Course of photographic lighting technology

In photography, the study of light characteristics generally starts from six aspects: luminosity, light quality, light level, light type, light ratio and light color.

1. brightness

Brightness is the most basic factor of light, and it is the general name of the luminous intensity of light source and the brightness of light on the surface of an object. The luminosity is directly related to the exposure, so the luminosity is large and the required exposure is small; Low luminosity and large exposure. In addition, brightness also indirectly affects the depth of field and the clarity or blur of moving objects. Large luminosity is easy to produce the effect of large depth of field and clear image; Low luminosity is easy to produce small depth of field and blurred moving image effect.

2. Optical level

Light level refers to the irradiation direction of the light source and the position of the light source relative to the subject. In photography, the intensity of light determines the bright and dark position of the subject, and also affects the texture and shape of the subject. The light level can be varied, but when the position of the subject and the camera is relatively fixed, the light level can be divided into six types: front light, side light, back light, top light, foot light and scattered light.

3. Light quality

Light quality refers to the soft and hard characteristics of light. The so-called hard, that is, the shadow produced by light is clear and thick, with sharp outline and high contrast; The so-called softness means that the shadows produced by light are soft and not bright, with gradual outline and low contrast. Strong light has obvious directionality, which can make the subject have sharp contrast between light and shade and contribute to the expression of texture. Strong light often gives people a sense of fortitude and vitality; Soft light has no obvious directionality. It is suitable for reflecting the shape and color of objects, but it is not good at expressing the texture of objects. Soft light often gives people a soft and delicate feeling.

4. Lightweight

For the subject, there is often more than one kind of light when shooting, and the functions and effects of various lights are different. Light type refers to the action of various lights on the subject when shooting. Lighting types are usually divided into five types: main light, auxiliary light, outline light, decorative light and background light.

Main light Main light is the main illumination light of an object, which plays a leading role in the expression of the shape, outline and texture of the object. When shooting, once the main light is determined, the basic light and tone of the picture are determined. It should be noted that for a subject, there can only be one main light. If several light sources are used as the main light at the same time, the subject will either receive the same light and can't tell what the main light is, and the picture will be dull; Or several main lights produce shadows on the subject at the same time, and the picture appears chaotic.

Auxiliary light The main function of auxiliary light is to improve the brightness of the shadow part produced by the main light, so that the dark part also presents a certain texture and hierarchy, and at the same time reduce the contrast of the image. In the application of auxiliary light, it should be clear that the intensity of auxiliary light is less than the intensity of main light, otherwise it will lead to the effect of usurping the role of the master and easily produce obvious auxiliary light projection on the subject, that is, the phenomenon of "light clamping".

Profile light Profile light is the light used to outline the main body. Side light gives the subject a three-dimensional sense and a sense of space. Backlight and side backlight are often used as side light, and the intensity of side light is often higher than that of main light. A dark background helps to highlight the side light.

Decorative lights Decorative lights are mainly used to decorate parts of the main body or display the details of the main body. Decorative lights are mostly narrow light. Eye light, luminous light in portrait photography and flare of the first ornament in commodity photography are typical decorative lights.

Background light Background light is the light that illuminates the background, and its main function is to set off the subject and render the environment and atmosphere. Both natural light and artificial light can be used as background light, which is generally wide, soft and uniform. In the application of background light, we should pay special attention not to destroy the tone coordination and main shape of the whole picture.