Portrait photographers teach you how to use light and shadow well.

Lead: Photography is also called light painting, so the role of light plays a vital role in photography, which can also be said to be irreplaceable. Portrait photographer J shares his experience in lighting and composition with you.

Portrait photographers teach you how to make good use of light and shadow.

Let me tell you how to choose the best shooting time for sunshine.

As far as I know, taking the summer in Guangzhou as an example, the most suitable time for taking portraits is 15:30- 17:30 from 8 am to evening 10, and the light in the morning is relatively soft. In addition to the two time points I just mentioned, the angle of the sun is also good, which can illuminate most parts of the face, and the highlights and shadows formed on the face are also beautiful.

I believe all the friends who took photos at noon in 1 1 to 13 know that there will be a triangular highlight on the nose when the head is overexposed. If you go back to retouching, you will find that even eyelashes leave an ugly shadow on your face. If you must shoot at noon, there are several ways to make the model look up and shoot. Although the face is directly exposed, the shadow on her face is still there. Or use shelter, you can find some props to cover it, or cover it with your hands, run to the Woods and shoot in mottled light and shadow. Of course, it is best to avoid this time period (of course, this is on the premise of sunny days). If it is cloudy, because the dark clouds cover the sun and have a soft light effect, there is little difference when shooting.

Block out the strong sunlight with your hands.

At about 10 in the morning, a series of light and shadow were drawn by using the folds of white curtains (white curtains also have the function of softening light here), so that the model could lie in this position and combine the portrait with light and shadow.

Use the lens OM55 F 1.2. The effect of this lens is very soft, and the basic original film adds some color temperature, which is also the importance of the early stage.

When the light is relatively large, the illumination angle makes the eyes deeper and more stereoscopic. What is lacking is that the light and shadow of eyelashes will still leave traces on the face. If the light is overhead, the reflection of eyelashes will stay at the lower eyeliner of the eyes, which is terrible. Later revision is also extremely difficult.

If the position of light is changed blindly in the later period, what is the significance of the earlier period? We should all try our best to keep the most natural things, besides, it is not difficult at all. In your eyes, changing the sitting posture and head direction of the model will definitely find a good-looking position.

Make good use of the direction of light, use the gap between leaves to let light penetrate into the picture, shoot the lines of light beam, and let the model cater to the direction of light.

Using the angle of the window light source and the indoor dust, there is a slight light beam, and the highlights on the model's face are also very beautiful. If there is no highlight on the nose, the whole person's face can't be three-dimensional, and there is no way to see the protruding nose. Friends who have studied art or makeup must know this problem.

For the dim light in the attic, it is very important to find a well-lit position and put it on the model reasonably.

? Reasonable use of props through the sun, draw wonderful light and shadow on the face.

? Some people say that this face will be too complicated. I don't think so. Keep all the highlights. The light and shadow of pine trees make the whole picture look like a flame. The light and shadow of the face make people feel integrated into it, so I don't think it's a big problem. This is a circular composition, and the application of composition will be discussed later.

Let the model randomly draw a bunch from the side, face the sun, block the sun, and leave a beautiful light shadow on the model's face.

In the same way, fiddle with the leaves in front and let them stand between the sun and the model.

Using the highlights and shadows formed by the incident angle of the window to the sun, placing the model in it is also a kind of composition with balanced light and shade.

Second, the facial repair artifact-highlights

It is more perfect to outline a person's face with light, especially highlights.

A good highlight position can not only make the model's face look better, but also make the nose straighter and bring vivid eyes.

Many people will ask me if I used a reflector and a flash when shooting. Actually, I didn't bring anything, because as long as we make good use of the light source, we can still have Cosmetic Contact Lenses light. If I let the model look at the light source in a low light environment, it will naturally have eye light, which is more natural and profound.

Third, the composition experience

Composition is the most basic and difficult part of photography. Although I don't think there is any real law in composition, it is good to feel it sometimes, but in fact, composition is the key to make the picture more comfortable and harmonious.

