How to take a layered portrait?

Lead: Do you often feel confused? Why do my photos always look so dull and lack a sense of hierarchy? Photos are flat, how to make them more hierarchical and three-dimensional? Photographer Chengzi's suggestion is to focus on the contrast in a photo, specifically: light and dark contrast, virtual and real contrast, cold and warm contrast and dynamic and static contrast. Then how to show these contrasts in the works? Let's take a look at this tutorial.

1. Being good at using the foreground

Foreground can create a sense of depth in the picture, which is the most commonly used method to increase the layering and visual guidance of photos, and at the same time, it can explain more about the environment in a photo.

There are many things that can be used as foreground, such as flowers and plants, architectural lines, gauze fireworks, all kinds of small objects, etc. Almost everything you think is suitable at the scene, and even the hands, feet and hair of the model can be directly taken as foreground when you take a close-up, so by the way, if you want to take a more stereoscopic and tense close-up, it is recommended to use a focal length of 35mm or even wider, and the conventional 85mm or even 135mm is stretched.

Example 1: The following film uses two most common foregrounds, one is the water surface and the other is the petals floating on the water surface. When shooting, the camera tries to stick to the water surface to make the water surface close to the lens and the petals on the water surface blur a little more, and the lens can also incorporate more distant light and shadow.

Example 2: The following picture was taken on the rooftop of a high-rise building in Changsha. The fence was used to guide the foreground. Of course, it is also important to choose the plane position. It is best to take care of both light and shadow and the foreground. The guardrail of this photo has a gradual change from dark to light under the top backlight, which is another element that makes the photo more layered. In addition, the night in the foreground forms another bright and dark contrast with the dark part on the left side of the picture.

Example 3: The following photo is the above-mentioned close-up shooting. There are not many objects on the rooftop that can be used as foreground. The wind is very strong, and the tassel covered outside the Moon Teacher flutters with the wind, close to the tassel continuous shooting, OK! I am very satisfied with the expressive force of the moon teacher and the sunset glow in the future!

Example 4: The following picture is the above-mentioned direct use of the model's limbs as the foreground. The lens directly passes through the girl's long legs, and the long legs become the foreground, which adds a bit of laziness and sexiness to the face.

In a word, the selection and use of the foreground is eclectic. You can use it as you see fit. There are not many rules to follow. I usually don't pay attention to these when shooting. This editor has given me this task greatly, and I just think about them for the first time.

second, capture the moment of light and shadow

the contrast between light and shadow is an important element to enhance the layering of photos! Here are two personal opinions.

First, the light and shadow should be credible and reasonable, especially when shooting outside. You can change the light received by the model, but it is difficult for you to transform the ambient light and shadow, unless you have a huge light array, especially when shooting outside a big scene, which is almost impossible. In this way, the light and shadow of the photos will be unreasonable, just like many domestic film and television dramas, it is necessary to make up various lights for the actors' faces in rainy days. In fact, light and shadow are everywhere, so we should be good at capturing them.

Example 1: When I took the following photo, the sun hid in the clouds. I pulled my sister to the edge of the bamboo forest and took this silhouette. Although there was no direct sunlight, the weak light in the bamboo forest was as bright as the light outside the bamboo forest, which formed a strong contrast between light and shade at the edge of the forest. The contrast between light and shade was light and shadow, and the background outside the bamboo forest was a clean sky, which was a great backlit seat.

second: lighting

I often use lamps to artificially create light and shadow for indoor shooting, because indoor lighting is much more reliable. After all, every room has lamps.

Example 1: The following photo uses a low-power movie lamp and an LED lamp. The movie lamp fills the light for the model, the hanging curtain on the top and the orchid in the foreground from the right, and leaves a thin shadow of the orchid on the left pillar. The LED lamp is hidden behind the pillar to fill the light for the other cheek of the model. In order to make the light and shadow more reasonable, I specially put a candle on the same side.

Example 2: The following picture was taken by chance in an alley while sweeping the street. There was a family in the alley who was still awake. The lights on at home hit the wall opposite the window through the pane to form charming grid light, which is also artificial light and shadow, so it is very important to find light.

three, cold and warm and dynamic and static contrast

finally, briefly talk about cold and warm contrast and dynamic and static contrast.

The contrast between cold and warm is also a routine idea to improve the level of photos, especially the visual impact is strong.

Example: The following photo uses two lamps with yellow and green color filters respectively. The yellow lamp fills people's light and casts a shadow on the wall, and the green lamp fills the dark part. Finally, it will have the effect of cold and warm contrast.

finally, let's talk about the dynamic and static comparison. Slow shutter has always been my favorite, and it often surprises me when the shutter slows down. Although it is often out of focus, so what? ! The taste of photos is more important, so I suggest you go and see more films made by ghosts.

Example 1: A tripod was used to make the model lean against the wall as steady as possible, and a fan was placed outside the curtain to blow at people. The .6S slow door was taken, and three shots were taken, and one was successful.

example 2: finally, the last one was a slow movie in one of the groups that I went to Changsha to play with teacher @ 京京京京京京京京京京, which was a preview. The model rotates quickly in situ, with a 1/4S shutter. Because the swing amplitude of the skirt and hands is much larger than that of the head, and it is a big backhand, the motion blur of the skirt and hands close to the camera is obvious. Although the shutter is not too slow, it is not recommended to shoot this kind of dynamic slow door below this speed, otherwise the face will be too virtual.

fourth, soft light effect

soft light effect is very suitable for private houses or some fresh themes. There are two methods: one is post-processing, and many such tutorials are searched online. I use the soft light filter in the hand of light and shadow magic, which should be the simplest one; The other is to use gauze or vaseline in front of the camera. I have used gauze to cover it, and the experience I got is that the gauze should not be too white or too dense, otherwise the picture will be too gray, the details in the dark will be seriously lost, and it will be difficult to focus when shooting, especially in the backlight. Of course, you can partially cover it. Some people paint vaseline on the UV mirror of the lens. I haven't tried this. Everyone can try it.

Share two tutorials on soft light effect:

Make soft light effect in the later two steps

Take a soft and hazy portrait with 5 cents props.