a little salt in the beer, it will make the beer produce beautiful white foam.

If you want to take pictures of hot coffee emitting heat, it will be better to use chemical methods. The specific method is to add a small amount of acetic acid to coffee first, and then drop a few drops of ammonia water to produce realistic smoke.

When shooting fried meat or sausage, coating oil on its surface will increase its freshness.

When you shoot vegetables, you might as well wash them with alkali water, so as to show the fresh and tender texture of vegetables.

Watches and jewelry

Watches and jewelry are common daily necessities and decorations. They are all relatively small and there are many styles. Therefore, it is not an easy task to shoot them well. It requires photographers to have very professional photography techniques and skills.

1. Suitable equipment

Because watches and jewelry are usually small in size, close-up photography is needed when shooting, so the equipment used should be considered from the perspective of close-up photography. The camera is a large-scale camera with rear view, and the snake belly of the large-scale camera can be greatly expanded and contracted, which brings a lot of convenience to close-range photography. Generally, medium telephoto lens and macro lens are used as lenses. When using a medium telephoto lens, the closest focusing distance between the lens and the subject can be slightly larger, which is more convenient for light distribution. But if the quality of the picture is very high, we should choose a macro lens.

2. Shooting skills

There are usually two ways to shoot watches and jewelry: one is to form a picture with watches and jewelry as the main body; The second is to use models to wear watches and jewelry, and use models as foil to highlight watches and jewelry.

When shooting with a model wearing a watch and jewelry, the model (especially the body parts of the model wearing jewelry) must be beautiful, otherwise it is difficult to match the watch or jewelry. When shooting in this way, the scene composition usually adopts close-up or large close-up, and the light field is generally controlled to make the area of the watch or jewelry slightly brighter, while the area outside the watch or jewelry is slightly darker, so as to form the contrast between the tone of the watch or jewelry and the model, and to highlight the watch or jewelry as much as possible.

When shooting watches and jewelry as a single picture, the watch or jewelry should be placed at the front. Jewelry is usually very small, so it is not easy to put it. For small jewelry, a fine needle is usually stuck on the jewelry first, and then the needle is fixed on the shooting stage, but there are no traces of adhesion and needle sticking when shooting. Because of the variety and texture of jewelry, it is difficult to have a certain lighting law. In general, gold and silver jewelry uses soft light, and faceted gems use direct light. When lighting, we should pay attention to whether the texture of jewelry can be well expressed, and whether each face and edge of jewelry reach the ideal brightness. If it is not ideal, we should adjust it patiently until it has a perfect effect.

3. Exposure compensation for close-range photography

If you take close-up photos of watches and jewelry with a big camera, exposure compensation is generally needed when shooting because the snake belly is over-stretched.

fashionable dress

The most essential purpose of fashion photography is to promote fashion clothes, but in terms of expression, it is more advanced than other photography subjects.

1

General 120 and 135 cameras are the main cameras in fashion photography, and 120 cameras have a good balance in overall quality and flexibility; If you don't take high-powered photos, it will be more convenient to use the 135 camera. Generally, the medium telephoto lens is used as the lens, which is beneficial to highlight the model image and blur the background. In some personalized fashion photography, wide-angle lenses are sometimes used to produce novel and unique visual effects.

2. Model

In fashion photography, the importance of model roles is different. In fashion catalogue works, the role of models is only to show clothes. However, in the theme features of fashion magazines, the personal temperament and appearance of models play an extremely important role. Therefore, photographers must choose models with appropriate temperament and shape according to the characteristics of advertising creativity and fashion. In advertisements focusing on specific parts of the body, photographers must also pay special attention to certain facial or physical features of the model, such as hair, eyes, ears, nose, hands, nails, feet, neck and buttocks.

make up

Make-up is a necessary step in fashion photography, and it is also an important factor to obtain the beauty of models. The type of makeup is not only related to the temperament, appearance and fashion style of the model, but also related to the way of lighting. Usually, the high-angle front soft light has good diffusion characteristics, which is suitable for most makeup artists. However, harder and less diffuse cloth light requires smoother and softer makeup. The complete front light is very flat and strong, so you can use a rich and contrasting makeup. If you use black-and-white film, you should avoid red, because red will turn black in black-and-white images. At this time, the best substitute is Brown.

