How to make good use of light and shadow composition

Introduction: Photography is also called light painting, so the role of light plays a vital role in photography, which can also be said to be irreplaceable. In this issue, photographer J God was invited to share his experience in light and composition with you.

first, the use of light

I will tell you how to choose the best shooting time in the sun.

As far as I know, taking the summer in Guangzhou as an example, the most suitable time for taking portraits is from 8: am to 1: am and from 15: 3 pm to 17: 3 pm. The light in the morning is relatively soft, and the angle of the sun is also good, which can illuminate most parts of the face, and the positions of highlights and shadows formed on the face are also beautiful.

keep out the strong sunlight with your hands

I believe all the friends who have photographed at 11: to 13: noon know that when the head is overexposed, there will be a triangular highlight on the nose. If you go back to retouch the picture, you will find that even the eyelashes leave an ugly shadow on your face. If you must shoot at noon, there are several ways to make the model look up and shoot. Although the face is directly exposed, the shadow on her face will not be. Or use a shelter, you can find some props to cover it, or cover it with your hands, run into the Woods and shoot in mottled light and shadow. Of course, it is best to avoid this time period (of course, this is on the premise of sunny days). If it is cloudy, because dark clouds cover the sun and have a soft light effect, it makes little difference when shooting.

At about 1 o'clock in the morning, a series of light and shadow were drawn by using the folds of white curtains (white curtains also have the function of softening light here), so that the model could lie in this position and combine the portrait with light and shadow.

the lens OM55 F1.2 is used. The effect of this lens is very soft, and the basic original film is added with some color temperature, which is also the importance of the early stage.

when the light ratio is a little high, the angle of illumination makes the eyes more deep and three-dimensional. What is lacking is that the light and shadow of eyelashes still leave traces on the face. If the light is overhead, the reflection of eyelashes will stay at the lower eyeliner of the eyes, which is terrible. It is also extremely difficult to modify it later.

If we blindly change the light position in the later stage, what's the significance of the earlier stage? We should all try our best to keep the most natural things, not to mention it's not difficult at all. Just in your eyes, if you change the sitting posture and head direction of the model, you will definitely find a beautiful position.

Make good use of the direction of light, use the gap between leaves to let the light penetrate into the picture, shoot the lines of the light beam, and let the model cater to the direction of the light.

With the angle of the window light source and the dust in the room, there is a slight beam, and the highlights on the model's face are also very beautiful. If there is no highlight on the nose, the whole person's face can't be three-dimensional, and there is no way to see the prominent nose. Friends who have studied art or makeup must know this problem.

It's very important to find a well-lit location for the low light in the attic and put it on the model reasonably.

Make reasonable use of props to draw wonderful light and shadow on your face through sunlight.

Some people say that this face will be too miscellaneous, but I don't think so. The highlights are all preserved. The light and shadow of pine trees make the whole picture look like a flame, and the light and shadow of the face make people feel integrated into it, so I don't think it's a big problem. This is a circular composition, and we will talk about the application of composition later.

Let the model randomly pull out a bouquet on the side, facing the sun, blocking the sun, and leaving beautiful light and shadow on the model's face.

the same technique, playing with the leaves in front, let them block between the sun and the model.

Using the highlights and shadows formed by the incident angle of the window into the sunlight, the model is placed in it, which is also a balanced composition of light and shade.

second, the face-shaving artifact? Highlights

Use light to draw the outline of a person's face more perfectly, especially highlights.

highlight location map

A good highlight location can not only make the model's face look better, but also make the nose more straight, and it can also bring vivid eyes.

high light location map

Many people will ask me if I used a reflector and a flash when shooting. In fact, I didn't bring anything, because as long as I make good use of the source of light, I can still have beautiful eye light. If I let the model look at the source of light in a low light environment, I will naturally have eye light, which is more natural and profound.

Third, the experience of composition

Composition is the most basic and the most difficult part of photography. Although I don't think there are any real rules for composition, it is good to feel it sometimes, but in fact, composition is the key to make the picture more comfortable and harmonious.

