How to choose portrait shooting equipment

Lead: Portrait shooting is what most people want to shoot for the first time. How to shoot a good portrait and choose the corresponding equipment? Next, I will share some practical experience and data with you.

How to choose an indispensable large aperture lens for portrait shooting equipment

EOS 6D speed:1125s aperture F4 ISO:200 focal length: 50mm standard focal length shows image details. For the shooting of portrait works, the most commonly used lens is a large aperture lens, which can create a very dreamy background blur effect, especially suitable for fresh portraits.

The first lens I recommend is Canon EF 50mm f/ 1.8 II, but the price of 600 yuan Tou has the maximum aperture of f/ 1.8, which is enough to meet your demand for large aperture. So what do you need to know when using a large aperture lens?

EOS 60D speed: 1/800s aperture F 1.8 ISO:200 focal length: 50 mm.

Don't worry that the maximum aperture has a great influence on the picture. Shrink two apertures when shooting? Don't! Be sure to open them all!

Perhaps you are often told that the aperture can't be fully opened, and you must narrow it by two steps before you can use it, otherwise the picture definition will drop.

This suggestion can be adopted most of the time, but please ignore this when shooting girls! Too sharp a picture will make you waste extra time in the later period, and it is king to enjoy the dreamy blur effect brought by the full aperture.

EOS 60D speed: 1/250s aperture F 1.2 ISO: 100 focal length: 50mm.

The above picture was shot with Canon EF 50mm f/ 1.2L USM, and the full aperture created a very good background blur effect.

The blur brought by the large aperture is not only for looking good, but more importantly, it removes the messy background and highlights the main body.

In addition to regular creation, if you encounter some very messy backgrounds, you can also use a large aperture to blur the background. This can make the overall picture of the photo more concise.

EOS 6D speed: 1/250s aperture F 1.2 ISO: 100 focal length: 50mm.

Filter the messy background with a large aperture. In addition to the blurred background mentioned above, you can shoot in another way: capture the beauty of details with shallow depth of field.

Do people in pictures have to have faces? Obviously, when you are creating, you can't be imprisoned by this idea.

The theme of portrait photos should be people-oriented, but when you take a group of photos, you can often greatly improve the style of group photos by mixing some partial portraits of people or close-ups of surrounding flowers and plants.

EOS 7D speed: 1/800s aperture F 1.8 ISO: 100 focal length: 85mm.

There is reality and reality, and the picture is hazy and sweet. The above picture was shot with Canon EF 85mm f/ 1.8 USM lens, with large aperture and outstanding cost performance. (Of course, you also have other options: EF 85mm f/ 1.2L II USM will be better! ) The aperture is fully opened, and then as close as possible to the subject, creating a very shallow depth of field effect.

Choosing to pat people's hair can avoid the stereotype of general head shots. Being good at discovering details can often capture wonderful feelings.

The above is a case of taking a portrait with a fixed Jiao Da aperture lens. Can a wide-angle lens also take a good portrait?

2. Shooting fresh portraits with wide-angle characteristics

Photography has never been anything. Are you sure? Wide-angle lenses can also take fresh portraits. Share with you some experiences of shooting small fresh portraits with wide-angle lenses!

Tips 1: the backlight is warm, and the wide angle can also be small and fresh.

Photography has never been a mechanical combination of aperture and shutter, but more often it is the art of using light. Try to aim the camera at the sun, and you will get unexpected results.

Of course, it is best not to be the noon sun, because the light ratio at that time is too strong, and the contrast between light and shade is relatively large. It is suggested to choose early morning or evening, and try to block the brightest sun with some buildings, trees or people to reduce the probability of automatic metering error by the camera.

In terms of lens selection, the focal length of 24mm is a good choice. Many Canon lenses are 24mm, such as EF 24mm f/ 1.4L II USM, or standard zoom lens EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM.

EOS 6D speed:1160s aperture F4 ISO: 100 focal length: 24mm.

In fact, the original film of this photo is not so gorgeous. In the early stage of shooting, a more tolerant RAW format was used, and some adjustments were made later. Adjust the color temperature properly to make the whole picture warmer; It also improves the saturation and exposure of the shadow part.

Tip 2: Wide-angle approach will also blur.

Blurring is actually because the depth of field is shallow enough, and you want shallow depth of field. In addition to the large aperture and telephoto lens, it is still possible to get close to the subject. Under the same focal length and aperture, the closer to the subject, the better the background blur effect. Of course, be careful not to be too extreme. If you are too close, you will be out of focus!

The picture below is taken with a wide angle of 24mm, and the aperture f/4 is not too large, but if you look closely at the background, you will find that there is still a good blur effect. This is because the plane is close enough to the subject, so it will also have a shallow depth of field.

EOS 5D Mark II speed: 1/30s aperture F4 ISO:200 focal length: 24mm.

Close to the wide-angle lens can also blur the background.

Tip 3: Carry the wide angle to the end!

Undeniably, the use of wide-angle lens will have some problems, such as large perspective effect, slight distortion, and unobtrusive subject. Even many people think that wide-angle lens is suitable for scenery and not suitable for portrait performance. But can't you really shoot a wide-angle portrait?

EOS 6D speed:1160s aperture F4 ISO: 100 focal length: 18mm.

Take a clean red wall from a wide angle, the girl in plain clothes, and use the wide-angle perspective to shape a suitable image. As long as you use it well, you can actually shoot a good portrait from a wide angle.

EOS 6D speed:1160s aperture F4 ISO: 100 focal length: 18mm.

Taking portraits at a low angle can get an exaggerated perspective effect.

Third, use the characteristics of telephoto to shoot wonderful portraits.

When it comes to portrait photography, we can't help but mention telephoto lens. EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM also takes fresh portraits? Standard? First, what effect can you achieve with a telephoto lens?

Different from the large aperture lens mentioned above, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM provides a full range of f/2.8 aperture, so you can control your depth of field to the maximum.

EOS 5D Mark III speed: 1/250s aperture F2.8 ISO: 100 focal length: 135mm.

The longer the focal length, the better the blur effect.

Shooting fresh portraits can bring different feelings. A large aperture lens is not the only choice for taking portraits. Wide-angle lenses and even ultra-wide-angle lenses can shoot portraits with different tastes. The telephoto lens has always had a unique advantage in portrait shooting.

You don't have to worry about the quality of the lens, but you should pay special attention to your shooting ideas. Knowing the characteristics of each lens is the correct shooting idea and the fundamental starting point for you to choose a lens.