How to shoot a perfect city portrait at night without lights?

Lead: When it comes to shooting portraits at night, what do you usually think of first? How many lamps do I need to bring? . So many newcomers went into battle, hanging three lanterns, arranging light arrays, softening boxes and pots and pans. Next, I will talk about the night portrait technique without lights. Let's have a look!

It is not difficult to illuminate characters with lights. Most of the problems with night portraits are:

1. Poor light will bring ugly light and shadow effects.

2. Exposure is not in place, and people are separated from the environment.

3. Fill the light when no additional light source is needed, which destroys the sense of space of the picture.

These problems cannot be solved by keeping the parameters in mind. What is needed is the photographer's perception of light. To cultivate this perception ability, on the one hand, we need a lot of experience in still life shooting in the shed, on the other hand, we need the ability to understand and use ambient light.

So, today, let's put down our flashlights and go out with only one machine and one mirror to create simply and effectively. When you walk between cities, it is not difficult to find some high-quality light sources.

Light source 1: Ambient light with definite direction.

This is also the easiest light source to grasp. The light source is very single, and the visual impact is great, which is suitable for taking silhouette.

The picture below was taken with ambient light as the background. Put the camera in the camera bag and expose it for 2 seconds.

Focal length: 16mm, aperture: f2.8, shutter: 2s, ISO:5000.

The shooting diagram is as follows:

The disadvantage of this light source is that the light is too weak to test Cmos. The backlight surface is completely dim, resulting in no details on the backlight surface and the main body is not stereoscopic enough. But this situation is basically unable to fill the light. Because even the fill light of the mobile phone is too strong. It will affect the light ratio of the whole picture and destroy the concept that background light is the main light source. If the background light is strong, you can consider filling the backlight surface with a weak light source, as long as you can see the back texture. Generally speaking, pure silhouette is often not a good silhouette.

Light source 2: billboard

Roadside billboards are one of the very good light sources. The height is more than two meters and the width is more than one meter. This soft light range is beyond the reach of any soft light box. And billboards are generally well located, located on the sidewalk, near the road. It leaves plenty of room for the characters to stand and the background environment.

The picture below was taken with a billboard light source.

Focal length: 50mm, aperture: f 1.6, shutter:1125, ISO:5000.

The shooting diagram is as follows:

Light distribution idea: as the main light source, billboards strengthen ambient light from similar directions without conflict. The color of the picture will also appear more natural. The street lamp is far away, which has a weak influence and has a certain light supplement effect on the dark part.

The following picture was also taken with a billboard, but the relative position of the billboard was changed.

Focal length: 50mm, aperture: f 1.6, shutter:1100, ISO:5000.

The shooting diagram is as follows:

Thinking about lighting: as a supplementary light source, billboards supplement the profile of characters from the opposite direction of ambient light, weaken the status of background light and highlight the details of characters. At this time, it should be noted that the light intensity of the characters still cannot exceed the background light too much, otherwise the light will be too abrupt and destroy the overall tone.

The disadvantage of billboard shooting is the unstable color temperature. The color of the light source will change every time the advertisement is refreshed. As a photographer, you need to choose the right time to shoot. It is suggested to shoot when the color temperature of the billboard is close to the ambient color temperature. In addition, the light intensity of billboards is unstable, so it is necessary to adjust the distance between people and billboards to control the brightness.

Light source 3: the window outside the shopping mall

The window outside the shopping mall is undoubtedly the light source with the largest soft light area. It's also bright and steady. The advantage of large-area soft light is that the transition between light and shade of characters is very soft, and the brightness of light source is high, which can also greatly improve the image quality. If you shoot near the window, you will find it very easy to shoot the night scene.

The following picture was taken with a row of windows on the roadside as the main light source.

Focal length: 50mm, aperture: f 1.6, shutter: 1/60, ISO:2000.

The shooting diagram is as follows:

The following picture also uses the window as the main light source, because the window area is huge, the light on the characters is very uniform, and it will not appear stiff when shooting the distant view.

Focal length: 50mm, aperture: f 1.4, shutter: 1/40, ISO:2000.

Lighting creativity: As the main light source, windows illuminate the side and front of people. The method is the same as billboard, but the picture quality and shadow quality are higher. Here may wish to compare the soft light quality of soft umbrellas, LED light sticks, billboards and windows.

Comparison and analysis of the effects of different light sources

The following four pictures are the fill light effects of soft umbrellas, LED light sticks, billboards and windows. It can be seen that the shadow produced by LED light sticks is the hardest, the billboard is relatively better, and the window effect is the softest. Soft umbrella light source has the strongest intensity and the highest image quality. However, the effect of covering and light-shadow transition is not ideal, so it can't be used in bad weather. But the advantage of having LED light sticks or flashlights is that you can adjust the position and intensity of the light source at will.

Soft umbrella effect

Schematic diagram of light distribution:

LED glow stick effect

Schematic diagram of light distribution:

Lighting effect of billboard

Window lighting effect

In a word, this paper does not mean that the flash is useless, and high-quality night scenes still need flash to ensure enough light. But here we encourage you to make good use of ambient light before using the lamp at night, because on the one hand, ambient light can also take amazing photos, on the other hand, making good use of ambient light is also a compulsory course before using the lamp. After thoroughly mastering the ambient light, I began to learn single light, and finally used a lot of lighting equipment to illuminate the scene with double light.

Finally, I would like to summarize some points for attention when shooting at night without lights:

1. Look for luminaries with large soft light area, which can be billboards, bus stops, electronic screens, buildings and even the whole city.

2. Think about the direction and intensity of light sources in the urban environment. There are few cases with a single light source direction, because street lamps, buildings and ground reflections will have light projected on people. At this time, it is necessary to grasp the distance between people and various light sources.

3. Pay attention to the intensity ratio of foreground light and background light. The greater the light ratio, the clearer the level, but the greater the difference, the better.

4. White balance is hard to be perfect. Try to find a complementary light source with a color temperature similar to that of ambient light. If the environment is full of yellow street lamps, it is best not to find white billboards as the main light source.