Beautiful and romantic night photography night wedding photography skills

People choose to shoot wedding dresses during the day, so there are relatively few wedding dresses at night. So how do we shoot wedding dresses at night and what are the shooting skills at night?

Night scene wedding dress

For shooting a wedding or wedding dress, the photos in the sun are naturally the main theme. Generally, there are few night photos, which are mostly used as supplements or casual records. Due to the lack of sufficient light, the night scene environment tests the photographer's understanding and application of light and color, so it is often said that only a photographer who can accurately master the night scene shooting skills can be called a professional photographer. Let's share the experience and skills of wedding photography at night and talk about how to make love more beautiful at night.

Prime time for shooting night scenes.

Night scene wedding dress on the bridge

At the beginning of the lights, the sunset glow has just faded away, and the color of the sky is not all black, but with a touch of rosy clouds. At this time, the nightlife of the city has already begun. The coming of night is the prime time to shoot night scenes. At this time, the spectral color temperature belongs to the intersection of the sun scene and the night scene, and the spectral density is small during the day and large at night, so this period is often called "band density". To put it more simply, the light is on within an hour after sunset.

Night view wedding dress in the sunset

At this time, the sky is not completely dark, and the world is filled with soft scattered light. When the sun sets, the sky will show a red sunset glow, while the distant sky will show a blue-purple color. Through the long exposure of the camera, the color of the sky will appear exaggerated and dreamy. If the surrounding light is soft and bright enough, you don't even have to fill the light for the couple. If you want to highlight the sunset glow, you can also use silhouette. What you need to pay attention to is the control of character posture and outline.

Dream night scene wedding dress

If you shoot in the city at this time, you will also get unexpected dreamy effects. At this time, the light ratio of sky light to ground light is basically 1: 1, which shows that the sky and buildings have details and colors in the camera, and the overall effect is gorgeous and beautiful. A little later, it will be dark, so we should seize this fleeting best time. In addition, the exposure time of the upper and lower parts can be controlled by shaking the black card to balance the contrast between the sky and the ground scenery.

Shoot the most brilliant position of the wedding dress at night.

1, traffic flow

Liu Liu wedding dress

Photography is inseparable from light, and light also provides many possibilities for us to shape images. Taking slow-door photography of high-altitude traffic can create a different magical light "line", which can not only enhance the color and rendering atmosphere of the picture, but also form a wonderful dynamic and static contrast with the characters, greatly improving the brilliance of night photos.

2. Waterfront

Shuibian wedding dress

Shuibian wedding dress

The water surface can enhance the overall brightness and visual richness of the picture, and there are many ways to shoot by the water. The rivers or lakes in the city can be used to form the reflection of the city night scene, which can increase the dreamy effect of the night scene; You can also use the slow door technology at the seaside to make rolling waves into clouds, showing the vastness and tenderness of water; In addition, if you encounter calm water, you can also use the mirror effect to form the reflection of the characters, enrich the picture, and increase the interest and artistic sense.

3. sidewalks

Pedestrian wedding dress

In addition to the bright neon, the prosperity of the city is often reflected in the busy people who are in a hurry. At night, it is very suitable for shooting the contrast effect between travelers and newcomers. Because the light is dark at night, you can get a relatively slow shutter speed without adding a grey mirror in front of the camera. It is suggested that people choose not too many sidewalks, set up tripods, measure light against the night scene environment, and control the shutter period through experience, so that pedestrians can form an illusory smear effect in front of the camera.

4. Urban architecture

Urban construction wedding dress

Urban construction wedding dress

Urban construction wedding dress

Now more and more newcomers like to take wedding photos in the city where they live, and those familiar buildings and street scenes have become their first choice. Reinforced concrete, which looks cold during the day, will show different femininity and charm at night. For photographers, the key lies in the choice of shooting angle and the detailed control of light and color. The reflection problem of buildings at night can be solved by covering them with black cloth. Photographers can carry a piece of black cloth with them, just cut a hole the size of a lens in the middle and cover it on the lens, which can effectively avoid the reflection of glass.

Help you realize your dream of wedding photography at night and let you use one or more creative wedding dresses at night.

