Portrait photography skills: six simple tips for shooting professional portraits

Take a professional portrait with six simple strokes.

When it comes to taking portraits, it seems that there are various styles, but it is true. No matter what occupation, everyone wants to have a portrait photo of himself, and also hopes that this photo can show his style well.

Generally, this kind of portrait is mainly based on taking headshots, and many portrait photographers will "disdain" because they feel too monotonous and lack creativity, but it is not! Today, I specially summed up a few points for you to teach you how to shoot a close-up of a portrait head gracefully!

1. pose as a model

When taking a close-up of the head, the posture is particularly limited. Why did I say I should be a model? This is because all parts of the body are in harmony, and the overall consistency can have a great impact on the head and shoulders. You can also relax the model by taking pictures, guide it as much as possible, and then capture the scenery from the head to the waist to capture the natural expression. By the way, the close-up of the head is strictly not only about the left and right sides of the head, but also about the waist.

In terms of facial expressions, smiles and natural expressions are very suitable. Try both. Even if the model says what kind of specific expression she wants, in fact, if you actively guide them, you may not need to spend a minute to capture more additional natural expressions, which will give the model more choices at the end of the final shoot.

2. Proper lighting

The most common way to shoot in the shed is to use 1-2 main light and a soft box to provide the main light source. The role of the soft light box is particularly critical. It can make you get more uniform diffuse light when taking pictures. It is best to use it together with the reflector to reduce shadows.

Lighting can also be as simple as possible. In the case of only one light source, the soft box can be placed slightly above the model's head and tilted down by 45. This method is quite effective, because it can not only provide uniform light for shooting, but also show the shadow under the nose. At this time, it would be perfect to add a reflector under the chin to soften the shadow!

If you want to get a more three-dimensional portrait, you might as well try Rembrandt's lighting, which is also relatively simple, but the effect will be different. It relies on strong side light to make the model's face show a triangular shadow, which can split the model's face in two but look different. The specific operation is to put the soft box on the side of the model, about 45 above the head. Of course, it is best to have a reflector to soften the shadows.

3. Pay attention to camera settings

Camera settings are also important for portrait shooting in the shed. Because many conditions in the shed are not as good as outdoor, we must shoot in M mode (manual mode) and control all conditions in our own hands! The automatic or semi-automatic mode of the camera often provides incorrect exposure. Don't underestimate the exposure coefficient. Often these details are not taken seriously, and the scrap rate is high!

Generally speaking, under the condition of ISO 100, the best picture quality can be obtained by shooting in the shed, and the shutter speed should be set to be synchronized with the flash (or as close as possible), which is about 1/200 seconds. In this case, the aperture can be kept at F8 to obtain a clear image. If necessary, the aperture can be adjusted to F 165438. Finally, don't forget to focus, set the focus mode to single focus, and manually select the focus before shooting.

4. Measure the light and set the light frequency.

It is necessary to measure the light before shooting, because you can't accurately judge the parameters of the lamp frequency, and the power of different studios and flashlights is different, so you can't accurately set the power setting of the lamp by feeling. The most stable way is to set the exposure parameters of the camera first, and then fine-tune.

All these are set up at the beginning, and the later shooting will get twice the result with half the effort! If the photos taken are too bright, reduce the output power; On the other hand, if it is too dark, increase the output power. If the output power is already the lowest and the image is still overexposed, you can choose to adjust the lens aperture to F 1 1 or move the light source to a slightly farther place, as the case may be!

5. How to get shallow depth of field effect?

When you use the light source in the shed to shoot, it is very difficult and usually impossible to achieve sufficient and uniform illumination of the model subject and obtain a shallow depth of field effect with a large aperture. A simple and rude way to get the effect of shallow depth of field is to adjust your lighting equipment and set everything as you expect. At this point, the aperture should be set to F8. Maybe you can use a filter to assist shooting, and then turn up the aperture to get the depth of field.

In this process, it should be noted that the autofocus of the camera may not be effective when the light changes, so it is recommended to switch to manual mode. At the same time, remember to be patient when focusing and focusing.

6. Re-recognize the white background

Maybe you think that most people take portraits with a white background, which is too similar. Maybe you want to change it to gray, but there is no ready-made gray background in the shed. What should I do? At this time, white background can help you. It turns gray or even black in the lens, which depends on the distance between the portrait and the background and the angle of light. If you want to get a medium gray background, just keep the distance between the model and the background at 1- 1.5 meters, because the decrease of light will make the background underexposed, and the original bright white background will magically turn gray! By the way, if there is no white background, it doesn't matter to find an ordinary white wall!

Close-ups of heads may not sound like the most exciting portraits, but their shooting can also be creative. From posture to lighting, props and even the choice of background, once you pay attention, think carefully and explore, you will find it can be very interesting!