Panorama composition method for portrait photography

Introduction: I believe that readers have the experience of photographing people in a diamond-shaped structure. We unconsciously engage in the act of breaking away from the monotony of the rectangle to form a new visual effect. After reading the following content, you will realize how ridiculous the original approach was. Like an unreadable book, such a photograph becomes an unreadable image. We need to be familiar with the framing techniques for photos of people, and before taking photos, we need to decide whether to take a panoramic shot or a close-up. Let’s take a look!

The basic framing techniques (scenery) of portrait photography are divided into panorama (F u l l - s h o t ), medium shot (Medium-shot), medium close shot (Waist-shot), and close shot (Bustshot), close-upshot, etc.

Scene classification

Panorama (Full-shot)

Panorama

This scene is also called Full-shot (Figure Shot) , is a full-body photo including the background, showing the beauty and momentum of the character's whole body.

Panorama includes the whole picture of the subject and its surrounding environment. Compared with photography in a photo studio, outdoor photography requires careful observation of the surrounding environment. Improperly chosen shooting angles can distort portraits. In panoramic photography, it is necessary to clarify the framing intention and adopt an angle that can fully display the characters.

Photo 2-10 includes a panoramic shot of the background.

In , a wide-angle lens is used to capture the person and background in a framed panorama. Show the dynamic and movement effects of the picture on the red lines marked ①, ②, ③, and ④ with the character as the center. Among them, ①, ②, and ③ maintain a triangular shape, and ④ form momentum with unstable lines, expressing a sense of urgency and activity. The ⑤ and ⑥ marked by ovals emphasize the face, ease the complex lines around the character, and increase the softness. In addition, the blank space adds a stabilizing factor to the bleakness of the ruins.

In the same photography location, use different frames to capture the subjects and observe the different expressiveness of the portrait photos.

The composition of the scene ① is not complicated. What is complicated is the space of the ruins. There are many lines and surfaces in this space, which affects the viewer's attention and prevents the eyes from focusing on the characters. Framing ② Cut out the environment with the character as the center to express a dark, turbid color and dull visual sense. The portrait photos ① and ②, which are composed horizontally and vertically respectively, and filled with frames, both show a sense of dullness. This means that for photos of people, instead of blindly framing the people in large proportions, the key to panoramic photography lies in the coordination between the background and the people, that is, using the background to emphasize the people and give them expressive power. This is the basic principle of panoramic photography.

1) Framing using color contrast effects

In framing, the color of the character’s clothes should be taken into consideration so that the color contrasts with the color of the surrounding environment. The girl in red appears in a red background. The color of the background and the character are close to each other, and the sight that should be focused on the character will also be scattered.

You should pay as much attention as possible to the color of the clothes, choose a background that makes the characters a point of interest, and then appropriately frame the scene, people, and objects.

For color contrast, it is best to master the relationship between complementary colors. Complementary colors represent opposite colors, and the opposite colors of B, G, and R are Y, M, and C (in that order). The complementary color of blue is yellow, the complementary color of grass green is magenta, and the complementary color of red is cyan.

Photo 2-11 Panoramic shooting considering color contrast

Using the complementary color relationship between the background and the character's clothes can highlight the visual effect of the character. In , magenta and the complementary color grass green work together to highlight the characters.

2) Horizontal composition of the picture layout

Horizontal composition of the picture layout

The characters in the red rectangular frame are arranged at the center of the rule of thirds, fully Express the stability of the picture.