Black and white portrait photography

Lead: Make your photos look more professional through some simple shooting kits. You can shoot these seemingly expensive effects at home.

If you want to raise your shooting level to a new height, you might as well buy a set of spotlights, and the gains are definitely greater than the investment. Lighting a portrait with an off-board flash will make a qualitative leap in your photo. You can even take professional portraits at home by controlling the flash. Buy two flashlights and some different accessories first. At the same time, you need a soft box and a soft umbrella. These two accessories can make diffuse light as soft as cloudy sunshine.

Reflective umbrella has a larger illumination area than soft light, and it is one of the most necessary equipment for indoor shooting. Of course, it would be better if you also have a soft box, because it plays a very important role in controlling the brightness of shadows and objects. In addition to the soft light box and reflective umbrella, you can also add a diffuser plate in front of the flash, and the light hits the plate and then reflects to the object.

Building a simple studio will help you control the light source accurately.

Control the main light source

If you are in the studio, the lighting control is very easy to operate. You can start with a single light source, which is your main light source. By changing the angle of the main light, you will change the shadow of your subject, the relationship between light and shade and a series of effects. The light source is flush with the subject, and the light will make the shadow spread flat on your face; If you take photos from a height, your chin and cheekbones will be more prominent; If you shine from the side, your other half will be in the shadow; Lighting from the back will highlight the edges and contours of the whole character. When you master the use of a beam of light, you can add another light to shoot. The two light sources can make up for the lack of light, and at the same time, they can illuminate from the back and highlight the edge of the subject. Another method is to illuminate the background with light, which makes it easier for you to control the contrast between the subject and the background.

How to shoot different effects?

Put the light source in different positions and shoot different effects.

0 1 main light source and auxiliary light source

At an angle of about 45 degrees, set the main light source to make the highlights and shadows form a sharp contrast on the face. As filling light, the second light should be emitted from the same angle. It is best to place a reflector behind the background to make the light softer.

02 high-profile style

The shooting of highlight effect is to create a cleaner visual effect through correct front exposure and overexposed background light. The background should be created by light. First, use the main lamp to illuminate the background through the umbrella lamp or the soft box, and then turn on the second auxiliary lamp to illuminate the background, resulting in a slight overexposure of the background.

03 low-key style

Images taken in low light mainly take pictures with dark colors. Suitable for shooting black and white portraits of people who express their feelings and emotions, and ensure that the background is dark and opaque. First light your model with one lamp, and then light the background with a second lamp.