Shooting Skills of Novices Shooting Indoor Portraits

Lead: For beginners, it is much more difficult to take portraits than landscapes. Let me talk about the skills of beginners to take indoor portraits.

1. Keep people as far away from walls or objects as possible.

According to the principle of light projection, when a person is close to a wall or an object behind him, the original indoor light and natural light cannot illuminate or reflect to the wall and other objects behind him. When the strong light source flashes, the subject will leave a heavy flash shadow on the wall and other objects behind him. Therefore, in the case of not affecting the composition, let the characters stay away from the white wall or the objects behind them as far as possible, and keep a certain space and distance, and the flash shadow will be obviously weakened.

2. Select an external flash.

External flash can fill the light from different angles and dilute the shadow, such as DF800 flash. If you shoot with a flash in this case, you should pay attention to the shooting distance. Generally, it is not recommended to get too close, so as not to shoot unnatural light spots.

3. Cover the flash properly.

Because the indoor space is small and the shooting distance is close, the use of flash is not only easy to produce shadows, but also may make people's faces white. At this time, we can use white gauze, stockings and even paper towels to properly block the flash and make the flash light source softer. When using, stick gauze and other things on the outside of the flash (be careful not to block the viewfinder and focusing hole). If the soft light effect of one layer is not ideal, add two or even three layers. However, after the flash is blocked, the illumination of the flash will decrease, so the exposure value should be increased appropriately.

4. The camera position is high.

When using the flash indoors, the camera should be positioned higher and upright, so that the projection of the flash will be directly below the person behind you and will be partially blocked by the subject, which will not look so obvious. Try to shoot with your head up or head up as little as possible. In addition, vertical composition should be avoided, because when shooting vertically, the camera should be rotated 90 degrees and the flash is in the side position, which makes it easier for the flash shadow to fall on a certain side of the figure and leave a thick black shadow in the background consistent with the profile of the figure. When taking banner photos, the flash light source is emitted from directly above the lens, and the projection is weak.

5. Use slow synchronous flash mode.

When shooting indoors with flash, in addition to the light source of flash, there will be natural light and indoor lighting of doors and windows, but the latter two light sources are weak and cannot make the main characters have enough exposure. We can use the slow synchronous flash mode to illuminate the protagonist with a flash light source, and then shoot other still lifes in the room with a longer shutter (115 ~1sec), so that we can use the original light in the room to weaken the shadow left by the flash. It is best to use a tripod and a cable release when shooting to prevent vibration during shooting. At the same time, the subject should keep the original posture after turning on the flash until the shutter is closed.

Step 6 use jumping lights

For a flash with adjustable direction or a digital camera (installed on the top of the camera) that can use an external flash, the flash lamp holder can be aimed at a white reflector, such as the ceiling and the wall opposite or on the side of the person, and the reflected light source can be used to illuminate the person being photographed. This reflected flash can change the direction of illumination, from the original front light to the front top light or front side light, which is as natural and soft as scattered light and can also produce a good eye. When using this method, avoid using a colored surface, because its reflected light will project a special color on the photo. The external flash should be placed as high as possible from the top of the camera. The reason for this is to make the flash light illuminate the subject at an angle similar to that of the sun, so that the shadow naturally falls behind the subject without annoying shadows. Of course, this method will also damage the light, so pay attention to the accuracy of exposure.