Skills of using external flash lamp for portrait

Lead: Flash exists only to make up for the concept of insufficient light. If you want to shoot the exterior texture like a fashion magazine and make good use of flash to create portraits, you and I can do it. What are the advantages of using a flash when taking portraits? How to use these artificial light sources to produce the desired effect? Below, the editorial department arranges several flash classes, so that you won't go too hard when learning to take portraits.

The skill of using portrait flash brings creative light source to outdoor flash.

First of all, don't misread the title. Why do we need a flash when we have natural light? Why do we hate dazzling and blunt flash photos?

The original intention of flash lamp design is to make up for the shortage of natural light, for example, in a closed room, under the backlight condition, natural light cannot illuminate. Secondly, the flash can adjust the illumination angle, output power and light hardness at will, which is more convenient than using sunlight. Of course, you can plug the flash into the hot boots at the top of the machine, but this is not a good way except for convenience. Not only is it easy to make the characters lose their three-dimensional sense, but the picture is also unnatural. You can tell at a glance that it's the flashing one.

I remember an advertisement saying, "Can you tell I'm wearing makeup?" To show the subtle fusion of cosmetics and skin. Moreover, this concept should be extended to the use of flash, so that people can't see that you have used flash and reached a more perfect realm. What methods can make flash photos more natural and harmonious with the environment?

▲ Soften the flash, this day is 3 pm, and Mokman uses the equipment in his hand to create the feeling of early morning.

Off-board flash application

Take off the external flash from the hot boots at the top of the machine, hold it or put it on the lamp holder, and change the angle of indirect light to make the light directional. In addition, by using the built-in flash or trigger, multiple flashes can be triggered at the same time, thus creating creative lights such as main light, auxiliary light, outline and background (provided that multiple flashes need to be purchased or borrowed).

Soft cover: install a soft cover for the overhead flash, or use a soft umbrella, soft box, or even use props such as napkins and screens to soften the light, reduce the contrast between light and shade and smooth the tone of the light.

Reflecting: Light-colored walls, lower ceilings, reflective plates of flash lamp holders, and even white sheets and shirts are used to reflect the light to the desired position, so as to weaken and diffuse the originally rigid and condensed light and make the characters receive the light more evenly and softly. This is often used when shooting behind-the-scenes tidbits of modeling work.

Output power: In general, the light intensity of the flash is higher than that in the field, so the flash manual mode is used to reduce the output power of the flash. After several tests, change gears, and try to use flash to output light intensity close to and fuse with ambient light. Finally, people's photos are more natural and harmonious with the environment, which greatly improves the sense of suddenness brought by flash photography.

Portable studio

As a fashion photographer, you should not be confined to the creation in the studio. Shooting in fashion places, cafes, bookstores or other places that are easy to create a romantic atmosphere can often find more shooting themes, so it is very important to have a "mobile studio". Of course, it can't be as professional as a real studio, but its biggest feature is better mobility, low price and relatively good effect.

You need two or three flashlights (main lights, auxiliary lights, side lights), without big brands, as long as they are all manual, which is very cheap; Two-in-one wireless cable release. Two or three lamp stands, it is suggested that the front end can be converted to 90 degrees, which is convenient to serve as a cantilever frame to send mercerization to beautiful women. Black and white double umbrellas, that is, a reflective umbrella, a soft umbrella and a set of gold and silver double-sided reflectors are completed. This pile of things can be easily taken away by bike after being folded.

Four kinds of portraits are commonly polished.

Because it is often used to shoot beautiful women, some polishing methods are called "beauty light". For example, butterfly lights are widely used in the stills of Hollywood movie stars, and crocodile lights developed on the basis of butterfly lights.

Butterfly lamp

Used to shoot high-gloss female portraits, positive light can effectively cover up facial defects. Proper shadows can also make the face look more three-dimensional and thinner. In the usual lighting method, the main light is placed right in front of the subject's face and projected onto the model's face from top to bottom at a 45-degree angle through highlights. Such light can form a butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose.

Then add a silver reflector below the model to reflect the light emitted by the main light source in a scattering way, which can not only add beautiful eyes to the model, but also properly fill the face and reduce the intensity of shadows and the contrast between light and shade.

The smaller the light source area, the deeper the shadow, and the larger the light source area, the shallower the shadow. Then you can usually use a reflector or other lights to fill the light under your face to adjust the intensity of the shadow.

Crocodile lamp

Crocodile light is the real "beauty light", because it can make the model's face get soft and uniform light, and the light of the eyes is more sharp. This kind of lighting is very suitable for shooting beautiful and charming young women. Photographers need to shoot people from the middle of two upright soft boxes, usually with the main light above and the high position 45 degrees down. Reflective plates need to be added on both sides of the figure to reduce the contrast between light and dark, and light and shadow will be generated on both sides of the beauty's cheeks, thus making the figure more stereoscopic, harmonious but smooth.

Of course, there are many ways to shine on beautiful women, such as U-shaped lights, surround lights, triangle lights (more commonly used to shoot men) and so on. There is right or wrong when there is less light, depending on the artistic conception and feelings that the photographer wants to express. But generally speaking, the lighting should be tilted from above to illuminate the front of the character, and the reflector is used to supplement the light on the other side. Side light (usually backlight) or head light (usually top light) illuminates from behind or above to outline the three-dimensional sense of the character, and background light shines from behind the model to the background curtain, so it will not be difficult to understand the truth, and then it will be difficult to try innovation by yourself. In most models shooting experiences, we need to emphasize two kinds of light? Eyes and light will make beautiful women more perfect.

The light of eyes

Refers to the beautiful and shining light in the eyes. It is the "finishing touch" in portrait photography, which will make the photos look more vivid and the characters look radiant. The position of eye light depends on the angle of light source. If the eyes are illuminated by light or oblique light, bright spots will appear. If the eyes are not directly illuminated by light, they will not have eyes. For example, in the case of outdoor backlight, because the light does not directly shine on the face, there will be no eyes shining. This requires creating eye light by using a reflector or pulling out a small white reflector on an external flash. And indoors, the position, size, quantity and shape of eye light can be controlled artificially, which generally depends on the following principles:

Size: the closer the light is to the figure, the larger the spot; Conversely, the smaller the spots. The stronger the light, the larger the spot; Conversely, the smaller the spots.

Quantity: The more lights used in the front, the more light spots in the eyes; On the contrary, the fewer light spots. The best number is one or two points.

Shape: the shape depends on the shape of the reflector or soft box, which is round, square or even trapezoidal. Ring flash is popular in fashion, which can produce ring-shaped eye light.

Touguangfa

Headlight, also known as split light, is a concentrated beam of light emitted from the back and upper part of the model. It shines on the hair, a little on the shoulders, but avoid projecting light on the cheeks. This kind of light is used to avoid black hair, which can outline the outline of the upper body of the subject, separate the subject from the background, and make the characters more three-dimensional. You can use a small soft light box or a long soft light box. Because the long soft box is long and narrow, it will make the headlights more directional. Because the light is from top to bottom, you need to use a cantilever lamp holder, so that the light shines from above and will not catch the lamp holder when shooting. You can use modeling lights to predict the precise range of headlights. If conditions do not allow, you can also make a headlight by reflecting from the ceiling.