4. Main points of indoor shooting

Fashion photography is mostly carried out in the studio, which should be large enough to facilitate the use of lighting and medium telephoto lenses. In order to quickly capture the movements and expressions of models, electronic flashlights are generally used as light sources. Lighting is very important when shooting. Lighting should not only show the color and texture of fashion, but also consider the lighting effect of the model. Usually soft light is dominant. The main light should have enough brightness and illumination area, and the light level of the main light is generally higher than that of the model, so that the light effect is natural. In addition, the main light should keep a certain distance from the model, otherwise it will easily cause uneven illumination of the model. Generally, auxiliary lights also use soft light. The auxiliary light not only improves the darkness, but also cooperates with the main light to improve the shape of the subject. Side light should be used carefully, only in the case of dark background; If it is a light background, the use of contour light will cause the outline of the subject to be blurred. When lighting, don't forget to install eye lights for the model, which will make the model look brighter and more moving.

5. Main points of outdoor shooting

If it is fashionable to shoot outdoors, it is not as convenient as shooting in the studio, mainly because the outdoor light is greatly affected by climate and time. In general, we should make full use of the sunshine in the morning or evening, when the light is the softest and the colors are the richest. Generally, the sunlight at noon can't be used for shooting. Under the illumination of the dome light, there will be a strong projection under the eye socket and nose bridge of the model, and the image is not good. Because the outdoor natural light does not change as much as the artificial light in the studio, you should bring one or two flashlights and large reflectors when shooting outdoors, and adjust the lighting effect if necessary.

Indoor portrait

In advertising photography, models and commodities are inseparable. There are generally two ways to shoot, either goods or models. Most models are shot in the studio, so it is necessary to master some basic techniques and skills of indoor portrait photography.

1

There are many choices for indoor portrait cameras. According to the shooting needs, you can choose a large camera, a medium 120 camera or a small 135 camera from the back of the camera. Generally speaking, 120 has a good balance between photo quality and shooting flexibility. If you choose 6? 6-frame 120 camera should be equipped with common lenses with focal lengths of 80mm, 150mm and 250mm; If you choose 135 camera, it is best to match a lens with a focal length of 80-200mm. 80- 135mm lens is suitable for shoulder-length portrait shooting, and 200mm lens is convenient for face close-up. In portrait photography, the compression effect of telephoto lens can make models with long faces or noses more beautiful than before.

Distribute light

Generally speaking, the main light should simulate sunlight and shine from a natural angle, while other light can only be used to make up for shadows or modify some parts of characters. The main light casts light and shadow on the face, giving it shape, depth and personality. The main light can be reflected from the model's eyes to show its existence. By studying the eye light in portrait photos, we can know the shape (round or square), size, position and what light source to use for shooting.

The following are several lighting methods commonly used in portrait photography:

Central lighting is effective for shooting women with wrinkles and flaws, because it has the least shadow on wrinkles and flaws, and wrinkles and flaws are not prominent. This light distribution method is also generally used for people who wear glasses, because the frame will not be projected onto the eyes. This kind of light is also very suitable for people with sunken eyes. ? Central lighting? It will widen and flatten the face, especially when using a telephoto lens, but it is not suitable for a round face.

High light is sometimes called butterfly light. Because the shadow formed by this lighting method is under the nose. ? Gao buguang? It emphasizes the beauty of cheeks, especially for young women's oval faces.

The circular light distribution can be shown to be quite thin.

Effect. Be careful not to let the ring touch your lips. This kind of lighting is usually used to correct a twisted nose or produce a slender effect on the face.

Rembrandt is named after the famous painter Rembrandt, also known as? Movable skylight lighting? . Because the painter opened a skylight on the roof of the studio to let in the light from the north, many of his models are beautiful in this angle of light, especially the diamond light on the other side of the nose.

Segmentation lighting can emphasize the skin features of the face. Therefore, models must have good skin when choosing this kind of lighting. But if you want to show the personality characteristics of construction workers or the elderly in photos, this lighting technique is also a good choice. This light distribution method is also very suitable for people with plump faces, because the separation of light and shadow will greatly narrow the face.

Astigmatic lighting refers to lighting the face close to the lens, which can widen the face.

Limiting light distribution refers to distributing light to the face far away from the camera, which can narrow the face.

