Beach portrait shooting skills

Lead: The hinterland of the west coast of Taiwan Province Province is relatively large and the terrain is relatively flat. The coast is conducive to beach accumulation, and Baisha Bay has become a representative coast, among which the most popular is Baisha Bay in Shimen, North Taiwan Province Province and Nanwan in Kenting, South Taiwan Province Province. Because of the convenient transportation and close to most people's living environment, it has become the first choice for most photographers to shoot bikinis in summer. Let's take a look at the beach portrait shooting skills!

Two hours of prime time for the decisive battle

If you want to present a summer style, it is inevitable to face the scorching sun, but near noon 12, direct light not only makes the temperature rise sharply, but also makes the top light leave a bad impression on your face, especially if the model wears long false eyelashes, it will make a strange fan-shaped shadow on your face. So the best shooting time should be 8 am? 10, and after 3: 30 pm, especially on the west coast of Taiwan Province Province, it is best to take photos directly in the afternoon, or arrange for the morning and noon, starting from the hotel or the surrounding shaded scenic spots, which can not only cultivate the mood of taking photos, but also won't waste time shooting bad works.

Take the western half as an example. When shooting in the morning, the sun will shine on the sea. At this time, as long as your back is on the sunny side of the sea, it will be easier to shoot the blue of the sky and the sea, which can be said to be the best shooting opportunity. However, as the time approaches noon, the angle of the sun will be higher and higher, and it is necessary to arrive at the seaside earlier to have enough time to shoot, which will put more pressure on photographers and models. In the afternoon, the angle of the sun will become more and more oblique, and the temperature will become colder and colder, which will reduce the physical burden of photographers and subjects, and the time pressure will be relatively relaxed. But at this time, when the sun shines from the sea, it is easy to form a backlight environment, so it is necessary to increase the exposure appropriately, and the color of sea and the sky is unlikely to appear blue.

Give up the horizontal alignment of sea level and start with the balance of model movements, so that the audience can naturally focus on the model.

When we change the shooting environment to the east coast of Taiwan Province Province, the relationship between light and time will be just the opposite. But if you look at it with the naked eye, although it is easier to see the blue sky and sea in the afternoon, the eastern hinterland is usually smaller, so the time is longer than 4: 30, and the coast may be in shadow because the sun is blocked by gables. At this time, if you want to get a standard exposure, the sky will become dead white because of the great difference in brightness ratio. To sum up, the best time to shoot blue sky, white clouds and bikinis on the west coast is during the day.

The morning light on the west coast makes the sky and sea look saturated and beautiful blue, which is the best shooting time.

Boldly break the standard composition

Basic composition In principle, we will try our best to make the sea level on the screen and let the viewer see the image from the perspective of a third party. In order to make the picture look closer to the model, we can try to give up the original sea level as the benchmark and use the people in the picture as the benchmark instead. For example, by pulling hair, raising hands, stretching along the model and other ways to rotate the composition, the viewer will seem to swing with the waves of the model, adding a lot of sense of movement and presence.

Rotate the composition with the action of the model to make the picture more vivid.

The secret of ultra-low angle shooting

Many people like outdoor shooting activities and try to shoot at an ultra-low angle almost close to the ground. But generally speaking, because of the clothing or the ground environment, it is not suitable to use such a composition, so there are few such concerns on the beach. Let the model stick to the ground and shoot at a low angle. The most direct visual experience is like a model lying next to the viewer. Coupled with the hook eye and body curve, the distance between the viewer and the model is directly narrowed. Because the shooting is quite close to the ground, if it is in the tidal zone, we should pay special attention to whether the camera is in danger of water ingress. A better way is to arrange a special person in the area near the sea to watch whether there are big waves coming to the shore and remind the photographer at any time.

You can shoot at low tide, and the clear sea water condenses because of the high-speed shutter, which makes the picture feel a little cooler.

Large-angle pitching technique

High-angle overhead shooting can emphasize the beautiful figure curve of the model, with clear water and gravel as the background, which is a good composition angle when shooting bikinis. The most important thing to pay attention to when shooting is the shadow position. Because the model is facing the sunlight in the sky, it is basically facing the light source, especially near noon. Taking a picture of a concave corner is the easiest way to avoid strange shadows on your face. So we should pay attention to the photographer's own position. When the photographer is in the front light state, the shadow will fall on the model, but he will stand in the back light position, and the shadow will not affect the picture. The best time to shoot is when the waves return to the sea, mainly because when the tide hits, the model will easily get a bad expression because of the splash in his eyes, and when the waves return to the sea, the sea water will be more transparent and clean because there is no white splash, and the visual effect of the picture will look cooler.

From the top-down shooting point of view, it is best to be in the backlight state, at which time the shadow will not fall on the model.

Near-peak strategy

In addition to high-angle overhead shooting, another way is to actively create a balanced shadow on the face, which is also a good way to shoot in the top light environment. For example, walking under a big parasol on the beach, or pulling up a big towel or gauze to let the sun shine in, can keep the sun from shining directly on your face and actively avoid the ugly shadows under your eyes. When shooting this kind of image, you can slightly increase the exposure compensation, or use spot metering to measure the face, so as not to make the face look too dull.

Close to the time when you are ready to rest at noon, you can use a towel to make a uniform shadow on the model's face to avoid a bad-looking shadow under your eyes when you are in the top light.

A young man running barefoot

Beaches and wetlands are more suitable for shooting running because of their delicate texture, but we should also pay special attention to the temperature not to be too high. It is suggested that the model can be relaxed by running at the beginning of shooting. Shooting the running picture, although you can capture it directly with a telescope, it is easy to lack the sense of interaction. It is suggested to use a wide-angle lens to roughly grasp the proportion of models in the picture, and then focus in advance and then adjust it to manual. If you are worried about blurred depth of field, you can appropriately reduce the aperture and increase the brightness. When shooting running, you can try to let the model glance around the people and the camera at will, so that the expression can be more natural, or simply focus on the action and run after the model. Photographers should be able to take good photos easily as long as they concentrate on keeping a relative distance from the model and use the continuous shooting function.

When shooting dynamic images, you can shoot good works by using a wide-angle lens and keeping the same speed as the model. From the height of the back and calf, you can capture the natural splash of sand, adding youthful movement.

The beach is the best place to shoot running. Strong sunlight allows the shutters to solidify at enough speed, and fine sand will not hurt the soles of the feet.