Interpretation of light quality and light level in portrait photography

Light is the basis of photography. In portrait photography, the light quality and light level of light have great influence on the picture, especially portrait photos. The following are some introductions about the light quality and light level of portrait photography that I have compiled for you. Welcome to consult them.

The intensity and properties of light.

Intensity of light

The intensity of light refers to the degree of light received by the surface of an object, that is, the illuminance. Illuminance is an important basis for determining exposure, which is directly proportional to the luminous intensity of light source and inversely proportional to the square of distance. The illuminance on the inclined plane is also related to the cosine function of the incident angle of light. The intensity of light in photography is often expressed by the EV (exposure value) value of illuminance measurement. When shooting a wedding dress on location, we can use an exposure meter or a built-in metering system to analyze the intensity of the main light and control the light ratio. If it is strong, it will weaken the main light or make compensation on the dark side. If it is weak, it will moderately improve the brightness of the picture or replace the main light with a new light source.

The essence of light

The nature of light is represented by hard (direct light) and soft (scattered light). If the light illuminates an object with obvious shadow, it is hard light, and if there is no obvious shadow contour, it is soft light. It should be pointed out that the hardness of light is not directly related to the intensity of light, and the intensity of soft light can also be greater than that of strong light. The sunshine illumination on cloudy days can greatly exceed the low-power direct lamp.

Natural light effect and dramatic light effect

In portrait photography, the lighting style that conforms to objective physical logic and has a unified light source is called natural lighting effects, and the works shot by natural lighting effects are natural, fresh and true. In addition to the natural lighting effect, there is another lighting style, namely the dramatic lighting effect. For example, if two couples look at each other, one of them is in the side light position, then in actual visual habits, the other pair will be in the side backlight position, which is in line with the actual characteristics of sunlight lighting. On the other hand, if two couples look at each other, one is in the sidelight position, and the other is also in the sidelight position through supplementary light, although it does not conform to the logic of light source in natural circumstances, both faces are better layered. This way of using light, which pays attention to lighting effect and weakens logical relationship, is called drama lighting effect. The two light effects have their own characteristics, and there is no distinction between advantages and disadvantages.

When using the reflector, as long as the shadow caused by sunlight is compensated appropriately to make the level better, it can be considered that the lighting style conforms to the natural lighting effect. If the brightness of the backlight part is greatly improved when two people look at each other through compensation, and the illumination on both sides is uniform, it is in line with the lighting style of drama lighting efficiency.

Skills of shooting portraits under different light quality and light level

First, shoot with strong light.

The so-called hard light refers to the shadow light that can produce contrast between light and dark on the surface of the scene. This is a kind of light that is rarely used for portrait shooting, especially when shooting portraits of people. The biggest feature of hard light is that it can produce clear shadows, and the difficulty is to control the contrast between light and dark and the light ratio of the picture. Generally, the time ratio of shooting women is controlled at around 1:2. But when shooting in strong light, it is almost impossible to control the light ratio within this range. The simplest way is to use a reflector to fill the light, and weaken the contrast between light and shade of the face through this reflected light.

Can we ignore the control law of light ratio, enhance the contrast in the picture and use light? Tell a story? Light is used to express emotions, which is different from other lights. It expresses emotions more strongly and deeply in the picture. For the use of hard light, we should also pay attention to how to enhance the modeling effect through the environment. That is to know what kind of environment should use the high light ratio caused by hard light and what kind of environment should control the light ratio. When shooting with strong light, it is very important to control the exposure control. Exposure can be overexposed by more than half a level to increase the contrast of the picture. Or the exposure is less than half a level, although the contrast is reduced, the whole tone can be reduced to express some emotions.

Second, shoot with soft light.

Soft light is relative to strong light, which refers to those forms of light that do not produce obvious contrast between light and shade on the surface of characters. It is often used when shooting women, because it can highlight the texture of human skin and make it whiter. The way to get soft light is simple. White sheets can turn direct light into soft light. Curtains, white umbrellas, etc. Can be used as a light softening device. The light ratio of soft light should be controlled around 1:2. Moreover, soft light is more suitable for shooting middle scenes and scenes smaller than middle scenes, which can better highlight the texture of human skin. In addition, the exposure of soft light can be half to one, which can make the skin of the character whiter and more transparent.