Night scene wedding photography skills

1, about the way to fill light.

Buguang photography

When it comes to shooting night scenes, the most important thing is the treatment of light. In addition to the clever application of ambient light, it is often necessary to use various artificial light sources to supplement the light. The core principle of fill light is to ensure that the main characters are eye-catching and the skin color is restored normally, but also to balance the contrast between the characters and the environment and ensure the reasonable expression of the whole environmental atmosphere.

Buguang photography

When shooting on location, the environmental elements of the scene become very important, which can often deepen the theme. However, the light changes greatly at night, so if you want to make the whole picture have a better visual effect, you need to consider exposure separately. The usual habit is to use built-in parameters to control the rendering effect of the environment, and use external lighting equipment to control the light of the characters and some important details in the environment. There are many ways to fill the light for characters. In addition to the front fill light, we can also enhance the three-dimensional sense of characters from the side, or make full use of environmental characteristics to create a softer reflective fill light effect. In addition, side lighting from the back is also a commonly used fill light technology.

2. Noise control

noise

Night scene shooting often uses higher ISO, especially long exposure can easily increase the noise of the picture. It is recommended to shoot in RAW format. The white balance adjustment of RAW format is basically intact, and the night scene is more obvious. The color of the light itself will be more eye-catching in the night photos and will occupy a large proportion in the picture. This is because the light at night is not strong, and the color performance of non-luminous body is weak. Long exposure will make the color of the light strengthen. Therefore, effective color control can greatly improve the quality of night scenes.

3. About the application of slow door

Slow door shooting

Usually people are used to calling the shutter speed below 1/30 seconds as slow door photography. Slow door is actually a relative concept. Slow door shooting mainly hopes to create a contrast between reality and reality on the screen through the difference in speed. The key to a good slow door is two words: slow and steady.

Slow door shooting

When the shutter speed exceeds 30 seconds, even under the faint starlight, we can clearly record the details of the scene, smooth the fluctuation of the sea, and even capture the moving stars that we seldom care about. 30 seconds is the upper limit of shutter parameters that most cameras can set. If you want to get a longer exposure time, you must open the B-door mode in manual mode. Of course, the length of exposure time in the actual shooting process will be restricted by other factors.

To use a slow shutter, you need not only a camera that supports extended exposure time, but also a tripod, because it is almost impossible to hold it. If conditions permit, it is better to have a wired release, which will be more conducive to the stability of the shooting process and ensure the clarity of the final picture.

4. About the creation of atmosphere

Mei Wei night scene wedding dress

Mei Wei night scene wedding dress

If you can master the relevant shooting skills skillfully, it is easier to create a romantic atmosphere at night, because the effect of "light" will be exaggerated in a dark environment. However, through the backlight of clouds, fog, smoke, water droplets and other media, it is easy to cause the phenomenon of sparking. Effective use of high light spots in the environment, through the lens to form different types of defocus imaging effects, can also greatly increase the sense of fantasy. Two points should be paid attention to when shooting: one is white balance, and the other is photometry. It is suggested that the white balance should be set manually according to the ambient light, and the highlight of the picture should be measured by spot metering mode.

5. About the second exposure

Exposure photography

The use of secondary exposure or even multiple exposures is conducive to creating more interesting and artistic night scenes. Its technology is not difficult to master, but the key to success lies in creativity and ideas.

Exposure photography

Especially with the development of technology, most cameras now have the function of secondary exposure. My second exposure works are all shot with Canon EOS 1DX, and the parameter menu can be selected: addition, average, bright and dark. Different from the multiple exposures in the traditional film era, this is more like the layer blending mode in the later software. Among them, the "addition" mode simply stacks multiple images like a film camera, and there is no exposure control in this process, so the synthesized photos are brighter than before, which means that the exposure will increase; "Average" mode controls the brightness of photos while synthesizing, automatically compensates negative exposure according to the number of photos taken by multiple exposures, that is, reduces exposure, and finally adjusts the synthesized photos to the appropriate exposure. The two modes of "light" and "dark" are to compare the basic image with the image synthesized on it and only synthesize the light or dark part. These two modes are suitable for use when you want to emphasize the outline of the subject.