The composition can be divided into pre-stage and post-stage. The pre-stage can be controlled when you are in the viewfinder, and the post-stage is a secondary composition to make up for the shortcomings of the pre-stage (such as focal length problem and proportion problem). Since the late stage is to make up for it, do a good job in the early stage as much as possible, and don't shoot at will without ideas. When shooting, you should already know what the film is like, where the characters are placed, and why you can ask yourself.

In fact, the most important thing in composition is balance, so that the picture will be more stable. That's why so many novices often put people in the middle at the beginning, because it is the easiest to balance the picture, which is all right, and I often do. But if a group of pictures are like this, it will inevitably feel monotonous, because after being centered, the composition is simple for others to look at the appearance, performance and mood of the model more deeply. If there is nothing in the picture, the picture will be like a visit here.

composition analysis chart

X-shaped composition, which forms an X through the right angle between the umbrella and the umbrella handle. The photo is cut to a scale of 1: 1 in the later stage, and the eyes are located in a position close to three equal parts. X is four right-angled isosceles triangles, and no side can be longer, so the picture will definitely be limited. Therefore, the composition is very difficult, even if it is deliberately difficult to complete the composition, the diagonal makes the picture extremely balanced, and the highlight in the picture is the model's deep and emotional eyes. ?

composition analysis chart

This picture also uses light and shadow to form a composition similar to X, and the model's movements are also composed of a balanced triangle.

If we directly put the model's face in the middle painting, the picture will be too simple, and the umbrella will be used as the foreground, which will block most of the unwanted scenes, and the face will be placed in the third part of the picture. The umbrella is decorated and the composition is more special.

The venue is rather messy, so this oval frame is used. If you are tired of looking at square photos. Try more oval and round white edges. The composition uses the golden ratio, and the tree, face and horizon are all on the golden ratio line, so the most important position of the picture will be more eye-catching. The golden ratio is also a method often used in composition, and it is also very simple. You can try it more.

The composition of this picture is relatively simple. The figure is placed in the middle position up and down, and the head is placed in the center of the picture. The relatively blank part of the picture belongs to the upper right corner. Because the Oriental Pearl (Shanghai landmark building) is too conspicuous, the right side is full, so I added a dark corner at this time to make the right side of the picture have a better transition. At the same time, I added a LOGO at that position. Therefore, some students talked about the placement of the LOGO in the group before, trying to place it in a blank position. Reasonable placement of the LOGO can also be used to balance the picture. Of course, it is best not to do this. It would be best if the composition itself can be perfect.

friends who often watch my films should know that my composition is relatively rigorous, especially a ladder like this. I will definitely make it disappear on the diagonal. There may be some obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it is really much more comfortable. Other positions will not disturb the overall feeling as long as they are parallel or diagonal to your composition. The shooting time was 12 noon, so a beam of light broke in from the top of the head, pulling the highlights of hair and the outline of hands and shoulders out of the dark background.

This is an advanced thinking of composition, which enlarges the composition, and indoor shooting is relatively limited. Therefore, the composition at that time was like a perspective (in a purple frame), and there was a table (such as a red part) under it. Because it was a white wall, I dragged her into another vertical white layer, and then made a gradually changing dark corner to make the picture more depressed.

It's also an enlarged composition. If you have enough ideas, you can extend more changes. The purple frame is the original composition. Because of the focal length, you can't rule out that kind of broad feeling, so you can only rely on the second composition in the later stage to blend the sky with the enlarged background, so that the characters are smaller and feel wider. Therefore, the composition is not only cut, but also expanded.

finally, to sum up, we will not shoot for the sake of shooting, but shoot with a purpose. Understand the importance of light to photography, and know that photography is not only the change of equipment, but also the brain behind the equipment. Use your own ideas to tell everyone what the world is like in your eyes through the lens. I am glad that I can choose photography and stick to it. I can bring wonderful pictures to everyone and enjoy the affirmation of others' works.

I think all students who want to take pictures must have one condition: aesthetics. If you can't tell the difference between beauty and ugliness, then you can't tell the difference between good and bad of your own work, let alone make any progress, so aesthetics is the premise of photography.