How to get on camera?

In fact, the photos taken by some professional photographers are the same as those in the mirror. What others see is the same as you in the mirror. The reason why your photos don’t look good is because they are not photogenic. Here is the most scientific answer: Please see the answer

Some people are very beautiful, but the photos they take are always not beautiful, so they say "not photogenic". Haha, I have thought about this problem for a long time, and through my own photography experience and After consulting relevant information, I finally found the answer:

1. Beautiful appearance requires the close and organic cooperation of human facial features. A beautiful face will be greatly discolored if it is slightly out of balance. It is often said that some people Any part of the facial features is very beautiful, but it doesn’t look good when combined together. It seems that not only the facial features should be good, but their matching and proportion are also very important. In this regard, the proportion requirement for beautiful men in ancient China is "three courts and five eyes";

2. Are the photos taken of real people’s faces? It can be said with certainty: 90% of them do not reflect the original appearance, but are deformed! ! , this deformation destroys the delicate proportions of the facial features, making beauties unsightly, and of course also makes some unsightly ones look better than they do in reality;

3. Why is the photo deformed?

This kind of deformation is called perspective in photography:

We have seen all the close-up portraits taken with a wide-angle lens, in which the nose of the subject is aligned with other parts of the face. The ratio will appear surprisingly large. This is a form of perspective distortion characteristic of many photos taken with wide-angle lenses.

To understand why this distortion occurs, let us first discuss normal perspective. As we all know, one way our eyes sense distance is by using the relative size of objects. The brain tells us that objects that are far away appear smaller. , the further away, the smaller it appears. In photography, the same method is used to identify the perspective relationship. Distant objects appear smaller than nearby objects of the same size. For this reason, parallel rails appear closer and closer as we look farther away, until they converge into a point. The essence of this phenomenon is that the distance between the rails appears to be smaller. There is another manifestation of perspective, that is, the closer the object is, the stronger the perspective effect. For example, 200 soldiers are marching in a column. If you view or photograph the procession from 10 feet away from the soldier in front, the soldier in front will appear much taller than the soldier at the end. However, if the same team is viewed or photographed 100 meters away from the soldier in front, the size difference between the first and last soldier will not appear so large.

To summarize, in reality, our eyes can eliminate the perspective distortion we see through life experience, but the camera is not so smart, it can only copy the original, so the soldier photographed is in front The ones at the back are taller and the ones at the back are shorter. We can roughly judge the approximate height of the soldiers at the front and rear through life experience.

4. How to avoid this kind of deformation? This is determined by the principle of photography, that is, the lens. It is basically uncorrectable and can only be reduced as much as possible;

So why do wide-angle lenses often produce distorted perspective relationships, such as the root cause of the weird nose in the example? Woolen cloth? Because wide-angle lenses are often used to shoot very close to the subject, the closer the shooting distance, the stronger the perspective effect. The truth is that simple.

In other words, if all lenses are used to shoot at the same distance, the wide-angle lens does not distort perspective any more than any other lens. In fact, it's not difficult to prove this by experimenting. Use lenses with different focal lengths to photograph a row of pillars or a row of trees or any row of objects. Take all the photos in the same position, and then zoom in on the same part of each image. , the purpose is to get the same size image on the photo. Finally, regardless of the focal length of the lens used, you will not see any difference in perspective in any of the photos. The reason is that all photos are taken at the same distance, that is, the distance from the subject to the lens is the same.

Now, let’s get back to the issue of the weirdly large nose in the close-up portrait. The tip of a person's nose is approximately 1 inch closer to the camera than the rest of the face. Since the subject appears larger the closer it is, the nose will appear disproportionately larger than the rest of the face when photographed close up. So why do wide-angle lenses make this distortion more noticeable? Because in order for the portrait to fill the frame, a wide-angle lens must be extremely close to the subject. For any kind of lens, this distortion will occur when the subject is very close to a certain extent. The closer to the subject, the more severe the distortion. It is precisely because you want the subject to fill the frame that you enter the distortion distance range of the wide-angle lens.

5. How to reduce it? Can it be lowered using a standard prime lens? no! However, you can choose a certain combination of lens and focal length to minimize the deformation:

Let us check the series of photos we have seen and carefully observe the nose. Which photo shows the most proportional nose? The nose is noticeably too large in the photos taken with the 24mm and 35mm lenses; the 50mm "standard" lens still seems a bit too big; the 85mm lens captures a nice image with no perspective distortion, as does the 135mm. This is our range of options.

Perhaps, any lens between 85mm and 135mm can be used as a "portrait" lens. As for the specific value, it is a personal preference.

What will be the performance of a longer focal length lens, such as a 150mm or 200mm lens? Although we were not able to show photos of them here, the flattened facial result they produce is certainly unflattering unless the subject has a very high nose. For regular portraits, you should stick with lenses in the 85-135mm range.

So, how to take beautiful photos? To make a summary:

1. First, look at the distance between the photographer and you. If it is close, ask him to stay farther away. Too close will only produce distortion and exaggerated effects; I am taking photos. When taking ID card photos and graduation photos, using a small digital camera at close range can only be said to undermine the seriousness of the ID card and graduation certificate!

2. It is best to ask the photographer to use a focal length between 80-135mm. At this focal length, you can restore yourself more realistically. The principle is: the photographer has to stay away from you, haha; I remember that when I took my college graduation photo (in 1995), I used a very old-fashioned camera obscura used in old movies. What I got was the most satisfying and realistic headshot. Unfortunately, it was in black and white, and it’s still the same now. Can't find it;

3. If your face is wider, stay farther away from the camera to avoid barrel distortion and make your face fatter. If you think your face is narrow, stay closer to the camera. Make full use of barrel distortion and make your small face look bigger. If you don’t like your nose being too big, use a 200mm telephoto lens to make your face flatter;

4. The most important thing when taking photos is It is best not to face the camera head-on, preferably 3/7 of the face. Chinese people’s faces are relatively flat and are not suitable for facing the camera. Take a closer look at some celebrity photos, especially the photos of beauties during the Republic of China. Nowadays, few celebrities have the courage to "face the camera directly", and most of the portraits taken abroad are usually half-profile, which makes the already three-dimensional face look more profound. And I have also seen the portrait of Chiang Ching-kuo when he was in the German Military Academy. The photo shows a half-faced face looking sideways, looking very angry. I don’t know that nowadays people like to look directly at the camera and smile silly. Maybe it’s a bit unconventional, haha.

5. If obvious perspective and distortion occur, the latest Photoshop can correct part of the deformation.

6. Expensive fixed-focus lenses cannot eliminate deformation, but they can obtain a valuable large aperture, which can be used to blur the background when there is little light.