Shooting skills of using foreground to shoot portraits with a sense of hierarchy

Many friends know that the background may determine the success or failure of portrait works, but people often ignore the significance of the foreground to portrait works. In fact, the prospect is far more concerned than the background, and its positive role is far greater than the background, provided that you know how to use it.

prospect

Foreground is an element that can make the picture show depth and three-dimensional sense immediately. If you imagine the subject in the picture as the middle scene, then a promising image has at least three levels, so that this photo will have a sense of hierarchy. How to observe and discover the prospect in the environment? Photographs are two-dimensional art, which has no depth in essence, but photographers can create depth through the content in the picture, giving viewers a visual experience from shallow to deep. Here we need to use the perspective principle and the configuration of the foreground. Matching a foreground in the picture can effectively create a sense of depth and make the picture appear rich in layers.

Being too close to people often ignores the prospect. Setting the camera slightly away from the main body will naturally bring more scene elements into the viewfinder. Just choose a suitable element as the foreground. Step-by-step screening from far to near is a skill to shoot portraits with scenery. Trying different shooting angles and trying to find more relationships between people and the environment from different angles can bring about the variability of composition.

There are three common forms of prospect.

1. Block the foreground

Take any element in the plant scene such as flowers as the foreground, and let the photographer's perspective be close to this foreground. When composing a composition, let the whole foreground block a part of the main body in the picture.

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII focal length 50mm aperture f/2 shutter 1/400s ISO 100

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII35mm aperture f/2.8 shutter1125ISO250

2. Expand prospects

Before shooting, look for regular lines or elements around you, make a composition according to this rule, and put the subject in. Generally speaking, walls, railings, floors, sand dunes, etc. It can usually be used as an extended prospect. The blurred railing is the foreground, and we see people along the railing. This is the middle scene with the background behind the characters. The picture still has three levels: front, middle and back.

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII focal length 85mm aperture f/ 1.8 shutter 1/800s ISO 100.

This photo belongs to the framed foreground, and clusters of pink cherry blossoms are the foreground, blocking the characters' calves.

3. Framework prospects

Frame view is also a special prospect. The composition of the frame scene is somewhat similar to the shadow foreground, but the shadow area is relatively large, resulting in the shadow on the periphery of the subject and the vacancy in the middle. Such a composition requires the photographer to observe the surrounding environment more carefully. Scene elements can be gaps between leaves, fences, window frames, etc. When shooting, you can constantly adjust the position through the viewfinder until the foreground in the picture successfully "frames" the characters.

The purpose and effect of the framework prospect

Create a sense of fantasy. If the lens is shot close to the framing element, a large color block will be formed in the picture, and we can add many dreamy elements to the picture, such as flowers and spots. Enhance the sense of story. Using framing elements to "frame" the main characters gives us a bystander perspective, as if watching a story that happened around us, making the photos more story-telling and interesting. The theme is more prominent. It seems to add a dark corner to the picture.

How to create your own prospects

1. candy paper

In fact, using sugar paper is also an accident. I once took a guest photo in a coffee shop in Shanghai. I peeled a candy and held it in my hand. When shooting, my light flashed and I put the candy paper in front of the camera, which had an unexpected effect. At first, the tenderness of the spring sunshine and the color of the candy paper smudged together, which produced the feeling of a girl. Later, indoor photos were taken, and colored candy paper was also used as the foreground, which echoed the blue and pink clothes of the characters, and the photos as a whole showed a soft tonality.

2. Objects that can reflect light sources, such as glass bodies and prisms.

As long as there is light, they are suitable for creating fantastic prospects, and they are small and easy to carry. Below is a screenshot of the video I shot for Wang Ruoyi. I put a small glass in front of the light source (desk lamp).

3. Curtains or white walls

Curtains or white walls are also good prospects. Let the protagonist be in the middle of the picture, and the picture will appear rich in layers and prominent in subject. Especially when shooting indoors, this composition method is often used. If there are no curtains in the scene in the early stage, you can also bring a suitable cloth to create the foreground.

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII focal length 35mm aperture f/2.2 shutter1160siso100

water droplet

The water drops on the glass window are also good prospects, which can be left after the rain or sprayed by themselves.

5. Smoked cake

The main purpose of cigarette cake is to increase the spatial effect of light generation and enhance the perspective relationship of shooting pictures. I have only used cigarette cakes once, so the samples are limited. If I wait for the smoke to dissipate a little before pressing the shutter, the effect will be better, so that the characters will be looming and the picture will be more dreamy.

6. Glass doors and windows

Glass doors and windows are also the foreground we often use in shooting. Let the cheeks, palms and other parts of the characters close to the window, or close to the window but leave a certain distance, which will produce a natural hazy effect.

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII focal length 35mm aperture f/2.5 shutter 1/2000s ISO320

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII focal length 35mm aperture f/2 shutter11000s ISO 200

Canon EOS 5D MarkIII focal length 50mm aperture f/2 shutter1125ISO100