Professional skills of super wide-angle lens: structure, prospect and background

Lead: robert capa, a war photographer, said, "If your photos are not good enough, it is because you are not close enough. Although this classic sentence is not aimed at super wide-angle lens, it has become the best interpretation invisibly. The closer to the subject, the more dramatic the effect will be, because the exaggerated perspective and distortion, as well as the far-reaching sense of space before and after the scene, strengthen the image tension. Let's take a look at the composition skills of wide-angle lenses.

Under the wide viewing angle of super wide-angle lens, the proportion of all scenes, actions or expressions in the picture will be relatively reduced. If these are the information to be conveyed by photos, if they are not close enough, they will not leave a deep impression on people, or even make people unable to grasp the key points of the picture. However, water can carry a boat and also overturn it. If the super wide-angle lens is not properly controlled, the exaggerated deformation and distortion of the scene will destroy the overall balance and aesthetic feeling of the picture. Therefore, while pursuing strong visual impact, we should also balance the sense of proportion to avoid adverse effects. The most common example is when shooting portraits, if the distance is too close, it may cause the nose or forehead to twist.

Close to the shooting, let the subject enlarge and fill the whole picture, so that people can grasp the key points at a glance.

Make use of the characteristics of super wide-angle lens to create a far-reaching sense of space.

The closer to the subject, the more obvious the perspective brought by the super wide-angle lens, which strengthens the image tension.

You can capture the whole picture of the event with a super wide-angle lens, and you can grasp more details when you are close to shooting.

Make good use of the front, middle and back scenes

How to create a sense of space and make the picture more stereoscopic? At this time, the arrangement of the front, middle and back scenes is very important. Take shooting scenery as an example, using good foreground as the dominant picture, or using the sky and mountains as the background, so as not to make the picture look too empty and the picture will be more layered. For example, when shooting at the seaside, you can use wave-absorbing blocks, ships or docks as the foreground, while when shooting buildings, pedestrians or endless rails are good foreground embellishments. Because of the strong perspective when shooting with a super wide-angle lens, even if the camera position is moved, the distant background will not change much, but the content of the foreground will be obviously different, so the foreground can be used flexibly to present different visual effects.

How to allocate the proportion of front, middle and back scenes? In fact, there are no mandatory rules or regulations. You can use the three-point composition method to evenly distribute the front, middle and back scenes, or you can decide the composition according to the focus of the performance. For example, the sky is full of clouds, which may be rare fiery red clouds, or the blue sky may be dotted with clouds of various interesting shapes. At this time, the sky becomes the main visual focus, and the proportion can occupy most of the picture. On the contrary, if the weather is bad, the proportion of the sky can be reduced.

In addition, the distribution of the front, middle and back scenes depends on whether the photos are straight or banners, but no matter what kind of composition, as long as the pictures look balanced and coordinated, it means that the distribution of the front, middle and back scenes is handled properly, which depends on watching more, shooting more and thinking more, and naturally it is possible to arrange and send out clear-cut pictures accurately.

When shooting the scenery, arrange the foreground to decorate the picture, which looks richer and more layered.

Imagine, if there is no pool and reflection in front of the building, will the picture look empty?

Through the configuration of the front, middle and back scenes, the three-dimensional sense of the image arises spontaneously.

Take pictures of scenery with people or things.

Using a wide-angle lens, it is easy to explain the relationship between the subject and the environment when composing a composition. Besides wide angle, it can contain more scenes, and the long depth of field of wide angle lens can faithfully record every detail in the picture. Therefore, in the application of super wide-angle lens, although it will be associated with landscape photography for the first time, there are also many people who use super wide-angle lens to engage in portrait creation or news photography. For example, shooting dynamic subjects, combining the model's body movements with the vast scenery with a super wide-angle lens, can shoot more tense images. Looking at it from another angle, in fact, super wide-angle portrait creation is just like landscape photography, except that portrait elements are added to the visual focus, which makes the beautiful scenery in front of us bright, and the beautiful scenery and the model set each other off and naturally enrich the picture. In addition, because Model can interact with photographers to construct a more perfect picture, it also highlights the importance of composition for ultra-wide-angle portraits. How to arrange people and scenes in the picture is a key to the quality of photos.

No matter the scenery brought by people or things, readers can try to add lines to the picture. After all, the super wide-angle lens brings more scenery, which is not easy to focus the viewer's eyes. Therefore, lines are the simplest and most practical elements, which have the function of guiding vision in the picture. The application of lines can be seen everywhere in life, such as railings, steps, buildings or roads, which can all be used as elements of lines. As long as we grasp the extension point of the line in the picture and put people or things on the extension point of the line, we can effectively attract the attention of the viewer. However, the background should be simplified as much as possible, and elevation angle, depression angle or framing may be used to avoid too much interference and affect visual focus.

The line elements strengthened by perspective deformation not only attract the attention of the viewer, but also make the picture tense.

If the model occupies a small proportion in the whole picture, it can attract the attention of the viewer through greater body movements.

The model's line of sight echoes the Chinese fir soaring into the sky, bringing out the interaction between people and scenery.

Avoid putting people on both sides.

Wide-angle lenses have the problem of corner deformation, especially ultra-wide-angle lenses. Therefore, when shooting portraits, if the limbs or head are close to the two sides of the picture, it is easy to cause the hands and feet to be elongated, destroy the body proportion, or make the head, face, arms and thighs look obese. To solve this situation, the easiest way is to put the characters in the center of the picture and pay attention to the shooting angle. It is suggested that the height of the subject from knee to waist can be taken to reduce the influence of deformation. Mastering the above points, the super wide-angle lens can also be used to improve the proportion of the body. For example, shooting from the bottom up and lengthening the body through the perspective effect can make you instantly taller! (Editor's recommendation: Professional skills for shooting super wide-angle lenses: shooting downward and upward)

When using super wide-angle lens, we should not only pay attention to the problem of corner deformation, but also take a good shooting angle.

Putting the figure in the center can reduce the influence of angular deformation.

Pay attention to the picture hierarchy

Whether shooting landscapes, buildings or indoor spaces, if you want to use a super wide-angle lens to make the picture look comfortable without losing momentum, you should pay special attention to the level, because of the exaggerated spatial effect, any skew will be amplified, causing visual interference. Especially when shooting a building, if it is not kept horizontal, the vertical lines in the picture will begin to converge, and it seems that the building is inclined. If you want to avoid this effect, the distance is limited, and you can't capture the whole picture of the building horizontally, then try to shoot at a closer elevation angle, directly showing the towering momentum of the building. In addition, some cameras have built-in electronic level meters, so it is recommended to turn on the function as a reference for composition and present accurate image effects.

Make good use of the electronic level built in the fuselage to achieve accurate image effect.

When using super wide-angle lens, we should pay attention to the level of the picture, so that the photo looks comfortable without losing momentum.