What light source is photographic reflection?

In my many years of filming science and education documentaries, character shooting is a very important part. At this time, how to choose light and light distribution is also a skill that photographers must master. According to the nature of light, it can be divided into soft light and hard light, which can also be called scattered light and direct light. Only when you know how to use these two kinds of light reasonably can you ensure that the character shooting part will not become a "drag" part of your film.

About "soft light"

The nature of light source determines the nature of light. It is a little difficult for a spotlight to produce soft light, which is a kind of scattered and shadowless lighting. Soft light comes from, for example, cloudy weather, or rows of three-color lights reflected above the studio, from artificial cathode fluorescent lamp such as KINO (composed of two tubes and four tubes), or diffuse light formed by some diffuse reflection materials around the subject.

Generally speaking, soft light is a kind of scattering light source, which can make the level and details of the dark part of the object more delicate and smooth. The disadvantage is that the shadow and strong light are lost and the huge modeling structure of the object is submerged. In this way, the shadow and layering of the surface fluctuation will be greatly weakened, thus producing a planar light effect. It is really difficult to prevent this soft light from spreading to unnecessary places around.

The soft light without shadow in the auxiliary lamp mentioned here is actually a plane light, but it is not a light effect. We often say "big flat and bright" because the light is flat, so we can reveal everything we see. It is also a fast lighting method that we often use when interviewing and shooting people, and it can also be said to be a more delicate so-called modeling treatment. Sometimes it will also cause an ambiguous effect to the viewer, because it is inseparable from the definition of light contrast. Generally speaking, indoors, only indoors, because of the influence of ambient light, the light and shadow of characters are generally natural and soft, only the shadow edge of the dark part of the main body is slightly different.

In actual work shooting, generally due to the dark indoor light, we need to increase the brightness, which is bound to be different from the original environment. In order to make up for it, we appropriately increase the number of lamps and lanterns under the original natural light conditions. The advantage of this is that it will not affect the large ambient light. The illusionist rearranged the lamps and lanterns according to the environmental requirements at that time, generally using scattered light or reflected light. In any case, the light generated by the illusionist should not be too strong, and the edge of the shadow should be weakened as much as possible. Adding soft paper (cloth) is the best way to conform to the light of the original natural environment. By "filtering", the light ratio is reduced, and then the light will become softer. Generally speaking, shooting girls or idol dramas is more common, which can make the light and shadow changes of the characters and the surrounding environment very comfortable, thus removing or weakening the unpleasant shadows that shape the characters, such as nose shadow, eye shadow, lip shadow, chin shadow and so on.

In my shooting experience, when I shoot people with lights, I almost always use soft paper, soft cloth and reflector. The only time I brought two 300W small lights, the light was obviously not enough, and the light on the blue paper was already very weak. When shooting a character, aim a small light of 300W at the face of the character, and then add a large reflector on the other side of the character. Fortunately, the light is not too strong, and the other side of the character is filled with a reflector, so it is good for the face of the character to feel a little light. Therefore, as long as it is not forced by headlights and the light is not particularly harsh, it is emphasized here that it is best to use soft light when shooting characters in popular science documentaries, because this light is consistent with the environment and blends into one, and the picture feels more like a movie. Kind, comfortable and natural. This is my own opinion, which may not be suitable for you, because everyone's thoughts and feelings are different, and the live shooting will be analyzed in detail.

About "strong light"

Generally speaking, "hard light" can be used as both main light and auxiliary light, which has obvious shadow boundary for sunlight or indoor spotlight light source. For the "hard light" dominated by the main light, it is not particularly suitable for shooting people, especially women. Generally speaking, this kind of "hard light" lighting is avoided, because the light is sharp and angular, especially the shadow of the nose and chin of the characters is very strong, so unless you shoot something bizarre, resolute, strongly abnormal and suggestive, most people "dare not" use it.

On the other hand, "strong light" is a kind of light with clear direction, because it can make the light source of spotlight project centrally, and the irradiation direction and range of light can be controlled. If the light energy is high enough, we can use it instead of sunlight. For example, dysprosium lamps can also get convincing results. At the same time, it can also provide well-defined shapes and textures on the surface of objects. The disadvantage is that the shadow is too obvious, stiff and not very beautiful. Especially when shooting characters, if it is not handled properly, it is difficult to eliminate the shadow on the characters.

As auxiliary light, "hard light" is generally used less, that is, it is scattered and softened as much as possible, because it can project chaotic shadows and is difficult to eliminate.

CCTV photographer Li Dongfeng

Li Dongfeng graduated from the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy. In the same year, he joined Beijing Science and Education Film Studio (Central New Film Group) and became a national second-class photographer, specializing in film and television photography. As a photographer of the film Global Warming (this film won the Golden Rooster Award of the 28th China Film 201/kloc-0).

Only by constantly observing excellent documentary works and accumulating experience through actual shooting can we calmly use the rich expressive force given by light in future shooting.