Photographic composition skills of 2 portraits

2 practical composition skills for portrait photography

There are many details to pay attention to in order to take a good portrait photo. Choosing a focus point is what photographers must learn. Here's a brief analysis of some skills and methods when shooting portraits.

1. Use a simple background to highlight people

When shooting portraits, the choice of background is very important. If used properly, it can set off the atmosphere of the picture well, and the complex background can easily distract the viewer's attention. Therefore, try to choose a simple and harmonious background when shooting, so as to better highlight the subject. If you shoot indoors, you can give priority to the use of walls or background cloth when you take a head-up view, and you can consider using sheets or floors when you take a head-down view. If shooting outdoors, you can consider using a large aperture to blur the background, or looking for beautiful building exterior walls and dense flowers. You can also look up with the blue sky as the background, or look down with the grass as the background. In short, as long as the background selection is based on the principle of simplicity, you can always find the right shooting scene and angle.

Second, create an aesthetic picture with an infectious background

A simple background can make the portrait stand out in the picture, but the picture lacks the story and can't explain the surroundings of the characters in the picture well, so it is only suitable for shooting portrait works. If you want the picture to be more readable, you should choose the background according to the shooting intention or the characteristics of the subject, and you can try to choose more beautiful scenery or content environment as the background to enrich and enrich the picture. This is especially important when shooting portraits with wide-angle lens, so the wide-angle lens will be integrated into the environment of more pictures, so the choice of background is more important. In addition, we should pay attention to the reasonable arrangement of the position of the characters in the picture in order to get photos with aesthetic feeling and highlighting the characteristics of the characters.

Third, choose a large aperture to obtain a shallow depth of field

As mentioned above, the larger the aperture (such as f/1.8, f/2.4), the smaller the aperture value and the smaller the depth of field; The smaller the aperture (such as f/18, f/22), the larger the aperture value and the greater the depth of field. If you want to get a photo with shallow depth of field, you should first consider shooting with a large aperture. Large aperture plays a very important role in portrait photography and artistic photography, which can get the beautiful blur effect of shallow depth of field, and at the same time, it can help us to ensure higher shutter speed in poor ambient light.

Fourth, get a shallow depth of field close to the subject

To get a shallow depth of field and blur the background, the easiest way is to put the camera close to the model while the distance between the model and the background remains the same, so that the effect of shallow depth of field can be easily obtained, the characters are prominent and the background is naturally blurred. When shooting, we should pay attention to the fact that the foreground can't be a messy scene, because when the camera is close to the model, the foreground will also be clearer in the picture.

5. Keep the background away from the subject to get a shallow depth of field

The easiest way to get a shallow depth of field and blur the background is to keep the camera close to the model while the distance between the model and the background remains the same, so that the effect of shallow depth of field can be easily obtained, the characters are prominent and the background is naturally blurred. When shooting, we should pay attention to the fact that the foreground can't be a messy scene, because when the camera is close to the model, the foreground will also be clearer in the picture. Changing the distance between the model and the background is also one of the methods to obtain a shallow depth of field. Arranging the model to keep a certain distance from the background (you don't have to be close to the model) can also obtain a perfect shallow depth of field effect. To put it simply, the farther away the model is from the background, the easier it is to form a shallow depth of field, from which a greater blur effect can be obtained.

VI. Three-point composition method that makes people become the visual center

Three-point composition can be divided into two types: horizontal three-point composition and vertical three-point composition. When shooting a portrait, the picture is divided into three equal parts horizontally and vertically, and the trunk of the character can be placed on each dividing line, while the face or eyes of the character can be placed on one of its four intersection points, which can highlight the character more clearly.

VII. Curve composition method to express female body softness

Curve composition is divided into S-shaped composition and C-shaped composition. When shooting female portraits, S-shaped or C-shaped compositions are often used to show the femininity and sexiness of their bodies. Among them, S-shaped composition is the most commonly used, and C-shaped composition also has a good performance effect in expressing women's feminine figure, but it is weaker than S-shaped composition. Usually, when a woman with a good figure stands naturally, she can shoot a beautiful S-shaped curve from the side, but if she shoots from the front, she needs the model to lean slightly. In addition to these two angles, you can also form a more sexy S-shaped curve by lying down.

VIII. Diagonal composition method for stretching the figure beauty

Diagonal composition is often used in portrait photography. When the figure's posture or body movements appear in the picture in a diagonal way and occupy enough space, the diagonal composition method is formed.

the stretching effect produced by diagonal composition has a very good effect on expressing the slender figure of women or beautifying the defects in the body material of the subject. When using this composition method to shoot portraits, the instep of at least one foot should be stretched straight, so that the body lines extend from the legs to the instep, so as to play the role of lengthening the body lines.

IX. Triangular composition method to express the sense of picture stability

Triangular composition is a typical composition form in portrait photography, which can be divided into three types: regular triangle, inverted triangle and oblique triangle. When shooting, the limbs or postures of the characters are combined to form a triangle. This composition has a strong sense of stability and upward impact, and the face of the character is usually located at the top of the triangle as the visual center.