Third, shoot with smooth light.

Images come from the internet, which is the form of light projecting on the front of the characters. This kind of light makes most of the body of the character get enough light and the intensity is relatively even, so it will not form a contrast between light and shade on the face of the character, and the exposure is better controlled. The disadvantage of sunshine photography is that the light is too flat to highlight the key points, so it is rarely used in portrait photography. But Guang Shun is more suitable for shooting close-ups, close-ups and other small scenes, because it can specifically show every detail and level of the characters. Sometimes this most direct and straightforward description is often much better than those deliberately made. Exposure should not be overexposed when shooting along the light. In general, the ideal effect can be obtained by using average photometry.

Fourth, backlight shooting.

Backlight refers to the light form of the light source behind the character, which makes the front of the character unable to get normal exposure, thus losing the detail level of the character. However, this form of light outlines the outline of the characters, which is extremely beneficial to the embodiment of action and modeling. Of course, you don't have to take a silhouette effect with backlight. If you control the exposure, you can also get some details of the characters. When using backlight to shoot silhouette, where to choose the metering point is related to the silhouette effect. To get a pure silhouette effect, the light measuring point can be selected at the edge of the human body, because the light there is the brightest part of the whole picture. Moreover, those are not the backlight effects of pure silhouette, and the metering point can be selected in the hair or the face of the person illuminated by light. This backlight effect is more common in portrait Chinese style.

Backlight shooting is only suitable for scenes above the middle scene, such as panorama or distant view. Because such a scene can not only reflect the characters, but also reflect the environment to a certain extent, thus enriching the content of the picture. When shooting silhouette effect, the lower the light projection angle, the more obvious the silhouette effect is, while the higher the light projection angle, the less obvious the silhouette effect is. So the best time is at sunset or early morning, when the silhouette effect is most obvious. However, the backlight effect produced by light in other environments or other time periods is not a pure silhouette effect.

Fifth, shoot with sidelight.

Pure side light is usually not suitable for shooting women, because the light source is projected from the side at this time, making the face of the character shine half and half in the shadow. This effect is called? Yin and Yang face? . However, in portrait shooting, the use of this form of light is not very novel, and it can often reflect the character and emotion more strongly.

When shooting with sidelight, you must pay attention to using less strong light, because the tolerance of digital cameras is very low. If strong light is used, the facial details of people in the dark will not be reflected. Soft light is different, because the contrast between light and shade on human face is within the tolerance range of digital cameras, and the transition between light and shade is more natural. There are many scenes that can be shot by side light, and the big scenes can reflect stronger feelings; Small scenes can make the subject thinner. When shooting a large scene, if you make good use of the shadows generated by light, you can make the picture more expressive.

Side backlight is converted from backlight, which means that it can illuminate a certain point on a person's face, while most of the rest are not exposed to light. It illuminates the character's hair from the side and back, making it show some emotions in the backlight, and this light does not tell the positive details of the character to hide. When shooting with side backlight, if the metering point is in the illuminated part of the face, the exposure must be overexposed by about one level, so as to ensure that the details of the face are not covered. It is also better to choose the scenery below the middle scene, because the panoramic scenery can not well reflect the light perception of the side backlight, while the close-up or close-up scenery is more full and vivid when the side backlight is displayed.

Predictive light is a kind of portrait modeling light evolved from side light. In most parts of the characters, it has a strong sense of transition and is more suitable for the modeling of characters. When shooting with front light, people can turn to the direction of the light source, so that the three-dimensional sense of people's faces will be enhanced. It is best to use soft light to make the light transition more natural. Pay attention to choose the light-dark transition area of the face for photometry, so as to get all levels of the face.

Sixth, shoot with a dome light.

The top light is generally not used for portrait shooting, but it is also good to make reasonable use of the feeling that this light overflows from above. If the dome light shines directly on the face of Homo erectus from above, highlighting the forehead and cheekbones, the effect will be a bit scary. If you let people move behind the light source and point their heads in the direction of the light, the feeling of shooting will be different.

In addition, when encountering the top light, it is much better to let the characters lie on the ground and shoot than to stand. If you need to show the feeling of light on the characters, you should overexpose them and reflect the feeling of light through the enhancement of brightness. If you shoot at noon, the effect will be more obvious if you use a transparent white barrier to soften the light.