How to take excellent portrait photos with fill light?

Filling light is one of the important skills that every portrait photographer should master. Whether you like natural light or artificial light, all professional portrait photographers constantly use supplementary light in their work.

In our content, you can learn why fill light is so important for portrait photography, two simple methods to generate fill light under any circumstances, and how to use fill light to obtain satisfactory results. When you finish your studies, you can take some amazing portrait photos for yourself.

1. What is the fill light in photography?

Fill light lamp is a kind of lamp used to illuminate (fill) the shadow of a portrait. It is a form of auxiliary lighting, and you can add it to any lighting setting used with main lighting (i.e. main lighting) to create pleasant effects. Look at the following two pictures. The image on the left lacks fill light, so the back of the model's skirt is black. But if you add some fill light to the back of the model, the dress will become more detailed and get a more natural effect.

(There is no fill light in the left picture; The picture on the right contains the fill light on the back of the main body)

Second, when to use the fill light?

Do we need to add fill light to each picture? What if you want a darker, more personal and contrasting effect?

Of course, it is not always necessary to add supplementary light to the image, and darkness and contrast must have some unique effects. But fill light makes people look more even and natural.

Third, create ways to fill the light.

Although from the shooting point of view, you can use any light source (including flashlights, neon lights and even mobile phone screens) to fill in, there are two proven portrait filling methods that even novices can use.

3. 1. reflector

Reflecting plate is the simplest, cheapest and most basic method to supplement light, and it is also widely used. The reflector is a reflective material, so by careful placement, the main (key) light can be reflected back into the shadow (for diffuse reflection filling effect).

(The reflector fills the light, in which the main light is on the left and the reflector is on the right)

If you are a novice in portrait photography, a simple reflector will do. First of all, high-quality reflectors are also cheaper. In addition, the reflector is very easy to use, it can be set quickly and requires little action, because you just need to move back and forth next to the subject.

3.2. Flash or studio single lamp

In addition to the main flash, you can use one (or two or more) standard flash or studio flash as a fill light. The special fill light will accomplish the same basic work as the reflector, but it is more controllable: you can fine-tune the exposure and shape of the fill light with the accuracy that the reflector simply does not allow.

Fourth, the skills of fill light photography

Get to know the lighting ratio first.

Illumination coefficient seems to be a complex technical concept, but it is not. You need to know the brightness of one lamp relative to another. So if your main light is twice as bright as your supplementary light, then the illumination ratio is 2:1; If your main light is 4 times brighter than your auxiliary light, then the illumination ratio is 4:1; If your main light is eight times brighter than the auxiliary light, then the illumination rate is

8: 1。 The higher the lighting coefficient, the higher (and more dramatic) the contrast of the effect.

(Left: Due to the light ratio of 2: 1, the shadow is seriously filled, which will cause a low-contrast image. Right: The illumination ratio is 16: 1, creating a dark contrast image. Compared with the main light, the supplementary light is always underexposed. Even if this is your main light, you will eventually get a low-contrast image.

1. Add reflector as auxiliary light source.

First, set your main light to shape and illuminate your theme as needed. It is recommended to use standard lighting scheme, especially if you are a beginner, measure your subject and determine the ideal exposure setting of the image. Then evaluate the shadow area produced by your main light. Whether you use natural light, continuous light or plastic light, you can do this with the naked eye, and you can also shoot and watch it on the back of the camera. Third, place the reflector so that it is roughly opposite to the main light source. To get a low contrast effect, please put the reflector as close as possible, move it aside to get a high contrast effect, and evaluate the reflector effect when everything is ready.

Jump out of the well-lit rule

Basic fill light settings need a light source, but you don't have to use multiple fill lights in the same photo to illuminate the subject from different angles. You can also combine lights and reflectors to create different complementary light intensities.