X. Portrait shooting in horizontal frame

The horizontal frame composition is widely used by people mainly because it conforms to people's visual habits and physiological characteristics, because people's eyes are horizontal and many objects extend in the horizontal direction. Portrait photography suitable for people and environment can also be used to shoot group portraits.

Xi. portrait shooting in horizontal frame

vertical frame, that is, vertical rectangular composition, extends up and down, which is also a common composition method for portrait shooting. Vertical frame emphasizes the vertical factors in the picture and the depth of the picture, which can be used for shooting full-length portraits or busts.

XII. Shooting a portrait from the top

Shooting from the top angle means that the camera lens is above the normal apparent horizon, and the subject is shot down from a height. When shooting a character from this angle, the body of the character will be compressed, and the deformation effect will appear, the head will be exaggerated and the body part will be reduced, so that the character will be more cute and playful. If the angle between the face and the camera is less than 9, you can easily take photos of beautiful women with small faces, and your eyes will look bigger than usual.

Overlooking is also a common shooting angle of "Sleeping Beauty". When shooting, you should pay attention to making the picture close to high profile.

XIII. Looking up and shooting portraits

Looking up and shooting means that the camera is below the person being photographed and shooting from bottom to top. The picture effect exaggerates the height, and the spatial perspective effect is stronger. When taking a portrait, the lower part of the body near the camera will be enlarged, while the face far away from the camera will be reduced. Portraits shot at this angle usually look taller, straighter and slimmer than usual, so if you want to show the strong temperament of men or the slender posture of women, you can use this angle.

XIV. Rendering the picture atmosphere by using the environment blank space

Blank space is actually an easy-to-understand concept, which means blank space. Blank space obviously means leaving a certain blank space for the picture when composing. Figuratively speaking, the blank in the picture plays a similar role to the punctuation in the article. However, blank space in photography is not necessarily a blank space in practical sense, it can be a large area of scenery with the same tone or the same type, such as sky, sea, mountain peaks, grassland and land ... < P > Blank space can make the picture more comfortable and natural in vision, and the photographer can use blank space to better control the rhythm and mood of the picture, set off the artistic conception, and leave more imagination space for the viewer, so that the viewer's point of view stays in the picture but his emotions are full of it.

In portrait photography, the portrait as the main body should be arranged in the most attractive position in the picture, such as near the golden section. Appropriate composition. Leave blank, giving viewers room for imagination.

XV. Blanking in the direction of people's line of sight extends the sense of space in the picture

As mentioned above, in a photographic work, the real subject image and the blank part are interdependent. The blank part can not only set off and explain the subject, but also supplement and strengthen the subject image. Blanking in front of the characters' sight can supplement the sight space of the main characters and seek the balance of the picture.

XVI. Using the accompaniment to express the character temperament

Proper and clever use of the accompaniment can better express the artistic conception or story in the picture and strengthen the theme to be expressed. These props can be a bunch of flowers, a guitar, a toy, a pair of shoes or an umbrella. However, the props used should conform to the characteristics of the subject's gender, age, personality and preferences, and only suitable props can play a role in assisting the subject to express the effect.

XVII. Distant scenery shows people and environment

Distant scenery is characterized by large space, many levels of scenery, short subject image and many sets of scenery, which can fully show the environment in a large range. To a great extent, the shooting prospect is to show the overall momentum of the picture, just as the painting theory mentioned "taking the momentum far away", so the photographer should focus on the big picture and win with momentum. In portrait photography, the foreground covers the whole physical appearance including the foot of the person being photographed, and the background environment is very large. When shooting, the characters are combined with the background environment, and both of them can be properly expressed. But we should pay special attention to the collocation relationship between characters and backgrounds.

18. The portrait in the middle shot shows the expression and posture of the characters

The portrait in the middle shot shows the image above the knee, which not only shows the facial expression of the characters, but also pays more attention to the hand movements of the characters. Pay attention to the pose of the subjects when shooting, so as to further show the inner state of the subjects. The use of mid-shot, the space area of the picture is further expanded, which is conducive to the expression of the characters' limbs and the composition is more varied. When shooting a portrait in the middle, you should also pay attention to the expression of the subject.

XIX. Close-up scenes show the facial expressions of the characters

Close-up portraits generally shoot images above the waist of the characters, which can make readers have a strong impression on the people being photographed. It should be noted that it is best to use a medium telephoto lens to avoid possible perspective distortion, and at the same time, it can also blur the background to beautify the picture. Close-up is conducive to the expression of the facial expressions of the characters. When shooting, the eyes of the subject can be highlighted, and the eyes are the windows of the soul. Eye contact is a way of communication and expression. Depicting infectious eyes can make viewers deeply understand the instant expressions and emotions of characters, and better produce * * * songs.

2. Close-up scenery shows the body parts of people

Close-up is one of the favorite shooting methods of many portrait photographers. Although it seems simple to shoot close-ups, there are many ways to choose the composition and portrait parts. For example, the common close-up shooting method is to shoot the face of the person, mainly showing the eyes and lips. In addition, you can also focus on other parts of the portrait, such as hands, feet, legs, hips and other positions. Obviously, the close-up part will give the picture a different atmosphere. Nowadays, in commercial portrait advertisements, there are often hand models, foot models, leg models and chest models. When shooting these models, the most commonly used scene is close-up. ;