How to shoot surreal photography well?

Surrealistic portraits are usually thought-provoking and immersed in the works. If you want people to look surreal, the skills in this paper are worth seeing.

Surrealist portraits always cause the audience to think about the story behind the image.

1. What is surreal photography?

Surrealism is an art form, which is dominated by fantasy elements. Such an image can't be found in daily life, but it can make viewers think and observe things from different angles. Surrealism enables you to express yourself and try and create truly inspiring works.

2. Keep a serious facial expression and achieve a surreal effect.

In surreal portrait photography, the facial expressions of models are very similar. They may look confused and not notice the camera and so on. The seriousness of their faces plays an important role in enhancing the surreal effect of portraits.

In photography, a smiling face will look out of place in the photo. There is nothing wrong with this combination, but it is not suitable for surrealism.

The more serious the model in the photo looks, the easier it is to make a simple composition look surreal.

In order to make your model look lost in thought or staring at something from a distance, please take some photos of the model facing forward or slightly sideways when taking personal information. Like previous versions of facial expressions, this will create a sense of mystery and continuity. So the facial expression of the model will imply that your eyes are not the only ones visible in your photo.

One of the best ways to create pure surrealism is to completely cover your face. For example, you can ask the model to cover her face with a mask, hair or hands. This technique is suitable for emotional or quiet photos. All the model has to do is close his eyes and open his lips slightly.

Let the model look directly at the camera, which is an ideal choice for close-up portraits. Therefore, the viewer will not be distracted by other elements of the photo, but will focus on his own eyes.

The dim light improved the story.

Dim lighting can also enhance the surreal effect and help to create different artistic conception in photos.

Dim lights come in many forms. If you want to use natural light, please shoot on a cloudy day. In order to get a darker effect, you can also shoot indoors when it is cloudy outside.

Artificial lighting will provide a clearer image, which will enable you to better control the atmosphere in the image. Artificial light can also protect photographers from unpredictable weather changes.

Keep the lights bright but the light is limited. You can use neon lights or color gel filters on any light source.

4. Use levels to create depth and mystery.

Surrealism is closely related to unusual ideas. You can use unusual props to enhance your portrait. These can be curtains, transparent paper or anything with obvious texture. Props can be used to hide a part of an object's face, make it less obvious, or increase the depth of a photo. The more textured the material used, the more mysterious the generated image looks.

Using layers is also a simple way to make mute synthesis stand out. All you have to do is shoot through the models when they are placed somewhere far away.

For a softer effect, use an aperture, such as f/2.5. This blurs all unfocused layers and produces greater depth in the picture. The blur effect will also make it difficult for the audience to understand what is happening in the image. This method is very suitable for abstract and surreal portraits.

5. Use smoke bombs to create a dreamy atmosphere

Another simple way to obtain expressive surreal portraits is to use color smoke bombs, which can be used in various conditions. They can be used as background, foreground or props to hide the model's face.

You need to be familiar with the risks of smoke bombs to protect yourself and the model. If the conditions are not met, you can use incense or ordinary flour instead.

6. Use a slow shutter speed for strange motion blur.

In order to increase the tension of motion blur, please convert the surreal portrait into a black-and-white camera or post-production. Converting an image in post-processing allows you to better control the tone of the image.

Fast shutter speed is very suitable for capturing details, while low shutter speed is very suitable for soft and gloomy images. It is usually used in landscape photography to track the natural movement of water or wind.

In surreal portrait photography, you can use motion blur to capture ghost shapes or create more abstract effects. If you want to capture a specific action without blurring the whole photo, please use a tripod.

conclusion

Surreal portrait photography can help you break away from the traditional shooting methods, just don't be afraid to try various photography techniques and emotional composition!