How to take a candle photo?

Technically speaking, candlelight photography is more difficult than sunlight or artificial lighting photography. Insufficient light will slow down the shutter speed. To avoid blurring the picture, you need a tripod or a support frame. Whether to use a flash depends on what effect you want to achieve in the end. In principle, a flash can be used.

1. Shooting by candlelight with a flashlight If there is no flashlight, it is impossible to use burning candles as the main element of composition. A larger ISO value and shutter speed within a few seconds will give a correctly exposed frame, but only in the part where the light emitted by the candle will appear. If you shoot at close range, the highlight of the picture (the tongue under candlelight) will be "burnt" into white. If you increase the distance, all objects around the candle will be merged into pure black. The external flash will increase the light, so that the light it emits will fall in the same direction as the light emitted by the candle. If there is a candle, put a tube on the flash to narrow the beam and guide the light. When there are several candles, let the flash light on. It is recommended to use a yellow filter or at least a yellow film, and the flash power is selected according to experience.

It is important not to take pictures too far away. Choosing a value that can calculate the composition object, rather than the smallest detail, will keep it dark. Otherwise, the overall effect of lighting with candles will disappear. Expose the camera so that the brightest area is exposed correctly (in this case, the flame). When cutting the image, please cut off the bright part of the candle, so that other light sources will not be noticed in the final image.

Second, candlelight photography does not use flash. If there are a lot of candles before shooting, you should practice light and shadow first. The more candles, the stronger the light. You must try to shoot with different shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings.

If you want to take a portrait, please arrange candles so that the light falls from one side and the other. Let more candles be lit on one side to increase the side light effect. Don't put candles in one place-this will lead to the following situations: shadows will fall on your face, so it's best to keep a small distance between them. You can use a low-light desk lamp for lighting (as an option-a lamp with yellow, orange or red cloth on the lampshade).

Third, how to take pictures by candlelight (shooting skills) Use portrait lens and fast aperture (f/ 1.8 or f/ 1.4). You must use a tripod, otherwise the border will be blurred, so that more light can enter the matrix. If the ISO shutter speed exceeds 400 (115) for a long time, the ISO shutter speed will not increase, so setting a higher shutter speed during processing will eliminate digital noise. Set the white balance manually, you won't take good photos in automatic mode. Try shooting with different white balance settings, or shooting in RAW format, and then you can correct it in post-processing.

Photographic landscape

As far as composition is concerned, candlelight shooting is very simple, and there are only two choices-in-frame candles and behind-the-scenes candles. Try not to mess up the details. Usually, you can surround yourself with books, a glass of wine, a shawl and a cloak-something suitable for the plot. If you decide to add candles to the frame, please arrange them according to the principle of "the simpler the better", because the candles themselves have attracted some attention. If you want to take a portrait, let the candle become a model and blend in with the surrounding environment. Don't overemphasize yourself. For the composition of the picture, they often spread candles on the floor in the form of heart-shaped wave chains. The candles on the candlestick look beautiful.

There are many ideas for shooting by candlelight.

Do some shooting, consult the works of the masters, and then try to repeat or do similar photography. With a little training, you can take good candlelight photos.