Flash portrait introductory course

Lead: Flash plays a great role in shooting portraits. Let's take a look at the flash portrait tutorial first.

All skills, flash setting and use

1, connect the flash and camera.

The top flash of each brand has similar appearance. It is called "topping" because it can be directly installed in the hot shoe slot at the top of the camera through the "hot shoe" interface at the bottom. As shown in the figure below.

Although the overhead flash can be directly installed on the camera, it is rarely used when taking portraits. First of all, the azimuth angle of the flash is limited, and the play space becomes smaller; Secondly, if hard light shines on the face, the effect of reflection will make the face look oily.

Fortunately, smart humans invented the "flash wireless flasher". Wireless flashers generally appear in pairs and are installed at the interface between the hot boots on the top of the camera and the flash boots, which liberates the placement position of the flash. As shown in the figure below.

There is a flash wireless flasher at the top of our micro-camera for self-portrait.

2. Why use manual mode?

When it is decided to use the flash as an artificial light source, it also determines the photographer's absolute control over the equipment. Although the current camera has a high degree of automation, it will inevitably be self-defeating in the face of complex shooting environment. At this time, it is necessary to manually set parameters to solve the problem.

Let's start with the simplest use of the flash and use the flash as the only light source. At the same time, fix the parameters of the flash and camera first.

3. Initial parameter setting of flash lamp

Our equipment operation logic is: fix most parameters, adjust the parameters that need to be adjusted most, and avoid being in a hurry.

Fixed parameter part: the mode is set to "manual mode"; Turn off TTL function; The "flash focal length" is fixed to the widest focal length, such as 24 mm

4. The parameter to be adjusted when shooting: brightness, which is preset as 1/2 brightness.

Optional Course: Flash Parameters

1."TTL", through the lens, the camera will automatically measure the light of the flash through the lens. Not all flashlights and cameras support this feature. In fact, if accurate light distribution is achieved, there is no need for the camera to automatically measure light for the flashlight.

2. The most direct influence of the change of "flash focal length" is the change of flash range. The wider the focal length of the flash (the smaller the value), the wider the flash range; Conversely, the longer the focal length of the flash (the larger the value), the more concentrated the flash range. In this paper, because the portrait is shot indoors and the space is limited, we can adjust the flash range to the maximum, that is, the focal length of the flash is the widest and remains unchanged.

Camera initial parameter setting

Fixed parameter part: the camera operation mode is set to "manual gear", that is, M gear; Shutter speed is fixed at1/200 s; "Sensitivity ISO" is fixed at 200; The picture format is set to RAW format.

Parameters that need to be adjusted when shooting: the preset "aperture" is f/ 1 1, and the adjustment range is generally between f/8 and f/ 16.

Optional course: camera parameters

1. About "Manual Shift": If the camera is "automatic shift", the camera will automatically adjust its parameters to adapt to the environment without flash. Suppose we take pictures indoors at night, then it should be a dark automatic metering environment. On the premise of turning off TTL function, the automatic parameters of the camera are the combination of "high sensitivity/slow shutter/large aperture". Under such parameters, the photos taken by flash are likely to be white.

2. About "shutter speed": Since the flash is the only light source, our shutter speed only needs to match the normal exposure of the flash. Usually, we will set it to 1/200 s in advance (in the case that the flash does not support high-speed synchronization, if the shutter time is too fast, only a part of the picture will be illuminated by the flash, so if we want to freeze fast moving objects or need to cooperate with the flash with large aperture, we need to buy a flash that supports high-speed synchronization).

3. The picture is set to RAW format, which is convenient for later adjustment of color temperature and light and shade. Reduce sensitivity to ensure image quality.

Elective courses: some small principles

Some people may ask, why is the aperture size, not the shutter, the only thing that needs to be adjusted in camera parameters?

The reason is simple: under the premise that the flash works normally, the shutter is only used to control the amount of ambient light, and the aperture can control the amount of ambient light and the amount of flash at the same time.

Why? Because according to the working principle of the flash, the flash only emits light at the moment of work, that is to say, for the flash light source, no matter whether the shutter time of our camera is 1/200s,10s or 1s, the amount of light received by the flash is the same, because at1s,

So the result is that the only difference between the shutter time of 1/200s and that of 1s is the amount of ambient light entering. Because in this case, we only use the flash as the only light source and do not need to consider the ambient light, so the shutter time can be fixed at 1/200 s.

Photographic process

1. Set the flash and camera, and fix most parameters;

2. According to the required lighting effect, place a flash;

3. One for shooting;

4. Adjust the parameters of the camera or flash according to the exposure result of the first photo. Or adjust the distance and direction of the flash from people according to the lighting effect of the flash. Once the position of the flash or the character changes, it is necessary to readjust the exposure.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the lighting effect requirements are met and the exposure is correct;

6. Complete the setup and start taking photos.

When checking whether the exposure of a photo is correct, we should check the histogram information of the photo instead of judging by the actual effect of the camera screen. As shown in the figure below.

When the photo is underexposed, the whole histogram is on the left. At this time, the brightness of the flash should be increased. If the brightness has been increased to11,then the aperture of the camera will be increased. When the photo is overexposed, the overall histogram is to the right. At this time, you should lower the brightness of the flash or the aperture of the camera.

When adjusting the flash effect, if you feel that the light is too hard, you can try to increase the light source area through several techniques introduced earlier. When using the flexible frame, the way to further increase the light source area is actually to make the flexible frame closer to the person. If the light is too soft, on the contrary, keep the light source away from people or reduce the light source area.

Tips: streamlined equipment, care for photographers on the road.

During the trip, no one wants to put on clothes because there is too much equipment. So how to streamline the equipment is also a difficult problem that we have been challenging.

Share some experience: Unlike the camera tripod, the general flash tripod will still be longer after folding. Take your own flash tripod as an example. You must use the largest box and tilt the tripod to fit it just right.

So we invented the following temporary tripod for travel. Please pay attention to the picture on the right, and observe how the annular bracket of the flash lamp is perfectly combined with the neutral position of the trunk handle.

Summarizing the previous dry goods, we showed a variety of ways to use the flash, from hard light to soft light, as well as some tips to transform the light source during travel. Later, when I introduced the flash portrait, I taught you how to set the parameters of the camera and flash, and reduced the parameters to two according to the principle of fixing most parameters. After learning this, I can start shooting on the road.

Suggestions on "Practice"

Flash photography is very different from natural light. When shooting with artificial light, you must have a strong ability to adapt to the scene and deal with various problems in time. As a novice, if you insist on driving ducks to the shelves, you will definitely be confused.

I remember seeing night sakura in Tokyo two years ago. I tried to take a picture of Xiao Mo with a flash. I was in a hurry before I went out, and I left before I learned how to use it. As a result, we were all caught in the rain in the middle of the night, and no one could take a good photo.

Later, I made up my mind to start learning how to use the equipment, go to Guangzhou to learn from the teacher, and then go home to figure out how to practice. If you don't have time to go out and shoot, just shoot at home. We bought a bunch of Legos, and then began to take pictures of Lego dolls with cameras and flashlights seriously, learning and growing through trial and error.

Later, this Lego photography series became the current "Lego Coming Out Plan".