Shooting Techniques of Portrait Photography in Bright Qiu Guang

Shooting Techniques of Portrait Photography in Bright Qiu Guang

Photographers have been struggling in the strong sunlight since the invention of the camera. Especially in autumn, when shooting in bright sunshine, the most common annoying situations are extreme contrast, strong light, too thick shadows and gloomy pictures. Here are some useful tips for shooting in the midday sun.

1, use shadow

The easiest way to deal with sunlight is to avoid it and hide under buildings, trees and other man-made or natural objects. However, not all shadows are the same, such as mottled shadows, heavy shadows, surrounding shadows, side shadows and overhead shadows.

Remember that shadows are not without light, otherwise nothing can be photographed. On the contrary, shadow is the softening of light, and the softened light will shine on the subject through other media. It is important to decide from which direction the light shines on an object-usually the light comes from more than one direction. Generally speaking, the nearest reflector or the weakest softened light is the most important light source.

This becomes especially important after adding background elements. For example, the main body is located at the edge of the shadow, followed by the building in the shadow. The subject is much brighter than the background. This is because the reflected sunlight is closer to the main body of the shadow edge. Moving the subject backward and close to the background will make the relative illumination ratio between them closer-reducing the contrast of the scene.

2. Use fixed focus and polarizer.

Fixed focus lens and polarizer are good tools to reduce the strong light at noon. The fixed-focus lens is sharper than the zoom lens, and has better control over contrast and glare. Did you find any green glare in the photos taken in the sun? Fixed focus lenses are better at dealing with glare and internal reflection. In addition, you can also use a hood, which can also have a good effect.

With a fixed-focus lens with a polarizer, you will get a clearer picture, with more saturated colors and higher contrast. Polarizers can filter polarized light in light and reduce glare and ghost. It can't eliminate the shadows on people's faces in the midday sun, but it will definitely make your photos clearer and more transparent.

3. Make good use of light.

In this photo, look for the right angle for the backlit model and let the light illuminate the outline of his shoulders and hair. However, it is necessary to avoid the light from forming bright spots on the face, and at the same time make the light on the model softer.

The main problems of shooting at noon are the shadow under the model's eyes, narrowed eyes and highlights on the skin. If there is no shadow around, you can choose to shoot against the light. I only know that if we want to ensure the normal exposure of the model, it will usually lead to overexposure of the sky; If the sky is exposed accurately, the model will become very dark. The light ratio directly facing the sun will be great. Let the model turn at an angle of 30-45 degrees, and pay attention to whether there are any light spots on her face. Use a reflector if conditions permit.

4, clever use of reflector or soft light board

Author: Yang Lu

Using reflector or soft light plate is an effective method to reduce the illumination ratio between model and environment. They can be used in the sun or in places where sunlight and shadows are mixed.

If you don't have enough money to buy high-quality reflectors and soft light boards, you can make them yourself using materials purchased from stores. You can buy some plastic foam boards at the local store and glue them together to make a simple white reflector. Cushions can be made of any translucent material, but make sure they are white, or you will project other colors on the model. When the budget is insufficient, you can even use white sheets as a soft light board.

There are many different models, shapes and colors of reflectors. Their most important use is to provide more light for shadow areas. The reflected light of the white reflector is consistent with the light source. Silver reflector reflects more light, usually without color cast, which often produces a flash-like effect. The light reflected by the gold reflector is warmer, while the black reflector actually absorbs the light.

There are different grades of soft light boards-generally, 1/4, 2/3, 1 and 2. They are placed between the model and the sun to soften the light. A exposure value close to or equal to the background can be obtained by blocking the sunlight on the front of the model with a soft light board. This is a particularly popular technique when shooting magazine covers-70-200mm lenses are usually used. Let the model form a 90-degree angle with the sun, and put the soft light board between the sun and the model, you can get the same effect, but the direction of light is different-this time it is side light.

5, with the help of a flash.

Built-in flash, small flash or other devices-sometimes you have to use them. There are a million ways to use the flash. But please remember your main goal-to eliminate the current shadow, reduce the light ratio of the scene, and get a good exposure of the model and background.

No matter what you do-look for shadows, use reflectors, soft plates, polarizers or flashlights-your goal is to reduce the light ratio of the scene and eliminate shadows. I hope these skills can help you overcome the strong light in the bright sun.

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