The composition is divided into early stage and late stage. In the early stage, you can control the framing, and in the later stage, it is a secondary composition to make up for the shortcomings in the early stage (such as focal length and proportion). Since the late stage is to make up for it, do a good job in the early stage as much as possible, and don't shoot at will without thinking. When shooting, you should already know what the movie is like, where the characters are placed, and why you can ask yourself.

In fact, the most important thing in composition is balance, so that the picture will be more stable, which is why so many novices often place characters in the early stage, because it is the easiest to balance the picture, which is indispensable, and I often do so, but if a group of pictures are like this, it will inevitably feel monotonous, because the composition after being centered makes it easier for others to see the appearance, performance and artistic conception of the shape more deeply. If there is nothing in the picture, the picture is like visiting here.

The X-shaped composition forms an X through the right angle between the umbrella and the umbrella handle, and the photo is cut to the ratio of 1: 1 later, and the eyes are located near the bisection position. X is four right-angled isosceles triangles, no side can be longer, and the picture will definitely be limited. Therefore, the composition is very difficult. Even if it is deliberately difficult to complete the composition, the diagonal line makes the picture extremely balanced. The highlight of the picture is the model's deep and emotional eyes.

This one also uses light and shadow to form a composition similar to X, and the model's movements are also balanced triangles.

If you draw the model's face directly in the middle, the picture will be too simple. If you use an umbrella as the foreground, you will block out most unwanted scenes and put the face in the third part of the picture. The umbrella is decorative, and the composition is quite special.

If the venue is messy, use this oval frame. If you are tired of looking at square photos. Try oval and round white edges. The composition adopts the golden ratio, and the tree, face and horizon are all on the golden ratio line, so the most important position of the picture will be more eye-catching. The golden section is also a method often used in composition, and it is also very simple. You can try more.

The composition of this picture is relatively simple. The characters are placed in the middle position up and down, and the head is placed in the center of the face. The relatively blank part of the picture belongs to the upper right corner. Because the Oriental Pearl (a landmark building in Shanghai) is too conspicuous and the right side is full, I added a dark corner at this time to make the right side of the picture have a better transition. At the same time, I added a LOGO to that position. So some students talked about the placement of the LOGO in the group before, trying to put it in the blank position of the picture and place the LOGO reasonably.

Friends who often watch my films should know that my composition is more rigorous, especially the stairs like this. I will definitely make it disappear on the diagonal. There may be some obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it's really much more comfortable. As long as other positions are parallel or diagonal to your composition, it will not disturb the overall feeling. The shooting time was noon 12, so a beam of light came in from the top of the head, pulling out the highlights of hair and the outlines of hands and shoulders from the dark background.

This is a kind of advanced thinking of composition, which magnifies the composition and the indoor shooting is relatively limited. So at that time, there was a table (such as the red part) under the composition. Because it was a white wall, I dragged her into another vertical white layer, and then made a gradual dark corner to make the picture more depressed.

It is also an enlarged composition. If you have enough ideas, you can expand more changes. The purple frame is the original composition. Because of the focal length, we can't rule out that kind of wide feeling. We can only rely on the secondary composition in the later period to integrate the sky with the enlarged background, so that the characters become smaller and feel wider. Therefore, the composition is not only cut, but also expanded.

Finally, to sum up, we will not shoot for the sake of shooting, but shoot with a purpose. Understand the importance of light to photography, and know that photography is not only the change of equipment, but also the brain behind the equipment. Use your own ideas to tell everyone what the world is like in your eyes through the lens. I am glad that I can choose photography and stick to it. I can bring you wonderful pictures and enjoy others' affirmation of my work.

I think all students who want to take pictures must have one condition: aesthetics. If you can't tell beauty from ugliness, then you can't tell the quality of your own work, let alone make any progress, so aesthetics is the premise of photography.

Remember not to set your goals too high, and surpass yourself first!