3. Background

The dim white projection screen is a good background for portrait photography. The farther the light is from it, the darker it is. Simply increasing the distance between the main body and the screen can produce white and different shades of gray on the same background, and even produce a black background. One way to create a light background is to put a lamp behind the model to blur it. Flat curtains and walls are also often used as backgrounds. Never put patterned clothes on a patterned background, but sometimes you can use one of them.

4. Modeling

Let the model's shoulders face the camera so that her head looks bigger on the screen. If the model sits in front of the camera, her shoulders will look wide and her head will look small. The model's elbows slightly outward can make her look balanced in the photo, and the head leans forward and the chin points to the raised shoulders, which helps to strengthen the model's personality.

put on

For light-colored and high-profile subjects, they usually wear light-colored clothes and stand in front of a white or light-colored background to shoot. Increase the exposure of 1 level when shooting. For low-key subjects with dark skin color, they usually wear low-key clothes with background shooting in the middle, which can reduce exposure and produce completely different artistic conception.

6. Common defects and their correction

The subject matter of portrait photography is ever-changing. Some subjects have perfect images, while others have defects in one way or another. As a photographer, we should not only shoot the subject with a spirit likeness, but also beautify the appearance of the subject moderately. Therefore, it is necessary to master the common defects and correction methods of table 1 in portrait photography.

build

The main purpose and function of architectural photography is to perfectly show the three-dimensional architecture carefully designed by architects with two-dimensional photos without losing the charm of the original design. In today's society, architects, owners, publishers and scholars are willing to spend huge sums of money to obtain excellent architectural photos. Therefore, the practical value of architectural photography is higher than the artistic value.

1

Architectural photography requires high image quality, and excellent equipment is needed to achieve this. It is best to choose a large camera with a rear view, which can not only ensure the overall quality of the image, but also control the viewing angle, depth of field and deformation well. If there is no large camera, the medium-sized camera can also be used with the shift lens (PC lens), but the correction ability of perspective and deformation will become worse. Architectural photographic lenses are widely used. Wide-angle, standard and telephoto lenses may be used, but in general, wide-angle lenses are used more.

lamplight

In architectural photography, light is very important, and the choice of light determines the refinement of architectural lines, the configuration of color tones and the composition of three-dimensional sense. It is inevitable to photograph buildings in the wild. Almost all the lighting of buildings comes from natural light, which is constantly changing. Therefore, it is very important to grasp the best lighting effect of buildings. Generally speaking, it is 45? The sunlight in the corner is the best light for shooting buildings. The front light will make the building lack of three-dimensional sense, and the back light will make the tone of the building too dark and dim to express the details. If there were no sunshine, the building would look dull and lifeless. When the light is not ideal during the day, consider shooting the night view of the building. Sometimes, the night scene will have unexpected strange effects.

3. Viewpoint selection

The choice of building viewpoint will affect the orientation of buildings, the proportion of groups and the effect of sunlight exposure in photos. The choice of viewpoint should not only consider the integrity of the building group, but also highlight the main building. In the choice of viewpoint, high viewpoint and far viewpoint can better explain the relationship between architecture and environment; The viewpoint is low, the building looks high and has a sense of rising.

4. Shooting point

Engaged in architectural photography, we must master the following points.

(1) Whether using a large camera or a small or medium-sized camera, the camera must be horizontal. According to the working principle of large camera, if the film plane, lens plane and the vertical plane of the building are parallel, then the building will not be deformed. This is easier for large cameras with adjustable front and rear seats. It is difficult for ordinary small and medium-sized cameras to keep the building from deformation. At this time, three corresponding measures can be taken: keeping the camera level and shooting buildings from a distance so that buildings can take pictures; Finding a suitable high point on the opposite side of the building can take all the buildings into the picture while keeping the camera level; If there is really no retreat or high point around the building being photographed, you can shoot the camera upside down first, and then correct it in darkroom amplification or later digital processing.

(2) Try to shoot as close to the building as possible, so that on the one hand, the building can appear majestic and tall in the photo, on the other hand, it can also avoid bringing things such as water towers or chimneys at the top of the building into the picture.

③ In black-and-white photography, orange or red filters are often used to improve the level and tone of the sky; In color photography, polarizers are often used to deepen the color of the sky.

④ In any case, a small aperture must be used to enlarge the depth of field as much as possible and improve the definition; At the same time, a large tripod and cable release device must be used to keep the camera stable to the greatest extent.