What are the general steps and rules for lighting?

Studio lighting is not like natural light. Photographers can use skilled lighting techniques to create wonderful light and shadow effects based on subjective conception and performance needs. However, since studio lighting is highly subjective and arbitrary, on the one hand, it allows the photographer to maximize the effect of lighting, but on the other hand, it increases the difficulty of lighting. . In order to improve the effect and speed of lighting, the following steps and rules should generally be followed when lighting.

1. Determine the main light. The main light is the dominant light source, which determines the main tone of the picture. In lighting, only when the main light is determined can it make sense to add auxiliary light, background light, outline light, etc. In the process of determining the main light, the light properties, intensity, coverage and distance of the main light source to the subject should be systematically considered based on the subject's modeling characteristics, texture expression, light and dark distribution, and separation of the subject and the background. distance. For most shooting subjects, soft lights, such as reflective umbrellas, soft lights and fog lights, are generally chosen as the main light. Direct floodlights and spotlights are rarely used as the main light unless the picture requires them to bring a strong contrast effect. The main light is usually higher than the subject, because the lighting that makes people feel the most comfortable and natural is usually the light effect that simulates natural light. If the main light is too low, the subject will form an abnormal bottom light, while if the main light is too high, it will form a top light, making the contrast between the side and the top of the subject too large.

2. Adding auxiliary light and main light will cause shadows on the subject, unless the photographic image requires strong contrast. Generally, in order to improve the level and tone of the shadow surface, when lighting All need to add fill light. Ning Guang Blog. Soft light is generally used as fill light, and its light position is usually on the opposite side of the main light. When adding fill light, you should pay attention to controlling the light ratio. The appropriate light ratio is usually between 1:3 and 1:6. For light subjects, the light ratio should be smaller, while for deep and heavy objects, the light ratio should be smaller. Bigger. When adding fill light, you should also be careful to avoid having the fill light be too strong. Too strong fill light can easily cause pinch light and produce redundant and awkward shadows. In order to control unnecessary shadows, in addition to making the auxiliary light intensity weaker than the main light when lighting, sometimes the light level is often appropriately lowered or the auxiliary light is placed as close as possible to the camera position to project the projection behind the subject. Depending on the needs of the picture effect, there can be one or more auxiliary lights. While using various lamps as auxiliary light, don't forget to use as many reflectors as possible, which can often produce unexpectedly good effects. Set the background light. The main function of the background is to set off the subject or render the atmosphere. Therefore, when dealing with the background light, you must pay attention to both contrast and harmony. When shooting small objects, it is often difficult to light the background separately because the distance between the subject and the background is very close. In this case, the main light also serves as the background light. In the specific control of the main light and background light ratio, it can be controlled by selecting the appropriate lamp distance, orientation and lighting range, or using various translucent diffusers or opaque light shields at appropriate locations on the main light and background axis. Shade to get proper brightness. When the subject is large and there is sufficient distance between the subject and the background, the background can be lit separately. Background light generally does not interfere with the lighting of the subject, and it is easy to control the coverage, brightness and uniformity of the background light. In the specific lighting process, special attention should be paid to whether there will be a "merging" phenomenon in the parts where the brightness of the subject and the background are similar, or whether the illumination of the center and the surrounding areas of a large-area background that requires uniform brightness is indeed uniform. For these two types of Do not trust your own visual inspection too much. It is best to use a light meter for careful detection, because the human eye is often not sensitive to small changes in brightness, but film will faithfully record it. In addition, when lighting the background light of frequently taken high-key or low-key photos, you should understand that their background light is not as bright or dark as we imagine. If the background brightness is too strong, the diffuse light produced will not only easily cause glare on the lens, but also affect the light effect of the subject. There is no need to make the background too dark when taking low-key photos. Generally speaking, when taking high-key photos, it is more appropriate to control the background brightness to one EV value higher than the brightest part of the subject, and when taking low-key photos, control the background brightness to one EV value lower than the darkest part of the subject.

3. Adding a contour light. The main function of the contour light is to create a bright and bright outline for the subject, thereby separating the subject from the background. Rim light is usually backlit from above or behind the background. The light position is usually one, but sometimes two or more can be used as needed. Contour light usually uses spotlights, which are strong and hard and often produce thick shadows on the screen. Therefore, these cluttered projections must be weakened or eliminated when lighting with contour light. To eliminate or weaken these projections, in addition to adjusting the lamp position, sometimes clever use of reflectors for contour light projection can have unexpected effects. When arranging outline light, you should also pay attention to the light ratio between the outline light and the main light. Usually the outline light is brighter than the main light. In addition, when setting the light, you should choose hard light or soft light as the outline light according to the needs of the subject. There are usually two ways to obtain soft light. One is to place umbrella lights, soft lights, etc. as close to the subject as possible, so that the brightness of the outline light is higher than the main light, but this is often more laborious; the other method Easier, just use a diffuser on a spotlight to soften the light. One thing should be clear, outline light is not necessary for every picture. It should only be added when the picture requires it. Otherwise, it will feel like superfluous.